Potty tents are a little bit of an investment and add to camp setup time, but are they worth it? If you’re not sure if you really need a potty tent, you’re in the right place. Below, we share about our camping toilet tent setup. And we tell you if we think it’s worth it or not.
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Jump Ahead:
If there’s one thing about camping that I hate, it’s the bathroom situation. Often, you’re given the choice between walking 5-10 minutes to a shower house (if you’re lucky) or using a pit toilet or porta potty. Believe me, I have seen some pretty disgusting pit toilets in my lifetime on camping expeditions.
After being thoroughly grossed out by pit toilets and porta potties, I started looking for a way to add comfort, convenience, and cleanliness to the situation.
Bathrooms don’t have to be the most unpredictable part of camping.
Toilet Tent Setup
For less than $200, you can get a pretty nice camping toilet setup.
👉 Take a look inside our shower tent setup below (video) 👀
Here’s what we bought to complete our toilet tent setup.
A Tall Toilet Tent
Maybe you’ve seen them but didn’t realize what it was (like me). Those tall skinny “changing tents” are actually shower/toilet tents.
Things to look for:
- Mesh bottom to allow water out so that your tent can be used for toilet and shower
- Toilet paper holder and pockets to hold things like sprays, wipes, and toiletries
- Sufficient height to hang a shower overhead, ours is 86” high
- Hook to hang a shower bag, lantern, or flashlight
- Dry place to hang a towel (ours hangs on the outside and can be reached from inside)
We bought this Ozarks Trail Shower tent from Walmart, but it’s currently out of stock. Here is a shower tent that is similar to ours. Our shower tent can be set up by one person in less than 10 minutes.
A Bucket with Potty Seat
The Camco toilet bucket with seat is a simple solution that was easy to lug around.
Inside the bucket, we just add a liner bag and a couple scoops of horse bedding pellets (we picked some up at Tractor Supply along with the buckets), similar to these small animal pine pellet bedding. They are super absorbent and also smell good.
- Pro-tip: we store the pellets in two 5 gal buckets with lids. This keeps them dry during camping and easy to lug around with our other gear.
- We also bought a feed scoop so that we can put a few scoops into the toilet bucket as needed. (Just enough to absorb the liquid).
Solar Shower Bladder with Spout
To be honest, we haven’t actually used it yet. But we are ready when we need it! WE bought a cheap one just to try it out.
Here’s a higher quality camping solar shower. 👉
It doesn’t take any extra effort to pack it with your toilet tent. You just fill it up with water and lay it out in the sun to heat up. Hang it up inside your shower tent and gravity takes care of the rest.
Is it Worth it?
So, is the shower tent worth it? The toilet bucket & tent are ABSOLUTELY worth it.
The shower aspect of it isn’t super necessary – unless you’re doing some super primitive camping longer than a night or two where you don’t have showers accessible (or backpacking).
If you’re not convinced, here are more reasons we don’t regret investing in our potty tent setup:
- Convenience: use the potty quickly in the middle of the night and get back to sleep
- Privacy: complete visual privacy, even at night (we tested it!)
- Bug-free: bugs and other critters won’t be bothering you
- Lighted: hang a light inside and have a fully lit area to do your business
- Multi-functional: Doubles as a changing room and a shower
- Time-Saver: No waiting in line
- Secluded: If you’re feeling ill, you have a private place to go to
- Comfort: change clothes comfortably without having to hunch over in a tent that’s stuffed full of air mattresses
Do you have any favorite toilet tents or potty accessories for camping?
Share your favorites in the comments below…
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