To potty, or not to Potty...

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Steve526

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2014
Posts
6
I've been looking online quite a while at pop up campers, going back and forth between new and used (I know the depreciation issue on the new ones, but there's something about being the first owner...)  One of the major cost drivers is the toilet or toilet/shower combo.  Now I'd be OK with an outside shower, but the cost difference between a unit with and without a cassette poti/shower combo seems to run around $1500.  And, I haven't seen all that many with just a potti in it.

So I got to wondering about buying a unit with an outside shower only, then retrofitting it with a toilet in what many have as a storage cabinet.  I could go with a portable, but I like the idea of it being locked down and able to have a hinged cover over it.  Has anyone out there done this or know anyone (with either good or bad results) that has?  Seems like a way to "keep my cash and potti too"  Any thoughts?
 
I used to have a portable in my trailer days.. Useful but they tend to be smaller in the seat than the standard RV toilets.

However, given the cost difference, less you are a XXXL like me... Id go for it. In fact if I were going back to trailers.. I very likely would go for it today.
 
We had the shower potty in power last popup.  It was good for boonduging    if you can get one with soild incloser get one.  When we upgraded to a trivial. I told the sales person I only wanted one thing.  A door on the bathroom
 
In my first popup it came only with a sink.  NO potty, no outside shower.  I bought a 70.00 porta-potty from a Big Box Store.  I used the campground facilities when they were available and not a mile away.  I did use the porta potty some.  Trade off was that there was little to no privacy (the entire camper becomes the bathroom while someone uses the potty).  It served it's purpose.  I much prefer a built in toilet with proper black tank.
 
personally, i never cared for the pup floorplans that have the cassette toilet/shower combo complete with curtain.....
Am I supposed to sleep in the bathroom?
I just think it looks strange.... and it takes up valuable real estate too!

The models with hardwalls, like you'll see in a highwall pup, seem a little better to me.....

but that is all just personal opinions......

My old pup was designed with a thetford portable pottie in mind.  Had a cabinet for it under the seat, but the screws for the door had long agon pulled out of the chincy cabinetry, so we just left it off and let the pottie live under the seat exposed, but it didn't look bad at all.... in fact it worked out very well.  I made a small platform with some tiny casters so that the pottie would still fit under the bench.  So rather than flipping the bench up as it was designed to do, we just pulled it out into the central floor.  Worked great. 

If that little pup would have had an outdoor shower, I would have set up a small shower tent and would have been a happy camper.  I always intended to add one, but it didn't have a water heater so I never did.

The issue to consider with the built in hardwall showers and potties in pups is storage tank size.  The last thing you want to have to do if camping without full hook-ups is to fold up the camper just to go dump the tanks.  the little portable thetfords are esay to transport and easy to dump......  I think it's the way to go.....
 
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