What You Need in Your Emergency Bathroom Kit
What do you need in your emergency bathroom kit? Have you ever been in an uncomfortable situation where you really needed to use the restroom but there wasn’t one to be found?
The desperate moment can be extremely painful and utterly terrifying, especially when thoughts start running through your head that your britches might not make it out of this one unscathed.
Maybe you found a restroom just in the nick of time, but you’d be too afraid to let your dog use the facility? Gross!
What You Need in Your Emergency Bathroom Kit
Whether you’re out hiking in the woods, or driving past endless cornfields out in the country and the urge becomes real, not only should you be able to find that much-needed relief, but you should be able to take care of business in a sanitary way.
You don’t necessarily have to be a prepper for this one, as this smart solution applies to everyone. Here’s what everyone needs in their emergency bathroom kit. If you missed my OTC Medications You Should Store, please read it and stock up when you can.
Tums
Dealing with an upset stomach far away from home can be awful. Make sure you bring along Tums to help bring your stomach the relief you so desperately need.
Antidiarrheal
Not too many things in life are worse than having diarrhea when you’re out shopping at the flea market or backcountry camping deep in the woods with your friends. Nip it in the “butt” with an antidiarrheal. You’ll be more than glad you have it with you!
Toilet Paper
Unless you want to resort to using leaves or skipping wiping altogether (heaven’s no), make sure you pack plenty of this no-brainer item.
Hand Sanitizer
There might not be a place where you can wash your hands after you’ve used the restroom. Hand sanitizer for afterward is a must!
Extra Underwear and Pants
This one’s not just for your little tyke who’s getting potty trained. Yep, this one includes you too mom and dad. Just because you’re older now doesn’t mean you’re not accident prone when there’s simply nowhere to go.
Make this embarrassing scenario easier on yourself by packing an extra pair of undies just in case. But don’t stop there. An extra pair of pants would be a good cover-up story and you’d be able to laugh easier afterward.
Plastic Bag or Trash Bag
You need something where you can put your child’s peed clothes, or your own soiled clothing in. I can’t think of anything better than having a few extra plastics or trash bags handy.
Pop Up Privacy Shelter
When you got to go, you got to go. When there’s nowhere to run or hide, a Pop-up Privacy Shelter can de-escalate some of your mind’s reeling hysteria and pandemonium from the situation.
Travel John Emergency Kit
These TravelJohn Emergency Kits help you to make a close-call situation a more sanitary and manageable moment. They include 3 portable urinals, 3 solid waste bags, 5 vomit bags, and they are odorless and disposable.
It’s a unisex kit that can be used for whatever bathroom emergency scenario you can think of. It also comes with an adapter and spill guard so that you won’t be cleaning up a mess afterward. (Perfect for families who travel with children who have to go constantly and dads that don’t want to pull over.)
Emergency Car Toilet Kit
Do you find it absolutely disgusting to use a portapotty, but you’re to the point where desperate times call for desperate measures? Or maybe the facility is much more sophisticated, but still nothing short of disgusting?
I wrote this post many years ago, but if you missed it, here it is: Emergency Car Toilet You Need In Your Vehicle. All you need is a #10 can, several 4-gallon bags, toilet paper, tissues, baby wipes, and hand sanitizer.
Emergency Toilet Kit
If your family is ever put in an emergency situation, or are camping at a site that doesn’t have any restroom facilities nearby, this kit is perfect to have on-hand. An Emergency Toilet Kit is a 5 or 6-gallon bucket with a toilet seat that comes attached to it.
The lid is snap-on, so it can perfectly seal its contents inside. Toilet Seat Lid. I buy a box of 500, 10-gallon bags at Costco for these emergency toilets.
Final Word
At the time it’s no laughing matter when you turn blue in the face or your eyeballs are starting to float and you’re needing to experience some quick relief. Hopefully, these items and kits will help make your future close-call situations much more manageable. Sure, they take up a little extra room in your vehicle, but when they need to be used you’ll be so glad you took them along. I’m sure that I’m not alone on this one. Please keep prepping, we must. May God bless this world, Linda
Copyright Images: Toilets Camping Deposit photos_347448486_s-2019
MORNING FROM EVANS WA. !ONE thing I like to add I am disabled I added a bed side toilet that collapse !
Hi Sarah, perfect!!! Everyone should get one of those!! Linda
I don’t often carry a “porta potty” in my car unless I am going to be far from available restrooms. BUT, I do have things in my car emergency kit that would suffice if need be!
When I go camping, I use Double Doodie Bags in my 5 gallon bucket. What I like about these is that they have a heavy duty plastic bag with odor chemicals connected to a ziplock type outer bag that has double zip closing and are very heavy duty. I have thought about making my own that might be less expensive but not as heavy duty!
