We spent the big bucks on a Nature's Head composting toilet. It's definitely functional as-is, but despite several good reviews from various people on this forum and YouTube, I'm a little underwhelmed as it relates to the dollars we spent. There are some design issues that aren't particularly impressive (e.g. not being able to empty the pee bottle without completely opening the toilet).

EDIT: Ours also smells, despite cleaning it thoroughly with bleach water after a couple weeks of use. It's like it's embedded in the plastic. Our next step is to clean again with bleach water, but this time with a much higher concentration.

If I were buying again, I'd go with a different manufacturer.

Craig

 

We spent the big bucks on a Nature's Head composting toilet. It's definitely functional as-is, but despite several good reviews from various people on this forum and YouTube, I'm a little underwhelmed as it relates to the dollars we spent. There are some design issues that aren't particularly impressive (e.g. not being able to empty the pee bottle without completely opening the toilet). If I were buying again, I'd go with a different manufacturer.

Craig

To each his own! I like the massively tight seal created by the nature's head when latched down....meaning yes -- it must be unlatched and partially hinged to remove the urine jug but it's a sure fire seal against odors or sloshing (but we NEVER let ours get even 3/4 full before emptying.) If you're having to completely remove the top just to remove the urine jug then that's not our experience. Regarding price -- yeah -- they're expensive. But there is a very significant amount of thick quality plastic within the toilet itself. BTW -- aside from the fan -- the entire unit is 100% manufactured and assembled in Ohio and Pennsylvania. We'd do the Nature's head again.

 

I don't mind opening the whole thing a bit to remove the urine bottle. I do wish that it was possible to see when the urine tank was getting full. I do have a spare, but filling the urine tank too full could produce quite a mess while camping.

I'm really happy with having a toilet in the van and the Nature's Head works well. Here's a report on it's performance.

Cheers.

 

Find the one your mom is ok with and your dad will agree with her, so install that one.
Make sure dad can empty it, other wise you're doing it

 

My SO wants one with a bidet… [emoji3166]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

instant bidet $12

 

We have the Nature's Head in our van and use it as our full time toilet. There's a bit of a learning curve at first but we've got it dialed in now. I do agree that the design could use a few tweaks. I think it's obvious they had to make some sacrifices due to budget. I have a post on my site with some tips.

7 Tips for Using a Composting Toilet — STOKE LOAF VAN

 

We have the Nature's Head in our van and use it as our full time toilet. There's a bit of a learning curve at first but we've got it dialed in now. I do agree that the design could use a few tweaks. I think it's obvious they had to make some sacrifices due to budget. I have a post on my site with some tips.

7 Tips for Using a Composting Toilet — STOKE LOAF VAN

Good write-up/tips. I'll give some of these a try with our Nature's Head.

 

Panasonic Portable Bidet Handy Toilette Blue DL-P300-A

Panasonic Portable Bidet Handy Toilette Blue DL-P300-A - Kitchen Products - Amazon.com

Panasonic Portable Bidet Handy Toilette Blue DL-P300-A - Kitchen Products - Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

 

I put in a cheap Camco pota poti in my van. I'm not a big fan of composting toilets my self but each to their own. We only use our van for 3 or 4 day trips so it's a different use case then some people. You might look into a Cassette toilet where you get at the cassette from outside I would have done that if it would have fit into my build.

 

We use the Thetford porta potti curve for our trips. Its been working fine for us. I too am not sold on the composting toilet idea but also didn't want to use a simple bucket (lug a loo). Seems a good compromise.

 

I have a Wrappon Green waterless commode, it’s probably the priciest mobile toilet you can get but at the end of the day it is designed as a medical device.

Wrappon Toilet System | S. E. Technologies Limited USA

A portable toilet ideal for camping and traveling. Contain unpleasant odors and bacteria and maintain a hygienic environment. It is used in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

www.setechnologiesltdusa.com

No smell, minimal cleaning and minimal maintenance. The main downside is the cost (up front and cost of use), it needs electricity to operate and that it uses consumables.

 

I thought we were going the fancy toilet direction, but really just as happy going on a short walk with a shovel much of the time.

So the toilet setup that's working for us is minimal / inexpensive / used-minimallly: basic chemical used only for liquids. We use a bag for solids (doggy bag sorta deal - advertised as biodegradeable 🤷‍♀️). Advantage to this is easy to empty and never any smell (assuming one doesn't keep the bag inside the van for long). Chemicals neutralize liquid waste pretty effectively and not too messy to dump. Solids... well... just like a dog owner would do.

