When You Got To Go, You Got To Go: A Look At An Overlanding Restroom Setup

As important as each of these modifications are, there is one addition that has really been transformative on how and where we travel. We’re talking about our truck’s restroom set up.

Yes, the call of nature is a strong one and one can’t always count on a service station or hole in the ground to come to the rescue. 

Rest stops and trips behind the bushes with shovel in hand aren’t always options when you’re roaming around on and off the highways, on the trails and beyond. Over the years, we learned from trial and error on what works for us and we’re here to impart some of that experience to you.

We’ll start off by saying that there’s probably a million ways of setting up a mobile restroom, this setup is what we’re currently running and it’s worked out very well for us so far. This system also allows us to abide by Leave No Trace and tread lightly principals of carrying out what we carry in.

How About Some Privacy

Let’s start with the privacy enclosure. We opted to run a Dirtbox Overland Shower/Bathroom awning that we bought from Tactical Vehicle Applications.

We chose this awning for its durable metal hardshell housing, tall height walls and quick and effortless setup. It can be mounted to most roof racks and fit our Front Runner roof rack with a universal awning mount perfectly. 

The awning is the quickest to set up that we’ve encountered so far. Thanks to dual gas struts and spring-loaded deployment arms, the awning sets up in under a minute, no kidding. We’ve run awnings in the past that had short sidewalls for lifted trucks and this one doesn’t disappoint.

The walls are about 74-inches tall and are further adjustable for height by a few inches. This allows for complete privacy when doing your business. The awning is just as easy to stowaway too. We’re really pleased with this awning. 

The awning has hook and loop provisions for a shower nozzle and hose to run as well as plenty of storage pouches sewn into its walls. We keep a few Shower Pouches, which are giant body-sized wet wipes, in the pockets for quick wipe downs in-between showers.

It’s actually our preferred way to freshen up since it’s so quick, easy and mess free.

Toilet Time

The heart of our restroom system is a Cleanwaste GO Anywhere Portable Toilet. This briefcase shaped and sized compact toilet quickly unfolds to become a three-legged toilet.

The Cleanwaste system relies on a plastic “Wag Bag” that holds a substance the company calls “Poo Powder.” Don’t laugh, this NASA-developed gelling agent traps, deodorizes, and breaks down waste. 

After placing the bag into the toilet’s net “bowl”, you sit and you do your business. The powder at the bottom of the bag helps solidify the deposited organic matter and liquid instantly.

After you’re done, you simply tie up the bag and place it into an included secondary zip-close bag for storage until you find a suitable place for disposal. It’s that easy.

The GO Anywhere toilet supports up to 500-pounds so it is plenty strong and the toilet seat about standard size. We have to point out that its tripod legs can make the toilet a bit unstable if you shift your weight while sitting or when you wipe.

Also, opening up the toilet is super easy but putting it away isn’t. The legs quickly deploy by pulling them open but retracting them requires Superman-strength fingers or a tool like a screwdriver to help pry a series of plastic tabs so that the legs can collapse back into the body of the toilet. We’ve packed a tool to keep with our bathroom items for just this task.

[Update to this story, since it was published in OVR Issue 09, we found an even easier to use toilet in the Instaprivy Portable Toilet Kit. Read more about it in OVR Issue 13.]

Cleaning Up

Nothing beats a completely clean feeling after doing your business. This is why we have several items to help ourselves in that endeavor.

Being that the bathroom is attached to a vehicle, we are able to use a magnetic Eezy Supplies Rig Caddy Holder to hold toilet paper, a portable bidet and some wet wipes.

The magnetic holder mounts to the truck’s body and is usually used to hold drinks, instead, we repurposed it for our bathroom items. We use a small bungee cord to hang our toilet paper from it. 

In one of the cup holders, we store a Happy Bottom Portable Bidet. Suitable for any gender, just aim the wand at the area you wish to clean and squeeze the inverted bottle.

A gentle surge of water does the rest. Pro Tip: fill it with warm water and your bottom with thank you.

For extra cleaning, we also have a pack of Sea to Summit Wilderness Wipes tucked into the holder as well.

Carry It Out

As mentioned earlier, this system allows us to leave no trace by carrying out everything we bring in. We do this by keeping our disposables in an air tight bucket in our Trasharoo spare tire-mounted bag.

Between the powder, zipper bag and airtight bucket, there shouldn’t be any unwanted aromas lurking around, but we keep it outside the truck just in case.

Final Thoughts

We can set up this portable bathroom in about five minutes and have it packed up in about the same amount of time. Thanks to this quick and easy system, we find that we feel more liberated to call on and explore nature without worrying about nature calling us in return.

This article originally appeared in OVR Issue 09. For more informative articles like this, consider subscribing to OVR Magazine in print or digital versions here. You can also find the print edition of OVR at your local newsstand by using our Magazine Finder.