Show Us Your Camper Van!

[SBrown]

Yep. Researching toilet options has my head spinning. All of them seem to be pretty awful. This is a problem, since one of the reasons for doing this is to be able to travel without using public (or others' private) toilets or hotels.

Cassette toilets/porta-pottis sound horrible and barely better than a bucket; compost toilets apparently have lots of issues, not the least of which is "blowback" (ick) and mucho-frequent dumping and problems with wet waste causing the composting part to fail and stink; dry flush toilets sound perfect until one reads the reviews and horror stories of breaking bags and such; Incinerating toilets sound perfect except they are expensive and use a lot of electricity (1 to 2 KW hours); regular RV toilets require expensive and also icky dumping. I've read about a biogas toilet, which seems pretty cool (composting toilet with a digester that converts pooh to gas for your stove). But that also sounds very complicated and potentially explosive.

We are of a certain age when bladders don't make it through the night and we want to park near our kids' homes as well as adventure camping, so taking a leak outside is not an option.

Any experience or advice appreciated.

TMI alert, but here goes ... (heh heh heh "GOES"). The portable toilet folds up, easy enough to use and store. I get wag bags and store them in a dry bag until I can throw away. If I have to go #1 in the middle of the night, I have a glow-in-dark Nalgene that I stash. The camping toilet can be set up in the front of the van overnight if it's really cold out. I use it and then put the bag outside until morning. And I take every advantage to use public toilets when on the road.

 

[jmeb]

Nalgenes that are pee bottles require a great deal of tape around them that indicates -- by feel -- that it is a pee bottle.

 

[SBrown]

Nalgenes that are pee bottles require a great deal of tape around them that indicates -- by feel -- that it is a pee bottle.

I have been searching for a photo of my actual bottle ... just found it:

The glow-in-the-dark part solves the tape issue.

 

[Tim Hodgson]

@Jerez We have the older, square, version of this toilet. It is electric and we really like it.
Believe it or not you cannot smell anything in the van. Really.
Get the hold down with it.

https://www.thetford.com/product/porta-potti-565e/

Word of caution: When my wife and I were well into dating but not yet married, we were on our way up to ski and I hadn't converted the van to 4x4 yet and I knew if I stopped on the uphill grade I would never get going on the ice up hill again, but she had to go, so she sat down on the toilet and opened the bayonette slide in the toilet and there was, well, an explosion from the air in the waste cassette because we had gone from the valley to 6,000 feet.

I cleaned stuff off the headliner for a while. I got it clean. But it wasn't the most fun thing I have ever done that involved my wife.

@SBrown you might as well just suggest an ammo box for the solid waste (called a "groover" by rafters because it leaves a groove in your butt) and a pee bottle -- because it is a mortal sin to pee in the groover.

Speaking of pee bottles. I started using them on the Grand Canyon. My wife and I were just dating when we kayaked it with raft support. She said you have to bring a pee bottle for the tent and I said I can just walk down to the river, because I already knew that you couldn't pee on the ground at the camp sites because pee contains salt and salt brings mice and mice bring rattle snakes. And there are only a few camp sites on the river so everyone of the thousands of people going down the river will use the same camp sites that you have used.

She said, no, that's not the reason, its because the scorpions come out at night and you don't want to walk around at night with them around. And sure enough, every morning of the 243 miles there were little funny looking scorpion tracks criscrossing our camp site...

So, I have been using a pee bottle ever since. It saves the toilet mostly for my wife and for me when I have to do number 2 before I get to the resort.

 

[SBrown]

... and ... I also have a series of photos in an album titled "Morning View from the Loo." Some are better than others.

This one is just because it was the first frost last year... but usually it's nice to sit on a warm sun-baked seat! People pay for a heated seat!

 

[SBrown]

...@SBrown you might as well just suggest an ammo box for the solid waste (called a "groover" by rafters because it leaves a groove in your butt) and a pee bottle -- because it is a mortal sin to pee in the groover.

A groover would work, but I like this better. More compact, you can chuck the wag bag as soon as you find a decent garbage can. Dry bag solves any leaking issues. (Well, I don't know that because I haven't had any yet.) I won't even get into the issue of females trying to poop w/o peeing too ... it's different. Did I already say TMI?

