EC Bathroom Layout Question

68camaro

Any River...Any Place
With the EC (EarthCruiser) bathrooms layout and location, which requires natures calls to be done in middle of tight living quarters, is there ever problem with odors from usage or while waste stored in toilet?

For people with EC's is lack of privacy ever an issue, especially with lady folk?

Thanks
 
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Howard70

Adventurer
Our current EC has a composting toilet and we never have a problem with odors. Our first EC had a cassette toilet which also had no problems with odors but we rarely used it. For us the composting toilet was a significant upgrade.

The privacy thing is completely dependent on someone's comfort with their traveling companion(s). If you can't imagine your companion being in the same room with you when you're on the john then you might not be comfortable. Due to the layout of the house the toilet is not in anyone's line of view and there is a divider that slides across the entry to the bathroom so there is moderate visual privacy. Audio is less so.

The layout of the bathroom compared to the rest of the house was one of the main things that initially attracted us to EarthCruisers. We like having the bathroom provide an entry way for muddy shoes, etc. Other layouts that isolated the bathroom inside the house just wasted way too much space for us.

Howard
 

BillFitz

Member
A funny question....but legit.

I have found that most ladies who enjoy camping have to come to grip with this subject a long time ago. An EC’s toilet inside the living space is a thousand times better than a pit toilet, a pubic toilet, or a portable toilet in a tent. But if your traveling companion isn’t yet comfortable with bodily functions in a smallish space like an EC’s house, perhaps you should take an EC or expedition vehicle off your wish list.

Honestly, there is no way around doing your business inside an EC’s house especially when the weather sucks outside, but that being said, consideration goes a long way.

I have no problem with my wife doing her business any time. But she is more refined than I am (but not by much), so I do her a favor and if we’re on the move, I’ll use public toilets for my malodorous business. When we‘re camped, I tend to do my business when she’s asleep. Household bathroom sprays help.

As far as the smell from the cassette when not in use, we use a natural, non-harmful RV odor control in our flush water, and more importantly, empty the cassette every single day. We‘ve become pretty adept at finding dumps, pit toilets, and legal places where the cassette can be emptied, which is one of the cassette’s pluses. People think you’re rolling a small piece of luggage into the freeway rest stop toilet. And if we’re boondocking for a long while in a place where it’s legal and we’re a long way from a water source, we’ll dig a deep hole and dump the contents in there.

And like Howard said, a composting toilet is probably a better option if you can wrap your head around the fact that you’re composting your poo inside the toilet. My bride said “no way”, so we have the cassette.

As you can see, toilet use and science is a mind over matter thing. If you or your partner can’t envision doing your business in the combination bedroom/dining room/living room/kitchen of an expedition vehicle’s house, you should save yourself a lot of grief and go in another direction, or get a new partner.

One more thing, I’ve seen questions on the forum about the side to side sleeping arrangements in an EC and how, in the middle of the night, does someone climb over their partner to go to the head. Again, consideration goes a long way, do your business before you go to bed. In our case my wife sleeps all the way to the rear and if she has a late night nature call, she’s quite nible and can climb over me without waking me up. For that, I am grateful.
 

68camaro

Any River...Any Place
Bill and Howard, thanks for response. I felt odd asking question but inside bathroom is big reason I went from tent to small camper instead of van. At our age convenience and comfort take priority in travels.

Right now we have a Chinook RV and it has dedicated wet bath in rear corner with door, next to rear entrance. Sitting/sleeping/eating area is in front of camper while cooking in middle so it works really well for this issue. The ER and Provan Tiger bath is similar setup but the Chinook is obviously not in the same league with EC/ER/GVX/Tiger etc (Hence why we are looking to upgrade.) I think GXV bath is in middle but has fixed space with door.

My 17 yo daughter hates outside/outhouses/pit toilets but when there is no other option it stops becoming an issue..haha...

My biggest issue isn't really spouse but when traveling with other family member or friend. My trips are short in nature but most all boonedocking and winter is my favorite time. And I am thinking more how others would feel, and even me with less close company. Reality is most all trips are solo but do occasionally bring someone.

