[SHOT Show 2020] InstaPrivy Offers Portable Toilet With Privacy

The SHOT Show isn’t just about guns, and a walk through the many crowded aisles will reveal a wide array of products. When I walk the show floor “trolling” for interesting products to share with readers, I sometimes find some unusual things… like this portable folding toilet seat that includes its own privacy shelter.

We all have to, um, ‘go potty’ — and as outdoors people, we often hear the call when we’re far away from certain comforts of home. InstaPrivy provides a kit which they believe solves that problem by providing what you need — including a privacy tent that you wear on your head like a giant beekeeper’s hood. This was demonstrated for me and in just a few seconds, there she sat inside the shelter, hidden from view.

There’s a little folding seat, which collapses nice and flat when not in use. The seat has “teeth” to bite down on a plastic bag so it the bag doesn’t slip out while you are filling it.

It comes with a backpack kit, which contains hand sanitizer, seat covers, plastic bags, toilet paper, and a small shovel if you decide to forgo the bag. The backpack also holds the folding seat and the “shelter.”

I put shelter in quotes above because it’s pretty much just a fabric tube with some spring-steel hoops inside to hold its shape. The top end of the tube is enclosed, and you wear that like a hat. Let the tube fall down around you as a privacy barrier, and you’re good to go.

There’s a little pocket inside for your TP and hand sanitizer, and a ring of screen at the top so you can see out. The screen also acts as a vent.

The total weight of the “system” is about 7 pounds.

Here’s a silly commercial for the InstaPrivy.

Paul Mangum invented the InstaPrivy, and says he came up with the idea during his 21-year military career in the USMC. He also says he prefers to hire military veterans when possible.

The MSRP on this kit is a hundred bucks, which seems kinda high from here… but perhaps I’m stuck in the last century, when a C-note was considered big bucks. At any rate, it appears that you can get one on Indiegogo for $80, or a 5-pack for $390! Wowsers.

More than once, I would have liked to have just the InstaPrivy shelter so I could take a leak without advertising when I was up to, and the little shelter would be handy for more than just privacy. Ever had to drop a deuce in a swarm of mosquitos? At least this shelter would help slow down the skeeters’ rush to get at your tender tidbits.

What say you? Thumbs up or down on the InstaPrivy?

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.