Okay, this might be a little offbeat for the group, but...

[IrishAyes]

I've been looking in vain for comprehensible instructions on how to build something that I can't afford to buy retail but want for my national or natural emergency disaster kit.

In no way, shape or form could I be considered a survivalist in the modern popular sense. But many who are also favor various conspiracy theories. Hey, I'm not knocking anyone in this group because I'm sure some are true, and many offer valid speculations. It's just that that's not my personal focus. Back in the days when CD meant Civil Defense, I was heavily involved in that as a practical matter. We've all seen natural disasters aplenty, and they're only going to get worse with climate change.

So I want to ask: does anyone know of a legitimate, honest source of instruction in how a DIY can build an incinerator toilet? I'm well versed in many off grid skills, but I'm getting too old to worry about composting toilets and I retired to a tiny rural town anyway. In event of a natural disaster, they might not raise objections to the composting sort, but I want an incinerator toilet like Incinolet, which zaps everything into a sanitary, light dust which can easily be disposed.

So if anyone knows where I can find out how to build one, that would be a tremendous blessing.

Incidentally, I'm also working on a solar power source that would be able to run the device. I am quite aware that electricity might become a rare commodity in such a situation.

[Ace Acme]

1. I lived in a little cabin in the woods that just used a 55-gallon drum with a plywood top

It had a seat and lid from Home Depot on the top, and a vent pipe that went to the roof to let the moisture out. It didn't stink or anything. No muss, no fuss. I bet it would be 20 years before that drum would fill up.

[IrishAyes]

2. Sounds good. Did you have sawdust in the bottom, and if so how much?

And how did you prevent cold outside air from entering the vent pipe and freezing the user? If I can rig something like you did, it would save me a ton of $ I can't really afford. Recently I've been researching tiny house designs since my homeowner insurance would never begin to rebuild this house. I notice a lot of those people recommend sawdust toilets. Doesn't seem right for people in financial straits to have to go without.

[Ace Acme]

3. I vaguely remember using a coffee can full of sawdust or cornhusks per load.

I generally peed outside to reduce the nitrogen load in the drum. I don't remember any chill breezes from the vent.

I've been interested in tiny houses for a long time, but I've never built one. There's a new engineered design they're building in Eugene, OR. http://www.opportunityvillageeugene.org/2012/12/the-conestoga-hut.html

[IrishAyes]

4. Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

But at my age and sex, I'm not about to start peeing outside! Although I know that fresh urine from a healthy human is 'clean', so it can be used as fertilizer and/or pest deterrent.

Do you know how a person could manage urine in the drum? Natural additives? Maybe a fine screen for the barrel bottom? Maybe the vent could exit there?

[Ace Acme]

5. A wide-mouth apple juice jar is your friend. (Just don't mistake it for apple juice!)

You can dump that outdoors at your convenience, or even dig a small dry well full of gravel under your house and run a drain line into that.

I don't know too much about the mix. I just did what I was told to do and didn't give it much thought 'cause I never had any problems with it.

There's also the drum-type composting toilet, but they're pretty expensive

http://www.letsgogreen.com/composting-toilet-desc.html
http://www.trendir.com/green/composting-toilet-self-contained-bio-drum-toilet-by-sun-mar.html