Camco 5.3-Gallon Portable Toilet - Features Detachable Holding Tank w/Sealing Slide Valve & Bellow-Type Flush - Easy Transport w/Compact Lightweight Design & Carry Handle - Gray (41541)

I decided on this Camco 41544 toilet because of 1) the shape of the waste tank and 2) the seat height and 3) the piston pump (instead of bellows or battery operated).1) Many reviews of the "square waste tank with inset handles" type toilets complained that solid debris had a tendency to get stuck in the inside corners of the tank. In my one-week testing of this toilet I found that crap can stick to just about any surface if you don't use enough water. Lesson learned: don't be stingy with water. Especially just before emptying the tank, I fill the bowl several times with clean water then flush (WITH THE LID DOWN).0) Lesson 0 (before lesson 1). Only flush with the lid down. If there's enough water in the bowl to cover the sluice gate (aka flush valve), there's a chance that it will "burp" when you open the gate. After the first incident I didn't experiment with different sluice opening speed (which may have an effect on the splash). I simply reduced the odds of splash back to zero by closing the lid first. This rule should apply to any toilet of the sluice gate / sliding hatch variety.2) The height of the seat on the 5.3 gallon model is about an inch shorter than our "normal" (Home Depot Glacier Bay) toilet at home. Although I don't see a need to build a platform for underneath, I might buy/make a tray that will allow me to strap down the toilet when in transit.3) The piston flush system. Water is sprayed into the bowl by lifting and pushing down (slowly) on a handle at the rear corner (left side as you face the front of the toilet). The handle has a small rubber piston attached to the bottom and pumps water both on the up and down strokes. This allows you to very easily add as little or as much water to the bowl as you want. And with very little effort. I have mild arthritis in both hands and using the pump doesn't cause any pain whatsoever.When I first put the toilet into "test" service I noticed that water was slowly leaking around the "screw cap" that keeps the piston assembly in place. Not gushes, but a few drops with each pump cycle. Enough that it started dripping down the back of the toilet with each use. Instead of being silly and sending the toilet back as defective I unscrewed the cap and removed the piston assembly. Upon close examination I found that the large O-Ring seal inside the screw cap had a small crease in it. Probably not seated all of the way into its groove when first installed. So I sent an email to Camco about the problem. I never got a reply reply from Camco. Perhaps the happy face customer service person was on vacation. Within several days a package arrived with a replacement piston assembly, so they are paying attention.Bottom line is, the problem was resolved quickly.This part is irrelevant to what brand of toilet yo buy. This one came with two sample Camco branded drop-in TST odor control sachets. They look a lot like dishwasher detergent pods. I'd already decided to give Simple Green a try (1/2 cup in the clean water tank before filling) so I haven't bothered to use them yet. After a week of daily use there was no odor so I thought I'd found a cheap and eco-friendly method of controlling portable toilet ordors. And then I emptied the black water tank. The task of pouring it down our bathroom toilet made the bathroom smell like a ripe pit latrine (outhouse). Which is what it's supposed to smell like without fancy treatment chemicals, right? Next time I'll use the TST drop-ins and post an appropriate review with that product if I buy a pack of them.

For those of you who are embarrassed by the truth of going potty please don't read this. This will be descriptive within reason.Bought this recently so my wife didn't have to go dig a hole out in the wilderness to use the bathroom. She also has IBS so sitting there digging a hole is not fun when an episode kicks in. Before we went out to use it, I thought to take it myself and give it a go. Setup is easy and not very heavy even with the 3 gallons pre-filled before the trip. The two halves clamp together with no issues and from the dry testing I did it seems to have a good seal.Going #1 outside is a breeze for guys right so I sat in this thing to somewhat simulate a women going and well it wasn't to bad. All the waste goes where it should without splashing all over the place. If your a guy and would like to go in this rather than walking out of the tent then I would warn that you likely will get some splashing. To reduce this, flush it a couple times so water is filled into what I called the exit hole area. Then just aim right and it wont make much of a mess. For the ladies this should be no problem at all. Open the latch to the holding take and away the waste goes. Close the lid and ready for the next usage.Going #2 is fine so as long as it is a normal one. As recommended by another user, just pre-flush so the sides are lubed up a little to avoid sticking. If you are one of those power poopers who have those that crest the water normally then you might want to open up the latch to allow for room but it will stink up some obviously. If you have explosive then you might want to shower after cause there is no way that it will not splash up on you, sorry just the truth here. (Update 11/11/21: Works fine for the runs, just open the latch to prevent splashing.) This does seal up really good so no worries about smell while it is not in use. Obviously, once the latch is opened you will get a whiff of what is in there but typically you can just hold your breath while that happens until shut.Update 11/11/21: The black water tablets used for RVs work wonders in this. Breaks all down to liquid. Makes cleanup EASY but still gross.Cleanup was not hard but was pretty disgusting. The tablets included do a good job at breaking stuff up to a nice think liquid. I just dumped it all out in the toilet and all was well. I didn't have to use gloves as you can hold it in such a way that your hands will not be in the way of the dumping. Get it close to the toilet bowl to avoid splashing. You will need to put in fresh water a couple times to swirl around to clean up residual waste sticking around the wall of the inner holding tank. Once all that is done, you can go outside and use the hose to clean it up even better.Over all did what it was supposed to do and other than an easier way of dumping and cleaning will give this a 5 star.