porta potty and pop up toilet tent

I'll only comment on change shelters.
I have a Rays brand one, and like everyone else, found it hard to fold, but after lessons by one of the yourg people down at the shop (who made it look a breeze) I find it OK now.
I've used the "Change Shelter" ones that are commonly available, and most have been much easier to fold. they are also slightly larger than the Rays ones.
the zips on both are dodgy.

We've got a Aldi one which is the same as a companion one and it works ok.
It is a 20l capacity so a reasonable size, a smaller one might be better if travelling but you'd have to empty it more often.
The other thing to remember is that anything smaller than a 20l is a good height, smaller ones can be very low and could be hard for older bods to use.

Hi we've got a 'foldable' green coloured shower/change tent. It twists/folds up to about 2ft round. This one has guy attachement points and when the floor and the guys are deployed it is really firm and stable in a gale!
We used it as a shelter for dinner recently - we managed to get the card table and two fold up chairs in there when it started to pour with rain. We had the air bed inflated in the 3 man tent and found the shelter a very convenient secondary 'tent' to eat in.

This model has a cover that can be slipped over the top opening to make it rainproof.

George

Hi D-Jack,

I have the E-Z Pot, which I purchased on e-bay for about $110 delivered I think.

It has only had 2 outings so far but my wife and the kids love it. They were even happy to be using it in -2 degrees one night.

It is a very compact unit especially without the legs/stand but the legs are handy for raising the height to make it more comfy for adult use.

I don't use any chemicals in it. I just dilute the effluent with water and pour it down the toilet. After its empty I rinse it out a few times and add disinfectant such as pine o clean or whatever my wife has under the sink at the time. Haven't had any leaks or smells from it yet but as I said it has only seen a few days of use and has sat in the garage for over a year. It will get more of a work out soon.

As for an ensuite tent I purchased one off ebay for about $75. It sat in the garage for about 3 months till I got to use it the 1st time and it was missing a pole so it went back into the trailer. Because we were camping alone I just strung an old poncho around some trees on the other side of the trailer for privacy. As I was only home for a short while before coming back here for work I haven't remedied the situation. I will be home again in a week so will sort it out then. The ensuite tent is a pole frame with a cover. It is slow to erect and is a lot longer than 33cm when packed up but it mightstand up longer in a bit of a blow.

Cheers ... Taz

D-Jack,
If you're not using a caravan and you're tenting it, I would personally forget about porta-potties. They're messy and inconvenient (emptying, storing, cleaning etc.) especially if being packed in car.
Better to dig a hole and use a 'Jimmy'!!!
Good choice of toilet tents/ change shelters at 'Grangers'- and good prices too. (Check out oztrail pop-up ensuite on sale at $59.95 till 28/02- we have one of these and they can be pegged down in corners and walls.)

D-Jack,

I think the brand of pop-up tent I have is an Oztrail. (Can't check, I'm at work)
This has both corner loops at the bottom to peg the tent down and also external guy ropes at the corners to aid stability. Ideal for use as both a toilet tent or shower tent. It has a removable roof section to aid airflow in hot/smelly conditions.
Only thing I recommend is to chuck the little pegs that come with it and use something bigger/longer. The guy ropes fit in a little pouch at each attachment point about half way up each corner. Cost of this tent is about $75.00.

Now, for the Portable toilet. You are disadvantaged as you have 3 females in the family and therefore the toilet will fill fairly quickly, just with liquid waste. (Wee)
Bad luck. Just means you may have to empty it every couple of days.
Thetford are the manufacturers of the "Porta-Potti" brand.
I would recommend the Porta-Potti 165 which has a 21 litre storage (waste) tank and a 15 litre water (flushing) tank. The two halves separate so you only need to carry the bottom waste section when emptying.

The girls (and you) will love this little bit of comfort on your camping excursions.

Oh!, One other thing. When you buy the Porta-Potti it will come with a couple of 50 ml (sample) bottles of pink (flushing) and green (waste) additives. Don't bother with these. The word is, the green stuff contains formaldehyde, a rather nasty agent. The stuff I have been put on to is called "Bio Magic" you add a bit to the waste tank to assist the break down of solid waste and a bit to the flushing tank. This stuff eliminates odour rather than disquises it. Check their Web site for a distributor in your area.

