Bathrooms worth the space?

[Kip in Ga.]

Originally Posted by Penney H. & Mike E.

Wow! 5 pages about bathrooms!

...We bought a '05 Escape with bathroom for several reasons:
We considered an EggCamper but did not want a front bath as we like the front window....

We actually do not use the toilet, we use the same porta pottie we used in the Burro, we just set it in the bath/shower, which is nice as in the 13' it had to slide under the bed. Might seem strange to some, but we don't want to bother with the black water dumping 'trip' and we often camp places where there is no place to dump. If camping where there are good showers, we use them, but boondocking, we use the trailer shower, me more that Mike. I find I can take a good shower by turning water on & off as needed to get wet, rinse off. And I love our shower! It feels great, I enjoy the luxury of showering in our own space. I would say it is not used a lot, but when used, greatly appreciated....

....I do miss the compactness of the 13' and feel like we are hauling around more weight just to have a shower. So I have mixed feelings about, but I know what our needs are & it works for us. If available, we'd bought a shower only trailer.........



Good luck!
Penney

Thank You Penny,

The escapes look to be finished off nicely.
Is your tow vehicle a 6 cylinder?

Kip

[Greg H]

My turn, my wife will not sit on a public toilet therefore she must hover to do her thing. I really do not mind myself with the help of tp on the seat. I drove a semi truck for 23 years and it took me about 22 years to realize that a porta potty would work in the truck, nothing fancy just the cheap $17.00 bucket like thingy from walley word it has a lid a fairly comfortable seat and even a tp holder, they also make bags for it with chemicals in it. Also do you really need a shower everyday? I think you can get by a couple of days but you will go poo everyday, or at 0400 when you're sleeping oh so well. Save the space and the weight get a porta potty and forget the shower.

[Cyndi B.]

After 28 years in leaky tents, pop-ups we finally bought our first Scamp, a 13' with no biffy which I accesorized with a self erecting potty tent for the Porno Potty, as my children liked to call it. Since no one wanted to empty it, they all went to the outhouse or used the outdoors . We finally graduated to a 5th wheel Scamp with the small bathroom because we would be living out of it as we did for most this summer. What a pleasure after all those years to hear the rain on the roof and not have to go outside. I took a shower in it for giggles. It will work in a pinch put the shower head is great for cleaning the toilet. Scrub and hose. I, unlike your wife, can do a public bathroom/shower in a campground to some extent. Some campgrounds can get pretty nasty especially if they are busy and the facilities are old. I have found that now that my boys are grown and gone the need to sterilize everyone no longer matters. Baseball caps are part of the camping wardrobe. I didn't mind my porta potty and I could always do a dish pan hair wash and semi bath.

[Mary F]

Originally Posted by Kip in Ga.

Seems that most want some type of Toilet, even if only for midnight runs.

Of those that specifically mentioned a shower, 15 said yes and 11 said no. But there were some that didn't address the shower, only the toilet. So it is not clear if they would want the shower or not. And some of those that did want a shower didn't clearify if they used it much.

I've said it in other threads on this same topic, so apologies for the repetition: you can count me as one whose Casita has a bathroom because of the shower instead of the toilet. I like to bathe at night, before going to bed - helps me sleep - and frankly, campground shower facilities are hit or miss (between cleanliness, privacy-ness, acceptable water temperature and/or water pressure - not to mention the COE park we camped at in November had NO HEAT in the bath house. I was sooooo glad to have my own warm place for bathing that weekend!)

And, like Frederick, I can take a shower in 1.5 gallons of water (or less). Admittedly, I don't wash my hair when I'm camping ... but I do like to wash the rest of me!

When boondocking, we have a 3.1 amp solar panel to keep our battery up, mainly so we have power for the water pump. (Obviously, we only boondock in mild weather conditions = no AC or heat required.)

Good luck with your decision!

[Ray N]

The main reason we took up camping again after many years is because we now have a camper with a bathroom and a shower. No more midnight trips to a cold public bathroom for us, (and usually more than once for me nowadays). We shower every day too. Personally, I don't find going to the dump station that big of a chore every three days or so, if it gives us a clean, warm, private, and convenient place to conduct our bathroom business.

[ThomasE]

I guess I'm in the no shower / yes toilet camp. We (family of four) took a month long trip to Alaska last summer and never once used the trailer's shower. The Burro's fresh and gray tanks are about 18 gallons, so for us to use the shower we'd have to have full hookups. But any place that had hookups would have hot and usually unlimited showers anyway. The trailer toilet is very convenient for middle of the night, especially if there are kids along.

[Kip in Ga.]

