The roughest part of camping has to be relieving yourself in the woods. While some camping sites offer the facility of a working toilet, most times, one is out on their own – at full liberty to exercise their mind and come up with ways to relieve oneself.
Well, thankfully, for those who can afford them and want to go the extra mile, portable toilets are now available in the market for you to take along on your camping trip. However, if you are someone who does not want their camping equipment to cost more than the trip itself and have found yourself wondering, ‘how to make a camping toilet myself?’ – then welcome onboard!
In this article, we will share the most commonly used (and easiest) DIY method of making a camping toilet. A DIY camping toilet will not only be cheaper but also easier to carry around.
What You Will Need to Make a Camping Toilet
To make a DIY camping toilet, there are a bunch of things you will need. We have listed them below:
- Epoxy adhesive
- Pool noodle
- Utility knife
- 5 Gallons (19 L) Bucket
- 10 Gallons Trash Bags
How to Make a Camping Toilet in 5 Steps
Step 1: Measure the bucket’s circumference and cut your pool noodle about 1-2 inches shorter than that.
Take a 5-gal bucket and measure its circumference with a measuring tape. This is the container that will be taking the dump, so make sure it is sturdy and made of good quality plastic. After measuring the bucket’s circumference, cut your pool noodle to a 1-2 shorter length than the circumference of the bucket. This is important because otherwise, the pool noodle will not fit the rim of the bucket.
Step 2: Slice open the pool noodle with a utility knife.
Use a utility knife to cut a slit through the entire length of your pool noodle piece. To make sure you are doing this accurately, you can draw a line through the length to follow with your knife. Pull apart both sides of the pool noodle to form an open hollow cylindrical tube.
Step 3: Use epoxy adhesive to stick the sliced pool noodle on the rim of the bucket.
Now apply an epoxy adhesive along the bucket’s rim and carefully place the pool noodle on top. Make sure that the open sides of the pool noodle cover the insides of the bucket rim. Press gently to secure the tube in place. Some people skip this step when making a DIY camping toilet, but in our opinion, it is better to do it as it prevents the pool noodle from moving sideways when you sit on it.
While it is advised to wait 24 hours after fixing the pool noodle in place for the adhesive to completely dry, you should wait at least 30-45 minutes before using the bucket for toilet purposes. For this reason, it is best if you make your DIY camping toilet before you leave for the trip.
Step 3: Place a trash bag on the bucket properly.
Once you have the pool noodle in place, the foundational structure of your camping toilet is ready. Now you should cover the insides of the bucket with one of the 10-gal trash bags all the way down to the bottom of the bucket. This should look very much like bagging a trash can. You would always want to have extra trash bags so to relieve yourself and replace the bag with a new one.
Some people tend to place the bag inside the bucket before fixing the pool noodle to the rim. However, if you can see yourself using the toilet multiple times or multiple people using the toilet, then we recommend placing it after fixing the pool tube. This way, you can easily chuck the spoiled trash bag out and place a new one.
Step 4: Fill the bucket with an absorption medium like cat litter.
Fill about ½ inches of the bucket with any absorption material. We recommend cat litter because it is easily available, but anything like sawdust or even litter will do the job. Do not forget to bring enough of whatever absorption material with you because you will further need it to cover your waste once you are done using the toilet.
This will absorb any liquid and suppress odors, which you obviously do not want while breathing in nature. You will repeat this every time you use the toilet. New bag + ½ inches of absorption material + absorption material on top to cover the waste completely.
Step 5: Attach a toilet paper roll to the handle of your bucket.
Even though this is an additional step, and you can choose to skip it if you want, it makes your DIY camping toilet complete and, of course, more convenient to use. Cut open one end of the metal handle of your bucket just so there is an opened end to slide the toilet paper roll through. You need not bend the metal wire as it’s essential for it to hold its shape for your toiler paper roll to not slide out of it.
After completing all these steps, you will get your very own DIY camping toilet.
Our Final Thoughts
There you have it, how to make a camping toilet in 5 easy steps. We chose to share this method as it requires minimal tools, is easy to follow through, and is inexpensive than some other methods you will find online.
So, if you are planning to go camping and the thought of relieving yourself in the woods is the only thing keeping you from finalizing the trip, go grab the necessary tools and make yourself a DIY camping toilet and tell your friends and family that you are ready to spend some time in nature.
