How do cat (poop) holes work?

[urbankid12]

So i been trying camping out for a little bit at a LTVA but I’m not liking how whenever I’m in the vault toilet someone it trying to hurry me up so they can use it  :dodgy:

I’m in a minivan so I only have a bucket but I don’t wanna do the walk of shame to find places to toss my poop bags so I was thinking... bury it! 

I was thinking I would do my business over my bucket then use my Portable bidet over another bucket and bury them and burn the toilet paper in a small coffee can. 

Or better yet get a potty tent with no bottom where I can move it daily dug and go that’s that. 

I mean I only gotta go usually once a day and usually I been just using bottles to pee and dump according ( mixing with water as suggested by the BLM and on rocks) 

Am I missing something? It seems much easier than the bucket and trash bag method. Is burning TP bad or should that be trashed? If so using a separate zipped bag per business duty seems Sanitary 


Not wanting to start an argument so please be kind I just wanna learn more about this method tips and tricks to making it easier.  Thanks in advanced 

Signed city kid who grew up only thinking poops could be flushed individually in a plumbing toilet ?

 

[highdesertranger]

no cat holes in the LTVA. never bury any plastic bags anywhere, even the so called biodegradable ones. highdesertranger

 

[jacqueg]

Not wanting to start an argument so please be kind I just wanna learn more about this method tips and tricks to making it easier.  Thanks in advanced 

Signed city kid who grew up only thinking poops could be flushed individually in a plumbing toilet ?

As HDR said - not in an LTVA!

Everything you wanted to know - https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/dispose-of-waste-properly/

When I'm in the LTVA or a similar boondocking spot, I use a Luggable Loo.

 

[maki2]

Watch some of the cheaprv living videos for setting up a composting toilet. Put that in your shower tent. You won't need to do the walk of shame as often. Obviosly you cant fit everything you want to have inside a minivan so you have to prioritze what you need the most. That might mean you need a roof box or roof bag to get some things up top so that you have room for a compost toilet bucket.

 

[Cammalu]

You’d have to have a pickaxe and drill and very strong back to dig a hole out there anyway!!! Portapot?

 

[ridgeway]

99% of "cat holes" I have seen were a failure. A good one will never be seen.

A big problem is most cat holes are too shallow, they should be a good at least 14"-16" deep. People are lazy, soil is hard, etc. What happens many times is dogs come along dig them up and have a nasty snack. Seems to horrible to be true but happens very frequently, I see it all the time a dug up hole with toilet paper. Reason 1000&1 dog owners should not let dogs roam.

Cat holes are really designed to back country use with responsible non lazy people. The amount of work and space they take make them not very practical for long term use.

 

[Freelander]

Word of advise, when using a 'Cat Hole', its best to toss a small piece of TP up in the air first to check wind direction. You need to make sure which way the paper is going to fly.


Don't ask me how I found this out.

 

[RoamerRV428]

I’m not liking how whenever I’m in the vault toilet someone it trying to hurry me up so they can use it.

LOL well first of all you are in there and they aren't so you take your time first come, first served LOL


second I would do little pop up tent with small composting toilet. That way it is contained 'near you and private' but you do the walk of shame stuff alot less.

we all poop and yea we all gotta send it somewhere but making that little system that suits you best is what you need to experiment with mostly. 'the cat holes' are not for just crapping on a campsite near it ya know and bury etc. That is for being more 'outback' and away from 'designated' type campsites ya know and where people are stomping around, or using that area more etc...cat holes ain't the way to go, unless ya go deep, very deep and then with that amt of work?

best of luck on experimenting what works best for your setup!

 

[bullfrog]

You guys are causing my stress levels to go up. Way too many people use LTVAs to even consider allowing “cat holes”. Even on BLM now a days with 14 day stay limits it is a problem. Even in remote areas today you often will find improper deposits or raw waste sitting on the ground usually marked by toilet paper flapping in the wind, stuck in the bushes or piles of dog crap in the middle of the path. If you are going to live in a van you are going to have to compromise. If you have a way of dealing with waste then that saves you from having to use a public toilet, great, just dispose of it a properly so others don’t have to see and deal with it, otherwise get a portable toilet or if you don’t have space for it get a tent or a trailer so you do. Even million dollar motor homes have to deal with pumping tanks. Unless you live in a stocks and bricks or use a public toilet you just need to accept the fact you and everyone else needs to deal with waste correctly and there is nothing to be embarrassed about when you do.

 

[Freelander]

Tell telling a Bear he can't Poop in the woods. HAHAHAHA

 

[bullfrog]

Problem is there ain’t too many bears left to tell! Lol!!! My little 98 pound grandmother never had a problem using a big metal pot and a wooden spoon to chase them out of her yard!

 

[Gypsyjoe#1]

Problem is there ain’t too many bears left to tell! Lol!!!

I don't know where your at, but up here in northern Michigan they say we have more bears around than there has been in over a century. There are sightings all the time. We had 2 in our back yard just about a week ago.

 

[bullfrog]

I think it rather funny the Coyotes that come down into the park after most visitors are gone and the campground loops are closed off only leave their deposits on the concrete sidewalks and seldom anywhere else! In fact so much we fill buckets full before we can reopen the loops! It’s like they are getting back at us for what people do in the remote desert areas! Lol!!!

