Date:         Thu, 20 Jun 2013 16:45:37 -0500
Reply-To:     mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject:      Re: DIY Westy chuck box
Comments: To: Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <qjlN1l01F08X5Fr01jlRMG>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8

---- Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET> wrote:
> I do not have much experience with the various brands of potti's out there, but I assume something like the thetford may actually be >odor free?  The whole idea of hualing around human waste, well.. let's just say it doesn't exactly appeal to me.

For odor free porta potti (isn't that actually a trade mark, rather than a generic?  Oh well), the best thing I have found is a bucket, biodegradable plastic bags, Poo Powder (registered trademark), and something like rice hulls or excelsior to go with the Poo Powder.  Poo Powder is Polyacrylamide with some deodorizing additives, which forms a gel when it absorbs liquid.  The resultant material when it interacts with human waste is odor free, semi-solid, and the bag is legal to dispose of in public solid waste, or can be buried if in the wilderness.  Polyacrylamide is the same stuff that is in disposable diapers.  However, in the case of Poo Powder, the material interacts directly with both waste types and renders them relatively inoffensive.

I do dispose of the bag as soon as possible.  I have yet to learn if the Forest Service and NPS are ok with the bag going into a vault toilet, but even though the bag is biodegradable, I suspect not because it doesn't degrade immediately, and might clog the vacuum they use to empty the toilet.

Google Poo Powder, you will find it for sale.  My christmas present a couple of years ago was the largest sized tub sold retail.

David McNeely