Bathroom / NObathroom?

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by tractors1

Want a happy wife? No more midnight rain runs to the outhouse





Get a toilet and a warm seat cover for her night time runs......



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075644BC8/ref=dp_prsubs_1

The "happy wife" thing is probably true for many people. We're the opposite. When I bought our trailer I must have asked her a hundred times if she was sure she didn't want an onboard bathroom. I was met with enfactic NO. Even today if the subject comes up there's no regrets and if we were to want to buy another RV the bath wouldn't be used.
I know that our camping quirks aren't for everybody. There's things I know I would miss out on by using an onboard potty.

[John in Santa Cruz]

and my wife and I are firmly in the 'wouldn't want a trailer without a toilet' camp. shower is mighty nice too, even tho most of the time when we're dry camping my 'showers' are more like sponge baths. We could live without the air conditioner, we've never used the microwave, but the toilet gets used, a lot.

[Ed Harris]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

Exactly. If we didn't share our thoughts and ideas on things, we would have no need for a forum.

If course it is up to each individual to make their own choices, but for many it is good to see what others do and draw from these ideas to formulate their own.

I thought it was obvious that I meant to each his own and that this is simply a personal decision and sort of not something to be sold or defended,there is no right or wrong way to look at this.

Sorry to offend.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by tractors1

Want a happy wife? No more midnight rain runs to the outhouse





Get a toilet and a warm seat cover for her night time runs......



https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075644BC8/ref=dp_prsubs_1

That looks like a seat cover that would get messy in a hurry. I know it wouldn't work here, but in outhouses I make my own seat from rigid Styrofoam. Your but warms up almost instantly when set upon it.

Originally Posted by Ed Harris

I thought it was obvious that I meant to each his own and that this is simply a personal decision and sort of not something to be sold or defended,there is no right or wrong way to look at this.

Sorry to offend.

No worries Ed, we all have the right to an opinion, and you did ask why it mattered so I responded with my own thoughts. That, and I do care to hear other's reasoning on things, it is how I learn.

Originally Posted by Ed Harris

Why does it matter what anyone else prefers?
I like what I like and could really not care less about anyone elses reasoning about this one.

[CindyL]

Toilet. We had a porta-potty in the 13' Burro, but while it was nice in the middle of the night, it was a pain in the way when there and a pain to take out of the way during the daytime. The Uhaul VT had a wet-bath that we rarely used for showering, but to have the porta-potty in it was wonderful. Then we found a campground in FL where we may snowbird when I retire that required a sewer. We tossed around the idea of faking it or adding one, but ended up buying the BIgfoot Silver Cloud. It has a large bathroom with even a BATHTUB! We lost our ease of getting around going from 17' to 28' but the bathroom helps make up for that, believe me.
I would not go without some kind of potty facility for any camper.

Cindy Anderson

[tractors1]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

That looks like a seat cover that would get messy in a hurry.

Not really if both sexes sit to take care of business. We have two, at the end of a trip the used one goes in the dirty laundry and the clean cover gets installed for the next trip.

[Francesca Knowles]

Cindy's post points up an important distinction IMO, snowbirding/fulltiming is far different from using a trailer recreationally as we do. I wouldn't try to live full time without my own dedicated bathroom space either.

[Franswa]

that Silver Cloud ain't no "trailer"....it's a house...a nice house...on wheels


checked the registry....lovely "trailer"....living/dining room at the back,where the best view so often is....and three big windows to enjoy it all


that was a great score when you picked that up!

[Fred762]

WE have a full wet bath(Head in navy terms) in the 2018 Casita Independence Dlx but decided to save the black tank only for 'emergencies'.

WE have camped over 55 nites since picking up the TT last April at the Rice TX factory and so far only have had to use the BT a couple of times at nite in rainy weather ...for #1..tho we would use it for #2 if necessary, and keep "black tank chemical" in it.

Have used the shower a few times and the outside shower once or twice. I and the wife prefer the bathouses if possible. That's just our preference.

[Glenn Baglo]

Hope you realize that the black tank works best when full of #1 and #2 and a product such as Odorlos to break up the material, so that it doesn't form a solid pyramid in the bottom of the tank.

Best to just let it go, not hold it.