If you want to take ladies camping, a porta dunny is ESSENTIAL.

It's just not easy for them to sneak off behind a tree.

As for blokes, well I like to sit in comfort. Heading off with a shovel just doesn't do it for me. Piddling behind a tree is fine, but backing one out?????

They're easy to empty and clean. No smell if you use enough of the right additive. Our's is 20 years old, Thetford brand. No idea whether they are better or worse than the others. After all it's just a tank that seals to keep the bad stuff in until you empty it.

I've camped with a lot of people with various brands. They all seem to work.

Good investment IMO.

Jim.

Hi there Djack, as Jimbo said it is essential to take one for the other half and a hell of a lot easier for the kids. We took ours to Vic high Country for just over a week and wouldnt leave home with out it. Even at night time when the other half gets up in the middle of the night its nice to know where your about to place your butt. We have the oz tent for the toilet takes about 5 mins to set up and come with ropes although I rarely use them as it has 4 pegs around the base. We have the porta pottie brand and have had for about 3 years now and is great. We use the correct chemicals and have no issues with smell or the like. And the chemical that you put in the rinse tank (top tank) to me is essential as it is teflon based and stops any body leaving there name and address around the bowl. As Jimbo said they are probably all as good as each other but as usual I bought by brand name. Possibly the others are made by the same mob anyway. Hard to tell these days what brand you are buying. Steve M

Hi D-Jack,
We have a 2 companion porta-loos. One has a 15L waste tank (which fits in the porta-loo cupboard in the caravan) and one with a 24L waste tank which is great because you dont have to empty it so much but wont fit in the special cupboard as it is too tall. We take the 24L if we are planning to stay somewhere for a period of time and have camp 'setup'. We tuck the smaller one away in the cupboard if we are touring. No problems at all with leaks, smells or emptying.
We also have 2 shower tents. One is the change shelter brand pop up which is great, quick to dry, and easy to fold up. It does have 4 pegs around the bottom and 4 ropes to peg it down too. We use this for ease of putting it up and down when touring. For staying in the one place for a week or two we have an 'ensuite-duo' which is FANTASTIC. It has two rooms so we put the loo in one side and the shower in the other. There is an interconnecting door so you can get undressed in the loo side and hop across into the shower and you dont have to worry about your clothes getting wet etc and you have a dry area to get dressed in again.
It is easy to assemble but it does have poles etc so you wouldnt want to be putting it up and down every day or 2.
I think the 15L loo was about $129 and the 24L $159. The change shelter was about $75 and the ensuite duo $180.
From a female point of view ( and having children too) the loo is a must!
Have a great trip!
Cheers
Live4theweekends

Hi D-Jack,
We have had the sani potti for about 10 years we bought it as it has a big screwed cap for emptying where as the porta potti that a friend of ours had has a small funnell type thing which takes longer to empty and also theirs has a little breather hole in the top of the tank which leaked a but when they were driving to empty it. They and we have had trouble with the bellows pump you use to flush, the plastic in mine has cracked so it is u/s and now we have to use plastic containers filled with top tank water to flush. Our friends now have a fiamma bi-pot and they are over the moon with it and I will be buying one as well before my next camping trip as they have a deeper bowl and also have a metal shaft for the pump with a plastic handle.
Much better than the bellows idea, oh and by the way the bellows is replacable but for the price a fiamma bi-pott is not much more.
Just our experence and we go camping about 6 times a year with about six to ten familys so we all compare camping gear all the time.
Wazza

with all this knowledge of porta-dunnies, can I ask a not-so-obvious question...

Can the two tanks be seperated for storing while travelling with 'stuff' still in the holding tank without fear of spillage?

Cheers, Nige

Thetford Porta Potti 355, the original & probably the best, is 305mm high.

You will find info here ..... www.thetford-europe.com/

both halves can be transported seperated with solution ¬ leak .Tip no need to fill top tank full as dont need that much flush water