Already a name in clean-operating waterless RV toilets, Swiss brand Clesana recently introduced one of the most user-friendly portable off-grid toilets out there. The all-new X1 makes deucing in the woods more convenient than before with a telescopic body that lifts to residential-grade height and a dry flush system that auto-processes waste for easy disposal. It gives other new options like the CompoCloset S1 some serious, comfort-boosting competition.
To put it bluntly, shitting in the woods can be a dreadful task. You may very well be dealing with biting flies and other fluttering pests swarming around you, lightning striking on the not-so-distant horizon, rain or snow, extreme darkness, and maybe a roll of toilet paper you accidentally dropped in a mud puddle. Not fun. And all you want to do is simply answer the primal call as quickly as possible and get back to the comfort of your sleeping bag or folding chair.
An unstable, low-sitting kiddy toilet only makes the process that much worse. Portable toilet manufacturers often focus on creating compact designs that are fully optimized for packing up into small RVs and overloaded SUVs. That’s important, too, as you can’t use a toilet that didn’t fit in the car, but such designs often trade comfort and usability for small packaging. This may not be that big of a deal – better than trying to mine a cathole in virtually impenetrable, rock-loaded dirt – but it could certainly be done better.
Clesana
The Clesana X1 is proof. Measuring in at 34 x 38 x 31 cm (13.4 x 15 x 12.2 in, L x W x H), the X1 is a compact, near-cube box that takes up only a little more volume than the 40 x 30 x 28-cm (15.8 x 11.8 x 11-in) Eurobox commonly used for transporting camping gear (and as the basis of some portable toilet designs). Not only is it small, but its boxy design promises to pack tightly and neatly with Euroboxes and other square-cornered storage solutions and gear.
Using a simple telescopic body construction, the X1 slides upward at camp to raise seat height from just under 31 cm to 41 cm (16 in), a common residential toilet seat height in both Europe and the United States. So adults no longer have to squat down uncomfortably, enjoying a homier pooping experience.
Clesana
The X1 isn’t just convenient by way of its telescoping build and higher seat. It uses a dry flushing system that strikes us as the least disgustingly “hands-on” way of dealing with human waste when one is not piped directly into the plumbing grid.
Like similar toilets, the bowl area is lined with a bag-like film that catches excrement and urine. Users can add a solidifying agent to urine and looser stool to firm it up for easier transport.
When finished, the user “flushes” by pushing a button that activates the thermoelectric system that seals the film closed and cuts it into a baggy that then drops into a lower compartment, where it can be easily accessed via a slide-out tray. The user simply disposes of the bag in the trash, much like one would do when cleaning up after a dog.
Clesana’s film was originally created for the medical industry and creates an impermeable, odorless bag for maximum convenience and hygiene.
Clesana
For fully off-grid, standalone use, the X1 can be powered by an available 18-V rechargeable battery that secures to the side. The toilet can also plug into a 12-V vehicle outlet or a 100- to 240-V AC outlet, giving users plenty of flexibility in powering it for different scenarios, whether inside a vehicle, at a cabin or farther afield.
Beyond just camping, the X1 is aimed at boating, 4x4ing, and use in professions that see one out in the field for hours on end. At 24 lb (11 kg), it’s light enough for one person to transport and even has a retractable handle for easy carry.
“The X1 can be used anywhere a toilet is needed,” Clesana CEO Daniel Beller said ahead of introducing it at the 2025 Caravan Salon. “Whether camping, on construction sites, in tiny houses or in entirely different environments.”
Clesana
While dry-flush toilets strike us as the most user-friendly portable toilet solution – much better than cleaning out a cassette toilet’s sloshing, waste-loaded holding tank or composting one’s own feces – throwing away bagged waste for each toilet use doesn’t seem the most eco-friendly practice. The film is plastic-based, so that’s more plastic going into landfills and the greater environment.
With that said, Clesana has been working diligently on alternative films for years. The problem it’s found with creating a properly biodegradable film solution is that it would essentially eliminate the convenience of the dry flush system. Such materials would begin to degrade within hours of contact with organic material, a real issue for a product designed for camping and traveling off-grid. You may not fully dispose of the baggies (or larger campsite garbage bag) for days or weeks, and you don’t want baggies full of waste breaking or leaking in the meantime.
Earlier this year, though, Clesana announced the completion of a bio-based liner material made using biomass and recycled materials, a breakthrough that followed a decade of testing and development. The company says the finalized Bio foil provides the full and appropriate level of impermeable barrier protection and odorless performance.
Clesana currently advertises the Bio film for its C1 RV toilet only, but it has not yet added the X1 or any X1 film products to its online web store. Hopefully, the Bio film will be compatible with the X1, offering what might just be the portable off-grid toilet market’s best combination of convenience and eco-friendliness.
Clesana
Clesana plans to begin production of the X1 in the coming weeks. It does not currently advertise an MSRP, but at least one retailer has the X1 up for a preorder price of €990 (approx. US$1,150). That’s well more expensive than a simple portable cassette toilet or a dry separating toilet but is in line with other thermoelectric auto-sealing portables. Given the added telescopic comfort, neat-packing cube form and flexible power options, the X1 seems like a very strong contender out of the gate.
Source: Clesana