Hi Leanne, I have some of those bags as well. They are best if you are camping for sure. I like those because they cut down the smell as well. But for emergencies, those would work and so will the 10-gallon bags even if we had to double them. Add some chemicals or kitty litter, or sawdust, it’s a cheap way to be prepared. Great tip, Linda
I got my bedside toilet from Walmart under $60! Being 100% disabled and cannot walk very well I use the Porta potty in a little tent ! Even been disabled I still go camping and I still prep very well
Hi Sarah, great price!! Thanks for the tip!!!!! I love it! Linda
I kind of created a chart or formula in my head as I read this.
Portable bucket toilet with toilet seat and 10 gallon bags
Coffee can toilet with 4 gallon bags
Portable urinals (Male and female) to use in any situation
Spare clothes in case of an accident: Underwear, pants and I would add socks just in case.
And with any of the above or to use in a bathroom: Toilet paper, flushable wipes, anti-bacterial gel or hand cleaner (Alcohol, soap and water, wipes) and small plastic bags for trash, poop or dirty clothing.
Also, they have those little jugs you can pee in while in the car with an adapter for women. I forget what they’re called. Hospitals have a similar device too, so I suppose you can find those in one of those medical supply stores. They might be handy, but only to urinate on the go.
I’m not going to tell any stories here, but sometimes bathrooms in stores and even restaurants often run out of paper towels, soap, etc., and are often neglected until a customer complains. And too many places have only ONE toilet. Often little thought is given to their design. And while unrelated to “having to go” sometimes one spills food or gets dirty from accidentally rubbing against something dirty, so again, spare clothing is nice to have on you or at least in your car in a bag you can grab and take into any place you go to. This idea burns in my mind as something I need to practice.
Hi Frank, we think alike! We both have a plan! We can do this, we will figure it all out and make a bag filled with what we need! Great comment! Linda
Porta potty in the storm shelter and extra in the shed. There’s a lot of things to take into consideration and you hit several good points.
Keep the TP off the ground when in a camping situation because field mice/rats can steal a roll a night for nesting. Loop some cordage through and hang it. Done right it’ll still roll off.
I’m a fan of the large Gatorade bottles. It’s an art to use it from the sleeping bag so as not to lose your heat in extremely cold weather. It’s also usable in a sniper, guard duty or still hunting situation where movement and scent can blow the whole thing.
HI Matt, those darn mice/rats. I have desert rats that frequent my yard because we live in the desert. Great comment as always, Linda
Oh, wow! This article is very vividly written! You had me squirming in my seat and feeling sympathy pains.
I’ve been there more than a few times. I think we all have. The incident I told you about, where I had to wait for the picnickers to leave so I could use the latrine, was definitely one where I felt like my britches might be in danger. But there were others. Landscaping jobs where my clients wouldn’t let me use their restroom. Once I was on a school field trip to the beach and the restroom was closed. I told my teacher I had to go and she said, “Well, just go for a swim!” I was too embarrassed to tell her it wasn’t that type of situation.
Like you said, it’s one of the worst feelings when you really have to go… but it’s one of the best feelings when you finally do! As long as it’s not in your pants!
HI Sarah, oh my gosh, you described the situations we have all been in, thank you for your cute humor! Linda
I definitely have my share of that type of “emergency” stories.
I remember once, I was home from college visiting my family over the Thanksgiving weekend. I ate way too much food, as one customarily does on that day, and two days later I was still feeling bloated. So I took a spoonful of castor oil to help ease things along.
Immediately after I did this, my mother stepped into the kitchen and said “oh, by the way, dear, I just repainted the toilet seat, so don’t sit on it for the next couple of hours.”
This is what you call bad timing!
Hi Lean, best story ever!! LOL! Oh my gosh, the painted toilet seat!! Linda
Yup, I was literally watching paint dry, and I was sure hoping it would dry faster!
Here’s a more recent one. I went on a road trip with my husband and son. We stopped at a rest area on the highway for a picnic lunch. No facilities. Son had to go. We were a long drive from anywhere, so I told him to go in the bushes. He needed toilet paper. We had just used and thrown out the last of our napkins. But we had a bunch of bananas. I ate several of them so that he could take the peels with him on his trip to the bushes.
HI Lean, oh my gosh, the banana peels! Love it! When in need we must think outside the box! Those long drives need more facilities, thats for sure! Linda
Yup! And after eating all those bananas, I was in need of some facilities myself – and my son had used all the peels!
Hi Leah, I bet you carry baby wipes or toilet paper in your car now! LOL! I love hearing your stories! Linda