Hike Crew Portable Camping Toilet - 5.3 Gallon Tank - Hand Pump Flush - Gray

Video Transcript for Choosing the Right Portable Toilet

Hi everyone. I'm Evangeline here at etrailer. Today we're going to be talking about toilets, specifically, how to choose a portable toilet. Whether you're overlanding, camping, out and about on whatever adventure, the reality is, you still need to answer the call of nature. So your next question is, how are you going to do that Well, here are some options right here for you. I have a favorite.

Let's see which one's the best fit for you. Now, it's a topic not everyone really talks about pretty often, but did you know there's actually a bunch of different options for you You can start from the bare bones where you pack out at the end of your trip with baggies, (bucket thuds) you might have a bucket. Some of them have screw-on attachments with bags, and those are gonna be a bit messy, a bit smelly, and a bit gross. You can then upgrade to your portable toilets like these, where they have their self-contained containers, they have little flushes, they have your traditional toilet seat, but they're very portable. And then you upgrade to the next level, which is gonna be your cassette toilets.

Those are gonna be your semi-permanent installations. You'll often see them inside of vans that have been built out. And finally, you have your RV toilets that you will see inside of campers or motor homes, which are gonna be as close to a home toilet as you can get. So you want something that's better than a bucket in the woods, but you're not quite ready to commit to a van life cassette toilet. Well, of the portable toilet options, how do you decide which one's the best fit for you What's gonna be the deciding factor or feature that'll make you wanna commit your butt to it It all starts with a seat.

Around the shop, A lot of people have had different comments and different opinions on which one was their favorite. Some people preferred a flat seat, just because that was gonna be more comfortable and gave more cushion. Other people cared about the height of the toilet, and if you're a taller or shorter person, that might matter. Other people we inchesre very opinionated about the depth of the bowl. They said that a deeper bowl meant less contact whenever they use the toilet.

For me personally, I think the SeaFlo has the best seat. It sits the tallest, it has the most surface area. When it comes to the lid, yes, the bowl is probably the most shallow compared to the others, but for me personally, I didn't really notice much of a problem with it. But again, it depends on who's using the toilet. And then there's the flush. So different toilets have different ways of flushing. The general idea is the same. You fill up the top tank with fresh water. Then when you use the toilet, you then use the flush, which then eventually drains down into the waste tank. So while the content is the same, the method of achieving it is a little different from toilet to toilet. Some toilets have a bellows flush where they just push air, which then pushes water through the toilet bowl. Others, like the Dometic Portable Toilet, has a air pump that causes or builds a pressure (air pump thudding) inside that fresh water tank. And after it's built the pressure, you then press another button which releases that pressure and that water through the toilet bowl. But what you'll probably see most often on your portable toilets is just a traditional flush where you lift up and push down and that pushes water out. I personally prefer that style because it rations out the water that you flush through the toilet. You'll be able to count every single time how many flushes you may have used on the toilet, which will keep track of your water levels and your waste levels. And that's gonna be the next deciding factor. How much capacity do you even need With how many people you have on your trip, what size of the toilet should you expect to bring Well, other different options for toilets, they usually have different size ranges. The Thetford Porta Potti is a great example of it. They have their 2.6 gallon version here, as well as their 3.2 gallon over here, and that's gonna be the capacity of your waste. So to make things a lot more simple, let's say it's you and someone else, so a group of two, and you're out for a three-day weekend for a trip outdoors away from any toilet. You're gonna need the smaller porta-potty. That should be sufficient for your trip. But let's say you have a family of four and you're out for a whole week. Well, you're gonna need a larger toilet, and that's where a 3.2 balance is gonna be helpful. Then you go into the other numbers like, is this gonna be a liquids-only toilet Are you allowing solids Things like that. Well, that's a conversation for you and your family. And if you're not about having that conversation, well, sometimes your toilet will tell you. Some toilets have waste indicators on them, which are just gonna be indicators of the level of waste, which will help you figure out when it's time to dump your toilet. So once you use your toilet, how are you supposed to dispose of the contents of your waste tank Well, that's gonna be the not-as-fun part with a portable toilet, but let's try to make it a little bit easier here. Are you more concerned about how you're going to carry your waste tank Or are you more concerned about how you are dumping your waste tank Because, when you need to dump your waste tank, you have mainly two options. You have a home toilet, like one in a gas station, campsite, your home, or you have a dump station, which tends to be a hole in the ground. So if you're hoisting your waste contents around, you'll want something like the SeaFlo, which has a really easy-to-use water jug style waste tank. But if you are dumping into a hole in the ground, you'll want something that has a spout to make it a fair bit easier and less likely to have splash-back. Now, I have a special tip for you, if that's a method that you're gonna do. So for those toilets that have a spout, they'll usually have a cap at the end of the spout and also some kind of button, knob, lever that will work as the air intake just to make sure that the flow goes better when you do dump. So here's our hole in the ground, and what you're gonna do is you're going to turn that spout over and practice, make sure it lines up, and then keep adjusting your tank until you get the perfect movement right there. So then now that that looks good, we're going to lift up, remove that spout, point down, press the button, and dump the tank. Now, I don't have much waste in this tank, so you can also see how that would help when I have to upend it. It all just goes through the spout. And while making this video, so many people walked by and asked me to demonstrate the canister style. Well, here's how it goes. See the location of my hand near the spout And. Now, some people over time become experts and pros at dumping out their waste tank. And their priority is always just the container that's easier to carry around and store. But do you really wanna find out if you're an expert at dumping a waste tank without spilling all over the place and over yourself For me, personally, I would always pick the containers that have spouts, to make it just a little bit easier. I actually reviewed pretty much all of these toilets that we saw today. And if you're curious about any of the features or specs of any of these toilets, check out my full reviews here at etrailer. So if you we inchesre to ask me though, which one is my favorite toilet Well, I'd have to say Thetford Porta Potti 345. It has all the features that I care about. I think it looks good. I like the larger capacity. My favorite part, though, is definitely that waste indicator down there. That one has the best visibility when it comes to the level of the tank and let me know when it's time to dump it. But you also saw all the different features of all the other toilets, and hopefully that was helpful for you to see which one you prefer, which one is the most important for you, and which one do you think is the best fit for your adventure and for you. Talking about toilets usually isn't an easy conversation, but hopefully this video helps you out. Again, this is just the options within the portable toilets category. If you're looking for cassette toilets or upgrading to camper toilets, we can absolutely help you out with that as well. And if you have any questions about these toilets or you're looking for things to use along with them, maybe it's disinfectants, black tank treatments, proper lubrication of the seals, well, we have all of those parts too. But hopefully this video was an interesting journey for you, just like it was an interesting journey for me. This was a look at how to choose a portable toilet with Evangeline right here at etrailer.