Thank you for your condor.

Chuck
 

Howard70

Adventurer
Hello Chuck:

Given your situation - usually travelling solo but occasionally bringing someone, I would personally not let the potential suitability of the bathroom layout for guests be a major factor in my decision, but you'll need to decide that!

It sounds like the relatively rare guests could vary - one time a long term friend, another time a junior family member, etc. I suspect that within that field you'll find some folks who aren't comfortable with any toilet layout in a small enclosed RV, others who would prefer the enclosed room as you describe in your Chinook, and others who won't care. I'm guessing that potential guests with the least amount of camping and RV experience will be less comfortable anywhere on that spectrum!

Howard
 

DiploStrat

Expedition Leader
Question: What do you mean by "EC"? Earthcruiser; that is a specific vehicle or expedition camper of any make?

Howard70 has already made most of my points, but, to recap.

My wife (then girlfriend) and I began traveling/camping/overlanding together in the early '70's. (This is one of our earlier trips: https://pbase.com/diplostrat/norcam73) After years of searching in the bush for something resembling privacy - that is, some place without a village full of kids watching, indoor plumbing is a complete joy. Our bath has a door, but I would note that some well known overlanders of our generation make the point, emphatically, that you should know your traveling partner and that they use a portapotty in a drawer as they refuse to give up the space for a dedicated bath.

Both our Tiger and our current XPCamper have dedicated baths, albeit small wet baths. With a clean sheet of paper, I could copy Earthcruiser and put the bath/toilet in the entrance. Scholars debate this, but I have never met an Earthcruiser owner who doesn't simply love this setup. Close second is using the bath as the passage to the truck cab - anything to save space.

We had a Natures Head in the Tiger. The XPCamper came with a cassette and we assumed that it would be fine as it is the defacto industry standard. We HATED the smell and replaced it with a C-Head. I like the C-Head a bit better than the Natures Head because the container has no square corners and, even better, the bucket simply lifts out through narrow doors without needing to be tipped, covered, etc.

So the first question - possibly squeamish ladies, show them this:


1604856534611.png

Makes the case for indoor plumbing. As for smell, install composting toilet and the problem is solved. I agree with your daughter - I hate outhouses.
 

68camaro

Any River...Any Place
Given your situation - usually travelling solo but occasionally bringing someone, I would personally not let the potential suitability of the bathroom layout for guests be a major factor in my decision, but you'll need to decide that!

It sounds like the relatively rare guests could vary - one time a long term friend, another time a junior family member, etc. I suspect that within that field you'll find some folks who aren't comfortable with any toilet layout in a small enclosed RV, others who would prefer the enclosed room as you describe in your Chinook, and others who won't care. I'm guessing that potential guests with the least amount of camping and RV experience will be less comfortable anywhere on that spectrum!

You are most likely right, it will be only be on occasion so maybe I am overthinking.

Question: What do you mean by "EC"? Earthcruiser; that is a specific vehicle or expedition camper of any make?

I am referring to the EarthCruiser EXP and FX, however the Terranova looks interesting but I haven't seen interior layout.

We had a Natures Head in the Tiger. The XPCamper came with a cassette and we assumed that it would be fine as it is the defacto industry standard. We HATED the smell and replaced it with a C-Head. I like the C-Head a bit better than the Natures Head because the container has no square corners and, even better, the bucket simply lifts out through narrow doors without needing to be tipped, covered, etc.

Makes the case for indoor plumbing. As for smell, install composting toilet and the problem is solved. I agree with your daughter - I hate outhouses.

I actually like our black tank in the Chinook but I am ready to give it up for a cassette or composting (not sure).
 

