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Every tailgating essentials list covers the grill, the cooler, the chairs, and the team flag. Almost none of them mention the thing that actually ends a good tailgate early: needing a bathroom when the nearest one is a quarter mile away and has 30 people in line. If you’re setting up four or five hours before kickoff, you’re going to need one. Probably more than once.
Below is a complete tailgating checklist, plus a simple way to handle the bathroom without leaving your spot.
Why the Bathroom Belongs on Your Tailgating Essentials List
Anyone who has tailgated a big game knows the pattern. The lot porta-potties are fine at 9 a.m. By the last hour before kickoff, the lines are long, the units are rough, and the toilet paper is long gone. Leave your setup to wait and you miss the best part of the day. Skip the line and head behind a truck, and you’re risking a ticket and a lot of disapproving looks.
It’s a bigger deal for some people than others:
- Parents. A five-year-old who “really has to go” does not wait 25 minutes.
- Anyone with a medical reason to go fast. For people living with Crohn’s, colitis, or bladder urgency, a long line isn’t an inconvenience. It’s a reason to stay home. [INTERNAL LINK: Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation page]
- RV tailgaters. Your onboard toilet works until the black tank is full and the dump station is miles away.
- Long-day crews. If you’re setting up at dawn for a night game, that’s a full workday in a parking lot.
The Complete Tailgating Checklist
Here’s the full list, grouped so you can pack by bin.
Food and Drink
- Grill, fuel, lighter, and a fire extinguisher
- Two coolers: one for drinks, one for raw meat and food
- Plenty of water, not just the fun stuff
- Tongs, foil, cutting board, paper towels
Setup and Comfort
- Canopy with weights or stakes (lots get windy)
- Folding table and chairs
- Portable speaker and a power bank
- Sunscreen in September, hand warmers in November
Cleanup
- Heavy-duty trash bags and a recycling bag
- Wet wipes and hand sanitizer
- A lidded bucket for anything you don’t want blowing around
Bathroom
- A folding portable toilet seat
- Sealed waste bags with gelling powder
- A pop-up privacy shelter
- Toilet paper in a zip bag
That last group is the difference between leaving your setup three times and not leaving it at all.
How a Tailgate Bathroom Setup Works
This isn’t a rented porta-potty, and it isn’t a bucket behind the truck. It’s a private, enclosed toilet that packs down to the size of a camp chair.
- Pop up the shelter at the back corner of your space, against your vehicle if you can. A privacy shelter gives you a fully enclosed, stand-up space. Weight or stake it like your canopy.
- Unfold the toilet inside. The GO Anywhere Portable Toilet weighs 7 pounds, sits at about the height of a home toilet, and supports up to 500 pounds. No tank, no chemicals, no plumbing.
- Load a waste bag. Each Original WAG BAG kit has a bag pre-loaded with Poo Powder, which gels liquid and solid waste and helps control odor. The kit also includes toilet paper and a hand wipe.
- After use, seal it. Fold the waste bag into its zip-close outer bag, seal it, and set it in a lidded bucket.
- Toss it with your trash. Sealed kits go in regular trash. Drop them in the lot dumpster on your way out or take them home.
When the game’s over, the toilet folds back up and slides in next to the chairs. If you’d rather have everything in one bag, the GO Anywhere Total System packs the toilet, shelter, 15 kits, and a transport bag into a single backpack.
Check Your Lot Rules First
Tailgating rules vary a lot from stadium to stadium, and even from lot to lot. Before game day, look up your venue’s tailgating policy and check for:
- Limits on tents or canopies, including size and whether they can extend past your space
- Rules about staying within your parking spot
- Required stakes or weights for anything that pops up
- Trash and dumpster locations
Most privacy shelters take up less ground than a cooler and a chair. Still, if your lot bans extra structures, the toilet and bags work fine inside an RV, a van, or the back of an SUV with the hatch screened.
How Many Waste Bags to Bring
Each Original WAG BAG kit gels up to 32 ounces of waste and can handle more than one use, so you don’t need one per person per trip. For a group of six to eight people, two or three kits usually covers a full tailgate, with a spare in the glove box. A 12-pack lasts most crews several home games.
Keep a couple of extra kits in the car once the season’s over. A highway closure or a long drive home after a road game is the same problem, just without the grill.
Frequent Asked Questions
The core tailgating essentials are a grill and fuel, two coolers, water, a weighted canopy, chairs and a table, trash bags, wipes, and sanitizer. The item most lists miss is a bathroom setup: a folding portable toilet, sealed gelling waste bags, and a privacy shelter, so you don’t lose an hour to porta-potty lines.
In most lots, yes, as long as it fits within your space and follows the venue’s tent and canopy rules. A folding toilet with sealed waste bags needs no water, chemicals, or dumping. Check your stadium’s tailgating policy before game day, since rules about pop-up structures vary by venue and by lot.
Set up your own private bathroom at the back of your space. Pitch a pop-up privacy shelter, place a portable toilet inside, and load a gelling waste bag. After each use, seal the bag in its zip-close outer bag and store it in a lidded bucket until you toss it with your trash.
Sealed Original WAG BAG kits go in regular trash, so a lot dumpster or your home trash can both work. Keep used kits in a lidded bucket or bin during the tailgate, away from food, and drop them in the trash when you pack up.
If you tailgate with kids, an RV crew, or anyone who can’t wait in a long line, yes. A privacy shelter gives you a fully enclosed spot next to your setup. Paired with a folding toilet and waste bags, it turns a 30-minute round trip into a two-minute one.
Keep the Party Where the Party Is
The best tailgates are the ones where nobody has to leave. You already pack the grill and the speaker. Add a folding toilet and a box of WAG Bags and your crew stays put from first burger to final whistle.
Build your game-day bathroom with the GO Anywhere Portable Toilet, a privacy shelter, and a 12-pack of Original WAG BAGs. Then go save your spot.