[John in Santa Cruz]

yeah, when you dump the black and after you've rinsed and drained the rinse water, then close the black dump valve, put at least 2 gallons of water in there (several *full* toilet bowls worth), and dump in your preferred deodorizer (I use these, https://www.amazon.com/Walex-TOI-917...s/dp/B0006GF5S )

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

yeah, when you dump the black and after you've rinsed and drained the rinse water, then close the black dump valve, put at least 2 gallons of water in there (several *full* toilet bowls worth), and dump in your preferred deodorizer (I use these, https://www.amazon.com/Walex-TOI-917...s/dp/B0006GF5S )

We have always done just a cup of two of water with the deoderizer, then add liquid as we go (pun intended) .

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by Jim Bennett

We have always done just a cup of two of water with the deoderizer, then add liquid as we go (pun intended) .

Hummm, doesn't that small amount of water just go down into the discharge pipe and leaves the bottom of the tank dry? I'd worry about pyramids...

[John in Santa Cruz]

the catch is, nearly a gallon goes into the drain pipe before you have /any/ liquid on the floor of the black tank.... and you want an inch or so there so you don't end up with a 't-p pyramid'

[CindyL]

Originally Posted by Franswa

that Silver Cloud ain't no "trailer"....it's a house...a nice house...on wheels


checked the registry....lovely "trailer"....living/dining room at the back,where the best view so often is....and three big windows to enjoy it all


that was a great score when you picked that up!

Thank you. We love it, although we feel like we are not part of the molded group anymore, despite the fact that we are. We do not get the comments that we did when we had our Burro or Uhaul VT. Not a problem; we enjoy our space. We do still get offers to buy it from those who know it is the largest molded camper.

CindyL

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Hummm, doesn't that small amount of water just go down into the discharge pipe and leaves the bottom of the tank dry? I'd worry about pyramids...

We rarely produce pyramids , and by the time we dump there is hordes of liquid and all solids have been broken down by the treatment.

We have never had a problem in all the over 20 years of using trailer plumbing.

[Kai in Seattle]

Haven't found a trailer bathroom yet that's quite big enough for me...horizontally gifted as I am...and haven't wanted to spare the real estate or deal with the water tanks at all, having seen a couple old ones face to face.

The right porta-potti at the right time, stowed in the right niche with the right potti-protocol will solve the midnight express issues. We clean ours every day, no matter what. But we do it on our schedule, never in the middle of the night outside.

When we redid Peanut, we planned exactly where it would live. We also only camp with a jug of water, no plumbing any more. Broken plumbing was one reason we had to completely gut Peanut in the first place, neither of us could bear to put it back in.

As for bathing/showers/sponge baths...you can wash yourself down easily enough semi-dry, but it's hard to get a decent ladies' hair wash that way. On the other hand, the Victorian approach, a lady only bathes on her day of birth, her wedding day, and at death is a little too meager. Pony tails, hats, campground facilities and the occasional countertop basin wash sometimes work fine.


IMHO......YMMV

BEST
Kathleen

[panhead_mike]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I have a lot more use for a bathroom in my trailer especially at night then I do for a storage locker . My trailer is for eating , sleeping and living .
The back of my truck is for storage
I am almost 70 and age dictates my priorities

I'm with you on this one. You might get by one night without a bath and shower, but if it's more than that, please stand down-wind of me. It's not age but common sense that dictates priorities.

You live in your trailer with a shower the same as you live in your house with a shower. I've been traveling for almost 50 years and there is nothing like starting the day with a shower and a hot cup of tea...and not tea with a string attached to the bag..I'm Canadian!

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

.......but it's hard to get a decent ladies' hair wash that way.

I often help my wife wash her hair when there is no shower, and she has a lot of long hair, full of body. We heat up about 2 litres of water, wet her hair after which she lathers, then she bends over and I strategically pour the remainder on her head as she rinses with her fingers. Works great.

[Francesca Knowles]

It wasn't so long ago that a lady's excuse for blowing off a date request was that she was "staying home to wash her hair", it was always a production before the days when showers were a novelty rather than the norm. Daily brushing with a bristle brush goes a long way towards keeping hair clean, likely the main reason for the old "hundred strokes a day" mantra.
Related side note:
I recently cured my dog of a skin problem by STOPPING her regular baths, instead brushing her much more often. I'd been advised that the natural oils removed by frequent bathing were better for her skin than any treatment I could add.She now gets a bath perhaps once a month if that, (more if she finds something disgusting on our acreage to roll around in lol). And her skin is healed.