 

[Philpug]

This one is just because it was the first frost last year... but usually it's nice to sit on a warm sun-baked seat! People pay for a heated seat!

View attachment 104277

I draw the line at my tongue sticking to an ice cube. I'd put it in the sun and wait.

 

[Daniel]

It's not a pop-top or Westphalia but a Sundial camper conversion of a 1964 VW panel van upon its arrival in North America. Bought it from the original owner in Los Altos for only $800 during an extended visit to the South Bay area in 1983. She was an artist who used it as her out-of-town studio/home during trips to the desert and mountains to paint landscapes. According to her, during the 19 years she owned it, she only drove it outside California twice: to the Arizona desert and the Canadian Rockies. At the conclusion of my long visit, the van performed flawlessly during my drive back to New Hampshire (after I gave it a tune-up, oil change, etc.). It's taken me to a lot of out-of-the-way destinations/adventures around the Intermountain West since moving to Utah in late 1984 but has been in storage for about 15 years now.

Photo is of my then-girlfriend/now-wife kissing it in gratitude for getting us home from the latest adventure. She never liked sitting that far forward in a vehicle with no engine/compartment in front for protection in the event of a head-on accident.

 

[Daniel]

I spotted this stretch, split-window VW camper van along the Oregon coast in Nehalem Bay State Park just outside Manzanita, OR. We were in the midst of a bike tour around OR and far northern CA and were camped at the hiker/biker site. During a walk to the beach from our campsite, I came across this gem at a traditional campsite within the park. Visited for an extended period with the owners (nice folks) and thought it was worth posting images of the van here.

 

[Doug Briggs]

I have been searching for a photo of my actual bottle ... just found it:

View attachment 104275

The glow-in-the-dark part solves the tape issue.

That is how I mark my pee bottle, too.

 

[RachelV]

Soooooo it's not entirely accurate to say we went out and bought a used Sienna and got it lifted and are going on a weeklong camping trip in Montana next week entirely thanks to @jmeb, but it's also not entirely inaccurate.

In all its ridiculous lifted glory, still with stock tires:

On a test outing a few weeks ago:

Super simple build, really just a bed platform that we've made shorter and tweaked a bit since this photo was taken. We've been thinking about a better camping setup for a few years and with this being a social distancing-friendly thing we can do we finally pulled the trigger and plan to use it a lot over the next few months (and beyond that, but especially the next few months). I have to say the minivan really hits the sweet spot between a comfortable camping setup while still being a practical day-to-day vehicle. Pretty sure it's going to serve as my mobile ski lodge this winter as well (with the middle seats back in but still with the cooler etc in the way back).

Really we just wanted to own the two nerdiest vehicles possible, and with a Nissan Leaf and a minivan and I'd say we're there now.

 

[skibob]

Soooooo it's not entirely accurate to say we went out and bought a used Sienna and got it lifted and are going on a weeklong camping trip in Montana next week entirely thanks to @jmeb, but it's also not entirely inaccurate.

In all its ridiculous lifted glory, still with stock tires:
View attachment 106509

On a test outing a few weeks ago:
View attachment 106510

Super simple build, really just a bed platform that we've made shorter and tweaked a bit since this photo was taken. We've been thinking about a better camping setup for a few years and with this being a social distancing-friendly thing we can do we finally pulled the trigger and plan to use it a lot over the next few months (and beyond that, but especially the next few months). I have to say the minivan really hits the sweet spot between a comfortable camping setup while still being a practical day-to-day vehicle. Pretty sure it's going to serve as my mobile ski lodge this winter as well (with the middle seats back in but still with the cooler etc in the way back).

Really we just wanted to own the two nerdiest vehicles possible, and with a Nissan Leaf and a minivan and I'd say we're there now.

So what tires are you going to put on it????

 

[RachelV]

So what tires are you going to put on it????

No idea! The tires it came with are pretty new so we'll probably punt on new tires for a bit. This thing is mostly going to drive a few hundred miles on the highway and then a few tens of miles (or less) on a forest service road so not sure what summer tires make sense for that use case without doing some research.

 

[Ogg]

This thread has sent me down the rabbit hole researching camper vans and even searching for good used 4x4 vans for conversion. I really like the idea of some of the modular solutions available that can make quick conversion from daily work vehicle to adventure rig(and visa versa) viable. I can't really justify a dedicated camper rig but I can justify spending a bit more on a work vehicle that can be used for camping.