We tend to use either option when leaving the van isn't an acceptable option - in town or just don't want to go outside. If we're camping disperse, we'll take a walk and use a shovel.

 

Isn't the best toilet the most expensive one?

I have had the same Coleman portable toilet for over 20 years, but only really started using it in the last couple years. I think it was $40-50 when I bought it. Now they're around $100. I see that the new ones are exactly the same, so I guess that design must be the pinnacle, and no improvements can be made. Most other brands use this same exact design. I use a bit of holding tank chemical in mine, but it's probably not necessary. Another tip; loosen the water filler cap so that it "flushes" easier.

Pros:
Small and portable
Easy to use
Inexpensive
Easy to clean

Cons:
No built-in tiedown loops
Needs to be emptied every 4-7 days depending on use (two people, but I often go water the trees and bushes)

 

Do not live in van full time. I use a Dometic # 972 with the mounting clips to fix it in place. Do not understand why a cassette toilet is any different. Both require taking the container out to dump it.

Being male, it is easy to separate the #1 from the #2. Just use a old Quik powdered chocolate container for # 1. Pour a small amount of Clorox in container to eliminate the smell. Much easier to carry the Quik container to dump it than a part of a toilet.

Shower | Orton Travel Transit (ortontransit.info)

 

To me the difference between a cassette toilet and a pota poti is that to empty a pota poti ( like mine), you have to take the top half off, which is the bowl and seat and sometimes a fresh water tank and set it aside to get at the holding tank and take that some place and dump it. In what I call a cassette toilet you open a door and the holding take slides out and you take that someplace to dump it, no moving or disconnecting the bowl, like the Winnebago Revel.

But if you go on amazon and search on cassette toilets a lot of what I would call "pota potis" are listed, which has confused me.

 

 

Now, this is the REAL composting toilet.

 

My Thetford 345 in a self-contained van made (necessary) travel under COVID isolation possible and tolerable. The Thetford cassette seals very well--be sure to think about altitude changes before opening the trap door. Walex BioPaks work much better than chemical odor controllers. They really do digest waste/paper and keep the smell under control if you have to go several days between cleanings. Another product you want in your van lavatory is the "Anti-Icky Poo" bacteria culture/enzyme cleaner (available on Amazon). Stupid name/branding, but an extremely effective** solution for biological nightmares, like dirty toilet holding tanks...or spills from dirty toilet holding tanks.

**the original Anti-Icky Poo label listed "dead bodies" as one of the things it could remediate. I was able to test this first-hand when a chest freezer filled with 10lbs of pork shoulder and 10lbs of ice failed and defrosted while I was away on extended travel. One gallon of the product was enough to neutralize the festering liquid stew into something I could clean up without lasting trauma to myself and my family.

 

Here is a new composting toilet coming to market called Cuddy. It is an Indiegogo project that has already been fully funded. Current purchase level is $600. Designer was not happy with existing solutions he was using in his van so used Covid year to design a better one to address all the issues. If your into taking a small risk and are OK with delayed delivery (Delays are common with these projects in my experience) than give it a look. They just met stretch funding goal and are now making it water resistant so it can stay in a wet bath during showers. Cuddy, the best portable composting toilet

 

Here is a new composting toilet coming to market called Cuddy. It is an Indiegogo project that has already been fully funded. Current purchase level is $600. Designer was not happy with existing solutions he was using in his van so used Covid year to design a better one to address all the issues. If your into taking a small risk and are OK with delayed delivery (Delays are common with these projects in my experience) than give it a look. They just met stretch funding goal and are now making it water resistant so it can stay in a wet bath during showers. Cuddy, the best portable composting toilet

I actually gave them a few bucks early on... but abandoned it. Hard to beat the split #1/#2 program versus the best-case situation on the composting setups.

 

I second the Wrappon toilet, dry flush. The op said cost was no issue. Hermetically sealed biodegradable five layer bag delivered after each use which can be tossed in the trash like a dipper. No tanks, no smells, but it does run over a dollar per use. Seems that it wouldn't be best for full-time van / camper living but might be ideal answer for op's parents for there sports travels. cheers, bob

 

Other than it taking forever to be delivered and getting piss poor communication about the delays from the company we have been pretty happy with our Dry Flush. I wouldn't recommend it for full timing or for campers who are comfortable with nature, but for my partner who has some medical challenges that make it uncomfortable for her to use most camping toilet solutions its been great. We do add a dose of poo powder when we use it because it seems to handle semi solids better than liquids. It is pricy "per flush" but disposing of the liner is super simple.