Good discussion on both sides. More usable floor space and less hitch weight without the shower. But seems that most definitely like the idea of some kind of inside toilet.

Effectively a 13'er without bath has near the same living space as a 16'er with bath.

If nothing else, the shower floor gives one a place for their feet if seated on the "throne", plus the door for privacy and odor control.

A lot to think about!
Thanks for all the replies.
Kip

[RSchleder]

I'm not sure anyone can answer your "bathroom" question correctly for YOU. We're all different with separate likes/dislikes and it's really a personal choice as to what life style each person wants in their trailer. We currently have a 13' Scamp with full bath and a 40' diesel motorhome. We have camped for years in a pop-up, in a teardrop, and 3 motorhomes. If someone asked me which of these to buy, I could not give a single answer, each has advantages and disadvantages. My suggestion is to think through HOW YOU WANT TO LIVE while in your trailer. If walking through a National Park campground at 2 AM to go to the restroom, and looking for a place to shower after a couple of days, is not a problem for you, then forget the bathroom in your trailer. If those activities don't sound too keen, then you'd better get the bath. So, the bottom line is-- just because I choose to have a bath in my trailer, doesn't mean you should. Figure out YOUR needs and don't base your decision on what others recommend based on THEIR needs. Good luck, Ron

[cpaharley2008]

Ron,
I think you hit the answer right on the head and this should apply to most other camping decisions.

[Donna D.]

Yep, great answer Ron! And this also has to do with size and brand of trailer desired. It's all about personal needs/wants/budget/tug, etc., etc.

Maybe I've already stated this, but FOR ME the older I get and now that I've owned a trailer with a toilet/shower I wouldn't want to be without it. I don't find dealing with the blackwater problematic anymore than cleaning toilets at home. Neither is "fun," just a necessary evil. I often equate it with changing a baby's dirty diaper, but at least I can wear rubber gloves when dumping the trailer tanks! YMMV

[Jon Vermilye]

After my wife & I found ourselves "lost" in a campground with 500+ sites at 2:00AM on the way back to the tent from a run to the bathrooms, we determined that a bathroom should be essential!

[Kip in Ga.]

Thanks for all your replies,

I agree that while others can't accurately dictate our needs or desires, they can and do offer valuable opinions as to why they do, as they do.

We have never owned a camper as small as an "EGG". And it has been many years since we have camped. So to us it is important to talk with those that have and do camp in them.

Often times those opinions will offer really helpful ideas I/we may not have considered before. I personally consider those, that currently camp a lot, to be somewhat experts compared to us, that haven't camped for many years.

For us personally, a toilet inside the camper is a necessity and a given.
Reason is that it is likely to be used every night, more than once. Reason is that I don't care to step outside the camper, once ready for bed.

Original question was whether or not a BATHROOM was worth the space it requires in such a small environment.

I've learned a lot from asking every question that comes to mind. The folks on these "EGG" forums give wonderful answers.

And we appreciate all your efforts immensely.

FWIW we decided on and accuquired a 17' (2003) Casita recently. It has the bath up front.

Reason: Even if the Shower is never used, the toilet is there for summer use. Winter camping will likely see the use of a Porta-Pottie in the shower floor and the space above the Toilet can be used to hang winter coats and such. The wardrobe that comes with the front bath is a good place for a couple of fishing rods and other tallish things.

I get up often during the night, so my wife and I sleep seperately.

The rear dinette in the 17'er is 54 inches deep. That's 8" deeper than the 16'er. (According to Casita) A 30" wide bed across the back leaves 24" of those benches unused. So that bed can be a permenate bed and not take a lot of room.
The bench area left can be a 24 inch dinette area with a folding table. Therefore the side dinette can also be left as a sofa/bed. If we absolutely positively need to have more table space for whatever reason, the side dinette can be set up fairly quickly.

The 24" side dinette is plenty wide for me and the 30 inch bed in the back is plenty for Ann as we both tend to fall asleep and stay there all night in our house on the sofas, which have a 22" and a 24" inch deep seat.

We plan to keep reading and asking a lot of questions, and hope you folks will continue to be as kind as you have been so far!

Thanks,
Kip

[kbeale NY]

I have a 16 foot Uhaul and I have not camped in it yet. I plan to use the shower area for canvas hanging storage units which are removable if we are taking a trip where there are no facilities.

[Matt in SV]

I moved the posts on the antifreeze pump mod to its own thread:

http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f...ank-44804.html

Regards,

Matt

[Borden]

Most of the areas I have camped have no water, power, or washroom. Toilet is great and shower is sometimes better than that cold northern lake.