"I Would Absolutely Buy It Again": Unsealed 4X4 Reviews the Cuddy Composting Toilet

If you've spent any time researching toilets for 4WD camping, you've probably landed on the same question every off-grid traveller eventually asks: does a composting toilet actually work better than the chemical porta-potty you've been lugging around for years?

Unsealed 4X4 — one of Australia's most trusted names in 4WD and touring gear reviews — decided to find out. Writer Jessica Palmer took the Cuddy on a real test: four people, ten days, genuine off-grid conditions. No marketing spin, no product samples dressed up for a photo. Just a toilet, a trip, and an honest verdict.

Here's what she found.

The Verdict: "I Would Absolutely" Buy It Again

Palmer's bottom line is about as strong an endorsement as a product review gets. She concluded she would "absolutely" repurchase the Cuddy, and that she would not go back to the chemical toilet her family had used previously. For anyone who has priced up composting toilets and hesitated at the upfront cost, that's the kind of independent, no-strings-attached verdict that's hard to find.

Odour Control: The Thing Everyone Actually Worries About

Let's be honest — the number one question anyone has about a toilet on a camping trip is "how bad is it going to smell?" It's the deal-breaker question, and it's the one Palmer spent the most time on.

Her comparison to the chemical toilet she'd used before was blunt: the Cuddy "smells WAY more pleasant than a chemical toilet." She described the chemical alternative's odour as an unpleasant mix of "crap and flowers" — the smell of waste barely masked by fragrance. By contrast, once waste in the Cuddy mixes with the coco coir, she found the solids bin gave off "more of a damp, earthy smell" — closer to garden compost than anything you'd associate with a toilet.

That's the core idea behind how the Cuddy works: urine and solids are separated the moment you use it, which is what stops the ammonia smell that ruins most portable toilet experiences before it starts.

Capacity: Built for Real Trips, Not Just Weekends

For a family or group heading off-grid, emptying frequency matters almost as much as smell. Palmer's test group was four people using the Cuddy continuously for 10 days — and her assessment was that they "could probably have squeezed another couple of days out of it" before the solids bin needed emptying.

That's a meaningful result for anyone planning trips longer than a weekend away. It means fewer stops, less handling of waste, and more time actually enjoying the trip instead of managing it.

Setup and Everyday Use

Palmer also tackled the practical side — how easy is this thing to actually live with? Her finding: once the coco coir is prepared, setup takes around 15 minutes. That's a one-off task at the start of a trip, not a daily chore.

What the Review Flagged as Trade-offs

A credible review points out the downsides too, and Palmer didn't shy away from them. She noted three things worth going in with your eyes open about:

• The price. The Cuddy is a genuine investment compared to a basic chemical toilet, and Palmer didn't pretend otherwise.
• Men need to sit to urinate. Because the Cuddy relies on urine diversion to control odor, it works differently to a standard toilet in this respect.
• Weight when full. A composting toilet carrying ten days' worth of use for four people is not a light lift — something to plan for when it comes time to empty it.

We'd rather a reviewer tell it straight than gloss over the parts that don't suit everyone. It's also worth noting the Cuddy comes with two solids-bin options and a dedicated travel bag, both of which Palmer called out as genuine advantages for 4WD-specific use — extra flexibility and better protection for the unit when it's bouncing around in the back of a vehicle on corrugated tracks.

Why This Review Matters

Unsealed 4X4 isn't a brand ambassador program or a paid placement — it's a title Australian 4WDers already trust for straight talk on gear that has to survive real conditions. When a reviewer with no reason to be generous comes away saying she'd "absolutely" buy the product again, and that the odor control alone changed her mind about composting toilets, that's the kind of validation that matters more than anything we could say about our own product.

You can read Jessica Palmer's full review, including her complete testing notes, over on Unsealed 4X4.

Considering a Composting Toilet for Your Own Rig?

If odor and emptying frequency have been the things holding you back from switching from a chemical toilet, this review is exactly the independent data point worth reading before you decide. Have a look at the Cuddy composting toilet range, including the standard Cuddy and the Cuddy Lite, and see which setup suits your travel style.