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Toilet troubles..last minute decision needed! Toilet troubles..last minute decision needed!
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 1 Mar 2010
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Toilet troubles..last minute decision needed!
We are just HOURS from leaving our home for our big voyage, and have come up against a question, which we probably should have discussed before but didn't, and now can't decide ourselves - can you help!?

We currently have a Thetford Porta Potti onboard our LR FC101 - DO WE NEED TO TAKE IT?!

We're going through Europe, North Africa, East Africa, South Africa and the Middle East.... Has anyone taken a loo / not taken a loo? and do you have an opinion either way? Frankly, we could do with the space - and there's always a cafe with toilet..or a bush. Any comments most appreciated.
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Old 1 Mar 2010
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Originally Posted by huwandrosie View Post
We currently have a Thetford Porta Potti onboard our LR FC101 - DO WE NEED TO TAKE IT?!
Well, I've done a couple of trips in a Mercedes Sprinter that has one e.g. UK to Portugal and back, and I made a point of not letting anyone use it. I didn't want the hassle of cleaning it.

Having said that, I was once parked up on a housing estate in Scotland and really pleased it was there! And I also discovered then that they're not that difficult to clean.

But will you have space for the required additives or be able to get them on a longer trip outside Europe? If space is at a premium, I'd leave it at home.

Stephan
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Old 1 Mar 2010
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Thanks Stephan. Just as we suspected but always good to hear someone else say it! (And we hadn't even thought of the additives question!) We'll take it out then - and use it for jaunts round the UK when we get back. Thanks so much for confirming our thoughts.. Rosie x
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Old 1 Mar 2010
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A tall bucket, mines a plasterer's bucket from any builder's merchant makes a good emergency loo and you can store stuff in or use it as a bin when you don't need it.

Put a binliner in it first so you can tie it off to keep the smell at bay until you can empty.

One of my mates has one with a seat but he is quite posh !
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Old 1 Mar 2010
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A tall bucket, mines a plasterer's bucket from any builder's merchant makes a good emergency loo ......

Put a binliner in it first so you can tie it off to keep the smell at bay until you can empty !

that's exactly what I did in my 101FC for 12 years owning that beast...
cheap solution and easy to dispose on every car park or public bin every where... no smelly, bulky camping loo, no chemicals needed.... a bit odd to get used to it in the beginning, but hey didn't you start using a bucket when you stopped using nappies... in your child hood, so where is the difference... ?

have fun
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Old 1 Mar 2010
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that's exactly what I did in my 101FC for 12 years owning that beast...
cheap solution and easy to dispose on every car park or public bin every where... no smelly, bulky camping loo, no chemicals needed.... a bit odd to get used to it in the beginning, but hey didn't you start using a bucket when you stopped using nappies... in your child hood, so where is the difference... ?

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Old 2 Mar 2010
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One of my mates has one with a seat but he is quite posh !
There's a gap in the market for Touratech there...
Stephan
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Old 2 Mar 2010
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There's a gap in the market for Touratech there...
Stephan
Yep, I can't imagine how the GS12 guys have managed to get by without one for so long.
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Old 2 Mar 2010
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Yep, I can't imagine how the GS12 guys have managed to get by without one for so long.
THEY haven't ... !!!!

have you ever wondered that the GS guys always need big over sized shiny ally boxes... well what do you think they may need them for... just think (or better scratch your head).... GS is German, Turatech is German, Germany is a high tech nation... every thing is over engineered... every one knows that...
as you may find out....

a fold down survival loo, can be used as camping chair as well if you don't loose the lit, cost about 40-Euros :

and yes yes... the environmental friendly loo, just the kit for the political correct traveller...
by the way.. this cardboard box fits snug in to the Turatech GS-TopBox....

spooky
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Old 3 Mar 2010
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For a six week trip to Morocco we took a PortaPorti, which is basically a bucket with a toilet seat and never used it once. The thought of cleaning it just put us put off using it.

Where we couldn't find facilities, a little bit of imagination and a shovel did the trick.

Just out of interest, endurance glider pilots as well as astronauts use a special Maximum Absorbency Garment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Old 3 Mar 2010
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If Touratech did start looking into no2 disposal, and being so efficient as they are, wouldn't a portable bush be a better bet? Possibly inflatable, even directly from a powered onboard inflator like the autopilot on Airplane was it? Open your shiny ally pannier and voila, loo roll and reading material attached?
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Old 4 Mar 2010
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Where we couldn't find facilities, a little bit of imagination and a shovel did the trick.
The shovel trick will do nicely if you are travelling by 4x4 or similar where you got space to carry the extra weight...

Travelling by bike is a different story all together... my solution, the stiff heel of bike boots dose the same job in soft wooded areas just as good scratching the surface a few inches...

then the all proofed Russian style loo comes in to the game.... comes in form of a waggle stick, to keep the wild beasts off getting to closely if they didn't fled already in panic.... while you are exposed to mother earth....
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Old 4 Mar 2010
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Inside Loos
Whilst in the Okavango, Botswana we had to use a large Mug for nighttime No1s as going outside meant getting eaten. It just had to be distinguishable from the ones we drank out of.
If you're parked up in urban areas etc. an inside loo helps keep a low profile.
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Nalgene bottles come in yellow!
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Old 4 Mar 2010
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Have been following this thread with some interest , so couldn't believe it when I got a twitter link to this.

peepoople.com

I particularly liked this quote from the blurb: "Recognizing consumer need the Peepoo is formulated from a bottom up perspective putting the users need first."
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