Best toilet for weekend adventures with the family?
- Thread starter B^2
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DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
I can manage no splash, but the smell from our cassette was simply mind numbing. And I grew up in the Third World.
Florida Native
Active member
I can manage no splash, but the smell from our cassette was simply mind numbing. And I grew up in the Third World.
Then it sounds like you were using it wrong (wrong type or improper quantity of chemicals?). My porta potty experience is the same as @Herbie... no muss no fuss no smell no splash.
-Mike
DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
Mike, Greetin's from Colt Creek State Park! We typically used Thetford products or nothing. Neither made any difference if the flap was open or when dumping. I have heard that "Happy Campers" is rather magic. We are trying in our grey tank for cleaning and the odd time when we get a smell. So far it does seem to do a good job of cleaning the drain lines.
HAPPY CAMPERS ORGANIC RV HOLDING TANK TREATMENT
Buy Happy Campers Holding Tank Treatment - The All Natural, All Organic, 100% Effective RV Holding Tank Treatment That Eliminates Odors Guaranteed!
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Happy Campers is the best! By contrast, that blue stuff is a joke. I bought a new trailer and on the first trip, I accidentally pulled the wrong handle (intended to pull the gray tank) and out came the black. I didn't know it was black and squatted there looking at it -- before finally realizing that was the wrong handle. My point is, the Happy Campers covered up the smell that well that I couldn't readily tell it was the black water.Mike, Greetin's from Colt Creek State Park! We typically used Thetford products or nothing. Neither made any difference if the flap was open or when dumping. I have heard that "Happy Campers" is rather magic. We are trying in our grey tank for cleaning and the odd time when we get a smell. So far it does seem to do a good job of cleaning the drain lines.
HAPPY CAMPERS ORGANIC RV HOLDING TANK TREATMENT
Buy Happy Campers Holding Tank Treatment - The All Natural, All Organic, 100% Effective RV Holding Tank Treatment That Eliminates Odors Guaranteed!
Hey man, I'm looking at grabbing an Airhead composting toilet for the 4 of us (wife and 2 boys) in our Scout pickup camper. How do you use one of these composting toilets for just weekends etc? It seems like most people are using them for longer periods of time, which we will do 2-3wk trips once or twice a year as well...but I'm not sure how best to use them for a weekend (and what to do after to ensure it works right).
The Airhead, a bit more expensive, does seem like a solid option unless you tell me otherwise.
Awesome, and thank for the help...I'm totally new to these.
1- Is it super nasty to empty like the Cassette toilets can be sometimes after just a long weekend? Or is it not so bad? I'm a Dad/cattle-ranch kid...so i've been waist deep in some yuck, but wondering if its more like gross dirt than full on nasty lol.
2- I'm putting it in a 7.5ft Pickup camper. Should I be expecting some bad smell lingering in there? We'll be cooking/sleeping in the little thing of course. We live in PNW and will use it in the winter a bit for ski weekends. I can certainly setup the fan vent for the toilet and wire it into my GoalZero 1500X 12v.
You mean the Airhead is the best for the most part right? That is what I was going to grab. (sorry maybe I'm the OG here and can't keep up anymore lol).
1- Is it super nasty to empty like the Cassette toilets can be sometimes after just a long weekend? Or is it not so bad? I'm a Dad/cattle-ranch kid...so i've been waist deep in some yuck, but wondering if its more like gross dirt than full on nasty lol.
2- I'm putting it in a 7.5ft Pickup camper. Should I be expecting some bad smell lingering in there? We'll be cooking/sleeping in the little thing of course. We live in PNW and will use it in the winter a bit for ski weekends. I can certainly setup the fan vent for the toilet and wire it into my GoalZero 1500X 12v.
You mean the Airhead is the best for the most part right? That is what I was going to grab. (sorry maybe I'm the OG here and can't keep up anymore lol).
Much less nasty than the chemicals.
You control the ratio between poo and sawdust / coir whatever.
NO PEE to go in there! The mix is deadly, keep 'em separate.
Best is a vented unit, little fan, becomes the ventilation exhaust for the whole space in winter if you do it right.
AH is the Original (gangsta) many say best.
Worth posting as a separate thread, and not just here, van dwelling and tnttt also good.
Or google **** dozens of existing discussions.
Best is look at them in person.
You control the ratio between poo and sawdust / coir whatever.
NO PEE to go in there! The mix is deadly, keep 'em separate.
Best is a vented unit, little fan, becomes the ventilation exhaust for the whole space in winter if you do it right.
AH is the Original (gangsta) many say best.
Worth posting as a separate thread, and not just here, van dwelling and tnttt also good.
Or google **** dozens of existing discussions.
Best is look at them in person.
Florida Native
Active member
I still fail to understand all the hate on porta-potties. I have been using them for years and never experienced any negative issues with them. They are super easy to deal with and ideally suited for weekend use, IMO.
-Mike
-Mike
DiploStrat
Expedition Leader
john61ct beat me to it, but basically, for weekend use you could probably go all season without emptying. The longer the feces sit, the smaller the mass as they dry out. (Look at the various manufacturers' websites and read the sections on vacation cabins, etc. Two people, living in a vehicle, and using the toilet every day is the absolute hardest case as the feces have less time to dry out. A fan helps here and has the added benefit that there is even less smell than your toilet at home as the toilet is under negative air pressure.
If we are going to be a month or more between trips, I dump. (We even have a real compost pile in the garden.) Otherwise I just leave it and give it a stir once a week.
The biggest challenge with any of these is shower water. None of them seal well. I can give you tips with both the Natures Head and the C-Head.
One huge advantage of the C-Head is that, other than the actual urine diverting bowl, everything else can be bought at a hardware store. Everything. And it has no specialized moving parts to clean, lube, or break.
Another nice feature is that the bucket is removable - no need to unbolt the toilet, etc., just lift the lid, grab and go. And the separate bucket makes it even harder for any shower water that seeps in to actually hit the feces chamber.
CABINS & HOMESTEADS | C-Head (c-head.com)
Stating a preference for the desiccating type does not imply "hate" for others.
In our case, where "weekend" is meaningless and service campgrounds never visited, and the flushing toilet S&B systems belong to others,
disposal is so much easier.
Outside the mainland USA, sanctioned dump sites happy to take chemicals are very rare.
Whereas with a small bag of properly treated "compost" it is easy to find a nearby spot anywhere in the world, where it will do no harm to our Mother Gaia, nor offend the fussiest human.