 

[SBrown]

Soooooo it's not entirely accurate to say we went out and bought a used Sienna and got it lifted and are going on a weeklong camping trip in Montana next week entirely thanks to @jmeb, but it's also not entirely inaccurate.

In all its ridiculous lifted glory, still with stock tires:
View attachment 106509

On a test outing a few weeks ago:
View attachment 106510

Super simple build, really just a bed platform that we've made shorter and tweaked a bit since this photo was taken. We've been thinking about a better camping setup for a few years and with this being a social distancing-friendly thing we can do we finally pulled the trigger and plan to use it a lot over the next few months (and beyond that, but especially the next few months). I have to say the minivan really hits the sweet spot between a comfortable camping setup while still being a practical day-to-day vehicle. Pretty sure it's going to serve as my mobile ski lodge this winter as well (with the middle seats back in but still with the cooler etc in the way back).

Really we just wanted to own the two nerdiest vehicles possible, and with a Nissan Leaf and a minivan and I'd say we're there now.

But what about toilet pics???? Am I the only one dumb enough ....

 

[Mothertucker]

But what about toilet pics???? Am I the only one dumb enough ....

Start a new thread, "Best #2 Spot".

 

[SBrown]

Start a new thread, "Best #2 Spot".

#1 for #2

 

[kimmyt]

This thread has sent me down the rabbit hole researching camper vans and even searching for good used 4x4 vans for conversion. I really like the idea of some of the modular solutions available that can make quick conversion from daily work vehicle to adventure rig(and visa versa) viable. I can't really justify a dedicated camper rig but I can justify spending a bit more on a work vehicle that can be used for camping.

I spent some time chatting with my plumber about how he really liked the Dodge Promaster for his work vehicle and then he also had it rigged so he could camp in it. That way the purchase was largely tax deductible and he could still use it for funsies.

 

[jmeb]

Soooooo it's not entirely accurate to say we went out and bought a used Sienna and got it lifted and are going on a weeklong camping trip in Montana next week entirely thanks to @jmeb, but it's also not entirely inaccurate.

In all its ridiculous lifted glory, still with stock tires:
View attachment 106509

On a test outing a few weeks ago:
View attachment 106510

Super simple build, really just a bed platform that we've made shorter and tweaked a bit since this photo was taken. We've been thinking about a better camping setup for a few years and with this being a social distancing-friendly thing we can do we finally pulled the trigger and plan to use it a lot over the next few months (and beyond that, but especially the next few months). I have to say the minivan really hits the sweet spot between a comfortable camping setup while still being a practical day-to-day vehicle. Pretty sure it's going to serve as my mobile ski lodge this winter as well (with the middle seats back in but still with the cooler etc in the way back).

Really we just wanted to own the two nerdiest vehicles possible, and with a Nissan Leaf and a minivan and I'd say we're there now.

Cute pup!

and awesome! Excited to see the build and TR. For tires, you can usually upsize a bit. I went up just under 1" in diameter. But I"m on 17" rims, and looks like you're on 18s. Roof box for skis in winter is a must.

We just got back from our 5th quick weekend outting in ours. Getting it dialed so that it takes about 3min to convert between bed and sitting setup. And about 10min to install/remove everything if not in use.

Also turns out -- because our country can't manage COVID instead of playing political football -- we've now had to cancel our small planned wedding for the end of the month. Why mention it here? Because we're now going to end of spending our wedding night in the van on a little piece of land some friends own out in the woods.

 

[jmeb]

Oh -- and FYI -- cause I learned the hard way. There are some electrical sub-systems that get activated when the doors are open. So if you're at a site and leaving them open (or using the power-doors) a lot, be mindful. Either close them up, trick the car into thinking their closed, or turn the car on once in a while.

You can easily trick the rear hatch into thinking it's closed with a well placed, scavenged boot buckle. I'll post a pic....

Push in ski buckle (or big key ring) to the latch. Second click in, you'll notice the "door ajar" light goes out. To release, just press the button to open the hatch. I used the ski latch + colorful zip ties so I don't shut the door with this in place and mess something up.

This hack enable's "bar mode" for your G&T prep station.