Portable Camping Toilet

Having a good portable camping toilet is not something everyone thinks about when they are preparing for life in a survival/bomb shelter. Most people take care of food, water, and medical supplies, but few put a lot of thought into doing their business in a shelter.

Infectious Diseases

The longer people are kept in confined spaces the more likely the spread of diseases spread by feces. The more time people spend in confined quarters the more they get lax when it comes to things like hand washing and waste disposal. 

Some nasty things you can catch and spread are; Salmonella, E. coli, cryptosporidium, candida, and parasites that carry hepatitis. One of the best ways to prevent such infections is to use plastic liners in your portable camping toilet. You can either buy special liners made for portable toilets, or you can buy a bag of cheap garbage bag liners and use those instead.

Buying a Portable Toilet

When it comes to purchasing a portable camping toilet, most are similar in size, make, and cost. Here are a few different ones that are now available.

• Vermont’s Barre Army Navy: Here’s a very simple, low cost alternative to the bucket. This portable toilet consists of a metal tube frame with a plastic bag stretched over it. It’s collapsible so it’s easy to store out of the way, and comes with a lid and disposable liners. You can purchase it on line or in any Vermont’s Barre catalog.

• Porta Potti- Portable Toilets: Offered by Camping World, this portable toilet is shaped to look more like a household toilet. This is a self- contained flushing toilet that attaches to your water holding tank. The valves keep odors in the holding tank and detaches easily for cleaning and storage. The locking lid prevents spills. This is the perfect portable toilet for those with access to a water holding tank.
• Reliance Flush Loo: Here is a convenient hand pump flushing portable camping toilet offered at Target. This is a tough durable plastic toilet that features an easy to use hand pump flushing mechanism. Holding tank capacity is 3.2 gallons and has a reserve tank that holds 4 gallons. This unit only weighs 11 pounds so it’s easy to carry around to where ever you need it.

• Reliance Tri-to-Go Portable Toilet: Here is a folding portable toilet that utilizes a metal tripod (collapsible) and a soft, padded toilet seat. The Tri-to-Go also comes with a carrying case, a removable liner, and a toilet paper holder. The toilet only weighs 4 pounds so it is easy to move about and set up.

Tailored to Your Needs

These days there are many different styles to choose from. The portable camping toilet has come a long way from a five gallon bucket and plastic lid. For many people a five gallon bucket portable toilet is just what the doctor ordered. It’s cheap, light, easy to move, and with the help of plastic liners, gets the job done. 

If space is an issue, and probably will be if you’re in a survival shelter, there are a number of collapsible or folding toilets available. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, you can get hand pump flushing toilets that do not need a separate water reservoir. 

You can also get portable flushing toilets that are great for extended periods of time that connect to your water holding tank. They are easily removed and reattached at need. These will cost more but if you have a lot of people in your shelter this may be the best way to go.

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