Steve_382

Active member
I see these as emergency use only. We have survived 12 years, 165,000 miles, and hundreds of days in our Sportsmobile without ever doing our business in the van. Lots of pee bottles at night of course, but those are easy to deal with. There have been a couple of times when it was a bit dicey though. Depends on where you are going and what the weather is. I am looking at the small GXV Adventure Truck that has a combo wet bath and also at the new EC TerraNova which will likely have the same bath layout as the other ECs for our next rig. Thanks for all the comments.
 

DiploStrat

Expedition Leader
Dang, what was her reaction once she saw the cat?

African laxative? :)

Actually, I suspect that the photo is a Photoshop exercise. That said, we used to use two tents and our children were always taught the rules:

-- Lions in the camp? Bang on the pan! (Each tent had a saucepan and wooden spoon.)

-- Elephants in the camp? Relax and be quiet. (They love to munch Amarula berries.)

Hyenas, on the other hand, are simply nasty.
 

gdaut

Active member
I have not owned or used an EC, but I have an XP Camper which has a similar bathroom setup, in that it does not have a hard door closure (it is a curtain). There is a vent fan directly above the toilet/shower, so odors while in use are not usually an issue, but the inside of the camper is a small space, so.... We have a Thetford cassette toilet, and have not had issues with smells from that (although I hear the composting toilets are the way to go). Without a hard door, it someone is doing their business and someone else is in the camper, there is a loss of privacy. But, I almost exclusively travel with my spouse of 30+ years. On the rare occasion when someone else needed to use our toilet, I just hung out outside.

Everything in campers is a compromise, and overall I like having the less private toilet. Enclosed floor to ceiling toilets with hard doors are nice for privacy, but the take up a lot of space and also they partition the inside of the camper. The toilet on the XP (now Nimbl) folds down, making the inside of the camper feel much more open and light. And it is an efficient use of space.
 

Michelle@EarthCruiser

Supporting Sponsor
When we introduced a the bathroom as the "mudroom" we heard alot of questions about privacy. Overtime that has stopped being a concern as we have made the door more solid, the walls a bit higher and people have gotten used to the idea (and love the space savings). We have also redesigned the 'bathroom' with more storage, toilet 'doors' and a more useful sink. I was initially against the composting toilet but I am a convert! It doesn't smell, it is easy to use (better if you sit) and we've never had an issue with bugs or anything else. I think the cassettes are excellent, easy to use and to dispose of waste and I would never have black water (not that I've had any experience with it but the thought is ...).
 

BillFitz

Member
Bill and Howard, thanks for response. I felt odd asking question but inside bathroom is big reason I went from tent to small camper instead of van. At our age convenience and comfort take priority in travels.

Right now we have a Chinook RV and it has dedicated wet bath in rear corner with door, next to rear entrance. Sitting/sleeping/eating area is in front of camper while cooking in middle so it works really well for this issue. The ER and Provan Tiger bath is similar setup but the Chinook is obviously not in the same league with EC/ER/GVX/Tiger etc (Hence why we are looking to upgrade.) I think GXV bath is in middle but has fixed space with door.

My 17 yo daughter hates outside/outhouses/pit toilets but when there is no other option it stops becoming an issue..haha...

My biggest issue isn't really spouse but when traveling with other family member or friend. My trips are short in nature but most all boonedocking and winter is my favorite time. And I am thinking more how others would feel, and even me with less close company. Reality is most all trips are solo but do occasionally bring someone.

Thank you for your condor.

Chuck
Ah, a 17 year old. Now it makes sense. Let her control her own destiny. Get her a small portable or foldable potty and a potty tent. Show her how it assembles and works, then give it to her to use. If she wants privacy, poof, she’s got privacy. :)
 

68camaro

Any River...Any Place
Ah, a 17 year old. Now it makes sense. Let her control her own destiny. Get her a small portable or foldable potty and a potty tent. Show her how it assembles and works, then give it to her to use. If she wants privacy, poof, she’s got privacy. :)

I actually have a "potty" tent I have used to change from work clothes to fishing attire when sneaking off on lunch to hit river outside office building when strippers and shad running.

Actually it's good idea though.....could I not set tent up and transfer cassette or composting from bathroom area to tent?
 

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