 

[metaglypto]

So i been trying camping out for a little bit at a LTVA but I’m not liking how whenever I’m in the vault toilet someone it trying to hurry me up so they can use it :dodgy:

I’m in a minivan so I only have a bucket but I don’t wanna do the walk of shame to find places to toss my poop bags so I was thinking... bury it!

I was thinking I would do my business over my bucket then use my Portable bidet over another bucket and bury them and burn the toilet paper in a small coffee can.

Or better yet get a potty tent with no bottom where I can move it daily dug and go that’s that.

I mean I only gotta go usually once a day and usually I been just using bottles to pee and dump according ( mixing with water as suggested by the BLM and on rocks)

Am I missing something? It seems much easier than the bucket and trash bag method. Is burning TP bad or should that be trashed? If so using a separate zipped bag per business duty seems Sanitary


Not wanting to start an argument so please be kind I just wanna learn more about this method tips and tricks to making it easier. Thanks in advanced

Signed city kid who grew up only thinking poops could be flushed individually in a plumbing toilet ?

In many desert areas they don't want you using cat hole latrines. I use them almost exclusively in forested areas with lots of trees, and adequate moisture, but in the desert southwest it may take years to properly degrade human waste, and then animals have more of an opportunity to dig it up and create a mess, so it is best while in areas where required to pack out your poop. I dispose of it in a dumpster at my earliest opportunity.

 

[urbankid12]

In many desert areas they don't want you using cat hole latrines. I use them almost exclusively in forested areas with lots of trees, and adequate moisture, but in the desert southwest it may take years to properly degrade human waste, and then animals have more of an opportunity to dig it up and create a mess, so it is best while in areas where required to pack out your poop. I dispose of it in a dumpster at my earliest opportunity.

Wow, over a year ago... hmm I had such a different mindset when it came to poop. haha.

I have since learned how to make using plastic bags work perfectly. Just a 13 gallon plastic bag with a little kitty litter and then I tie it off with the biggest amount of stem with the TP inside and then fold it inside out and then tie it again so it's twice layered then I put it in a ziplock bag and then it's 3 times sealed if not 4 if the stem is long enough. Simple as can be! I do have some crystal air freshner things I found at the dollar store as well for the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket to keep it smelling fresh I slept with my head 2 ft froom the bucket which I covered with the lid loosely and then a beach towel as a side table cloth..

It's extremely simple and sanitary. Only once did I have an accident in such the perfect system. their was a plastic bubble that popped in the tying process. Very minor mess but nothing soap and water couldn't fix, as I typically just use hand sanitizer.

Using the double bag system I felt 100% comfortable tossing my trash into any outside trash bin as I would my dogs poop bags. Though my dogs bags are not nearly as thick or double bagged... but in my dogs defense my dog eats a much more.... clean diet. Beyond that... I would recommend everyone to use they double bag and bucket system as it's waaaay to simple. Only issue I ever had was the bucket getting to full after 2 weeks worth of... hmmm's.... Typically once a day but a few times twice so usaully 15-17 hmmm's during my 2 week camp.

Last thing I will say is there is a MAJOR noticeable difference during the wipe-ing process when your in a potty room nervious of sombody coming to wait impatiently vs being 100% relaxed and calm... the latter is able to relax and get everything out... so yea... deffently a better system than using a public toliet.

I kid you not I'd rather use my bucket in my minivan than go inside at a rest area and use the public toliet! And in fact that is what I did most of the time... (except during the peak heat of the day in the 90's I just couldn't) There is deffently a learning curve but so is there to anything! The first time you go potty in a bucket in the back of a minivan is gonna feel weird and "wrong" but once you do it a few times you get used to it and it's just another Hmmmm... long as your window coverings are NOT at risk of falling down.. lol my back window one at times would side down a bit... but besides that no reason not to use your minivan to get your business done!

 

[DannyB1954]

Because desert land gets so dry, I don't know that it even has the organisms in the ground to decompose human waste. Toilet paper would take forever as it would dry and not rot. You have thousands of people polluting a small area, and authorities will have no option but to shut it down.

 

[BelgianPup]

I've never been to a LTVA. Presumably, anyone with a rig, from a VW Bug to a 40ft motorhome can stay there, right?

So..... What do the LTVAs want you you to do with your waste?

 

[Cammalu]

They want you to use the provided restrooms or to take it to the dump station.

 

[RonDean]

I hate the park/vault/portapotty options. I have found them too often unsanitary and unpleasant. I also dislike the public aspect. From an environmental aspect, I also know the responsible authorities (whoever that is) will have to eventually truck out the waste anyway. I think I might as well do that myself, save them the trouble, and enjoy my private moments in my rig or shower tent alongside it.

Properly separated poop doesn't take that much room, and when properly contained is not an odor problem. I keep several 5gal buckets nested for travel and available for waste storage during long stays. Like the old saying goes, Pack it in - Pack it out.

 

[Malamute]

Because desert land gets so dry, I don't know that it even has the organisms in the ground to decompose human waste. Toilet paper would take forever as it would dry and not rot. You have thousands of people polluting a small area, and authorities will have no option but to shut it down.

And this would be the major difference in my use, I rarely camp around other people unless they are close friends and in very small groups. The reason Im usually camping is the solitude.

Regarding icky public vault toilets, yes perhaps they arent as sanitary as most inside facilities, but with the available sterilizing wipes easily available, i have no problem with them when I do happen to find myself near them when then need arises.