Hello everyone, I'm brand new to this site, and brand new to camping in general. I've gotten to a point in my life where I've realized being outdoors with nature on weekends is possibly the absolute best I could do for my young family and our mental and emotional health. I have decided to investigate purchasing our very first POP CAMPER, since we are first time, budget oriented campers at this point. The questions I'd love feed back on is this... Is it worth having a pop up camper that has a porta potty built in? What about a shower? What should I look for in a used pop up? Anything else you can tell this new, but eager to learn novice? Thank you all.
What kind of places are you going to be camping? If you are going to state parks, most of them have showerhouses and flush toilets. Many National PARK campgrounds also have at least flush toilets. U.S. National Park Service - Experience Your America If, however, you are planning on camping in National FOREST campgrounds, they often do not have flush toilets/showers. US Forest Service - Caring for the land and serving people. Most private campgrounds also have full amenities.
I would think a porta potty would be great in a pop-up camper, but I could manage without a built in shower as there are many options for bathing. I guess that this would be a family decision based on age and priorities. I hate venturing out in the woods in the middle of a cold night...just saying! ;-)
Welcome to the forums Familyman. Since I don't usually camp where you will using your pop-up, I'll just go along with the excellent advice you have all ready received. (but about 3 AM I start wishing my backpacking tent had a port-a-potty.)
Simple, if somebody poops or pees in it then somebody has to clean it up later. Y'all will have to determine who the "cleaner person" is!! If nobody is gonna clean it up when y'all get home then I say do without. We have a 5th wheel and this is just part of the fun. Coz
Thank you all for that advice... and to grandpa for the warm welcome. I wonder if there are members in the forum who have had the experience of owning a pop up without a porta potty... What kind of camping do you folks do? How did you get started? Any reading materials you would recommend to a first timer like myself? Thanks FM ----- In reply to Coz: good point, thanks for that, I guess I would be the "clean it" person... Can't be that bad right?
Well, whatcha gonna do with all that poop and pee? I have a tie in to the septic system at my home but without that you gotta have a dump station. Probably $20 or so to dump, I have not used one in years so I am not sure about that. You gotta look at the full picture of what y'all will be doing while camping. Out in the wilderness or campgrounds with full hookups? Just my .02 worth from my camping experiance. Go by your local camper supply and ask them for some input. There was a movie a couple of years ago with Robin Williams called RV that is well worth watching for some good pointers on how to "RV". ***LINK TO MOVIE*** Coz
Great stuff Coz, thanks for the advice. I will check out that movie. If I use a camp ground with hookups, can't I just empty the porta potty with their hookups before we leave? We don't have septic here, I live in the city, (sunny Sarasota, FL), so that would be an issue. I think at first we would probably use campgrounds with full hookups, etc. What are the online resources you use for finding great places to camp? Thanks again, FM
I had an older tent camper that had a portable head that you can buy in any RV catalogue for about $100. It has a simple portable tank that is easy to detach and empty. My girl really liked having it in the middle of the night. I have a shower in my travel trailer and had one in a truck camper and rarely use them. You can spend a lot of money for a fancy tent camper, but until you are sure you like them I suggest a used one for under $3000. You can always add the portable head if it doesn't have one. On longer trips we usually stop at an RV park once in awhile to charge up the batteries and use their showers.
Thanks for that advice. Basically a portable head accomplishes the same thing, and it doesn't have to be necessarily built into the unit. That is the budget I had in mind, and one without a head would be cheaper, right? FM
FM, Probably cheaper, because it includes the smaller and older units that are mostly for sale used. A solar shower works fine in the warm weather.
I think if you have small kids a porta potty is probably a good idea since otherwise you could be running back and forth to the facilities often. Most campgrounds have showers though.
My porta-potty is a shovel and a roll of toilet paper. My solar shower is another story. I purchased a cheap garden sprayer. you know, the plastic ones you can buy at a dollar store for $5-7. I used some sandpaper (240 grit) to rough the exterior and painted it flat black. If you fill this with water and set it in the sun, it will warm nicely and pressurize itself due to heat expansion. It works great and uses very little water. I can get three showers out of it without having to refill it.
Hi... A really unique item I saw in a catalog was a camo toilet seat which had an attachment that would fit into the square trailer hitch insert under your SUV's rear bumper...!! I hope they don't use the main highways...!!
I wonder why it's camo. Could be so folks won't be able to see you as easily when you're taking a dump. Then again it could be to make it hard to find when you really have to go.
I'd agree with Cupcake. The port-a-potty would definitely come in handy when camping with kids. As for the showers, it would really depend where you plan to go camping more often. Many private campgrounds and major parks do have shower facilities, so you may not really need a portable shower. But if you're planning to go wilderness camping more often, you might need one. As for setting up your popup camper, you can check out this article: How to Outfit an RV. It's got pretty much the basics of setting up your popup camper to help you get started.
I would strongly recommend to have a portable toilet built in. The last thing you'd want is having to stop every now and then for the kids (and the wifey). If you still got some space, the shower will definitely earn you some brownie points with the wifey. Although most campgrounds have these facilities, not all are well-kept.
Is this what you're looking for? lol I personally think camping is supposed to be minimalist, and dealing with any kind of portable potty would be smelly!
I know I would like to have a back-up potty of our own in case the facilities were unbearable. We just got back from a place where the portable potties were plentiful, but so many people had used them that we literally could not use them without heaving. Then and there, I reaffirmed our decision that we would always have a back-up plan.