 

I’ve used Thetford porta potties for years in both my boats and my van. Recommend them highly, couldn’t be simpler. Empty them into any toilet. If I were doing a major van buildout, I would consider installing a cassette toilet, just to make the removal of the tank a slight bit easier - and outside of the van. But one of the things I like about the porta potty is its versatility. I can put it anywhere in the van that happens to fit. I keep it in a low blue Rubbermaid tub with the potty accoutrement (tp, etc.) that is easily tied down. As to contents, we only let #1 in there. #2 goes into a wag bag if there’s no other option nearby.

 

I like as I call them “sh*t baggers”. I put a Laveo dry flush in my last van and was unimpressed with mostly the customer service. I’m putting the wrappon green toilet in the sprinter I’m building now and it’s a great product.

 

We installed a Thetford Cassette in our first build and loved it. In this build we are using the Thetford Curve because of space restraints. The Curve is nice and tall and very comfortable but if I had more room I would install the cassette again. It is a little easier to empty than the Curve but both work great.

 

Since you said cost is not an issue, why not an incinerating toilet? You only have to empty the ashes. I don't have any experience with this in real life, but it's my dream setup. There are some that run on electricity, and some that run on propane. My ideal setup is running it on electricity so I don't have to fill up propane, but it means even higher cost. I'd upgrade the van with the highest amp alternator I can find, and install massive solar on the roof, and massive lithium battery bank.

Cinderella Comfort - runs on 240v electricity, uses about 2,000 watts per flush. Cannot find any reviews for this toilet.

The Cabin Depot Off-Grid Living Solutions

The Cabin Depot Off-grid provider of Water Heaters, Appliances, Composting Toilets, Solar Panels, Batteries, Inverters, Propane & More. Eccotemp, UNIQUE, Trojan Battery, Kedron, Samlex, Spearett, Solar Time Tracker, Coghlans, Mr Heater, Marey, ForestAir, Bliss, Firman Generator, Camplux, Martin...

www.thecabindepot.com

Cinderella Travel - runs on propane, and needs 12v for the control panel. It's not available in the US though. Have to buy from Europe. Cannot find any reviews for this toilet.

Cinderella Travel incineration toilet

Cinderella Travel (formerly known as Motion) represents an entirely new concept for waste handling in caravans and RVs. Get rid of your toilet waste in a hygienic and simple manner. The residual product is clean ash, and the toilet may be used around 70 times before emptying is required.

www.cinderellaeco.com

Cinderella Gas - runs on propane, and needs 12v for the control panel. It's larger and heavier than the travel size above. This one is available in the US. Cannot find any reviews for this toilet.

The Cabin Depot Off-Grid Living Solutions

The Cabin Depot Off-grid provider of Water Heaters, Appliances, Composting Toilets, Solar Panels, Batteries, Inverters, Propane & More. Eccotemp, UNIQUE, Trojan Battery, Kedron, Samlex, Spearett, Solar Time Tracker, Coghlans, Mr Heater, Marey, ForestAir, Bliss, Firman Generator, Camplux, Martin...

www.thecabindepot.com

Incinolet - runs on 120v electricity, uses about 2,000 watts per flush. Good reviews on YouTube.

Incinolet - The clean, eco-friendly solution

Incinolet provides homeowners with the highest quality waterless eco-friendly toilet solutions for their cottages, cabins, and other properties.

incinolet.com

EcoJogn TinyJohn - runs on propane, and needs 12v electricity for the control panel. Mixed reviews on YouTube.

Incinerating Toilet - TinyJohn - Waterless Incinerator Toilet

Incinerating Toilet ECOJOHN TinyJohn is a compact and sleek designed waterless self-contained gas fired toilet that incinerates the waste into a sterile ash that needs to be emptied periodically. The TinyJohn models provide ecological, economical, and logistical benefits and are great in areas...

shop.ecojohn.com

 

Maybe not for fulltimers, but LOVE my Laveo Dry Flush. NO tanks, hoses, vents, chemicals, cassettes to lug, dump station searches, usage or content restrictions. Check it out😃

 

You can probably find a way to mount this one. It's likely the best, because it's about $16,000

 

I use the Wrappon . Money well spent. No muss, no fuss . The cost is well worth the convenience .