Sanitation When Camping

When camping at a public campground or any paid camping site, you can expect there will be latrines or public toilet facilities. Sanitation when camping is usually provided in the form of a toilet block of some kind with hand washing facilities at the very least.

But if you like to pitch your tent off the beaten track, your nearest toilet — when you gotta go — may be behind the nearest tree. That's excusable in an emergency, but while doing it in the woods is fine for wild animals, it's not fine for us humans.

Uncovered human faeces is unsightly. It stinks. It attracts flies and animals. Flies lay their eggs in the stuff and spread disease. And even when the fecal matter has gone, the toilet paper you used will be an eyesore for months or longer into the future. Please don't leave your cr*p in the open.

If you're camping or hiking on your own, then a one-time-use toilet hole will be adequate. You dig this with an orange plastic trowel that you can buy at any decent camping store. You dig a small hole first, 6 or 8 inches deep and as wide as a teacup and saucer. Drop your duds and squat. Do what you have to do in the hole, and only in the hole, and make sure the toilet paper and faeces are covered up by several inches of earth or sand. Tread lightly on the mound to tamp it down a bit. See How to Poop In The Woods.

When I was in the Scouts, camping in a farmers' meadow with his permission, we used to dig a trench toilet. This is basic sanitation 101 as used by the military 100 years ago or more. You dig a trench one foot wide by two or three foot deep. Hessian or other cloth privacy screens are erected around the latrine to provide some privacy, and a bowl of water, soap and a towel are provided just outside so you can do the right thing and wash your hands afterwards.

A small shovel (or army entrenching tool) is kept next to the trench so earth can be scattered over the poop and paper when you're done. This will discourage the flies and reduce the smell that others have to deal with. For a long standing camp, lime can be sprinkled in the trench as well to hasten the natural decomposition of the faeces,

If you're camping with a car, a camper, RV or a van, you should have room for a Porta Potti or similar portable, flushable camping toilet. This brings a touch of luxury to the otherwise primitive bush toilet experience. These portable camp toilets separate into two parts... The top part includes the toilet seat, the bowl and the water tank used to flush it. The bottom part is the holding tank for the sewage and water.

The Porta Potti holding tank can be sealed shut with a lever-operated sliding trap door and the top part lifted off for cleaning. The sludge tank is then carried to a disposal facility where its contents are emptied out safely.

You will probably want to buy a toilet tent to go with your camping Porta Potti. Toilet tents can also double as a shower tent — as long as you have some means to heat the water, or if the weather is warm enough for cold showers.