Travel potties - any use?

[LowlLowl]

I'm about to start potty training DS1. I'm all geared up for it IN the house, but unsure what to do OUT of the house. I've been looking at travel potties, but wanted some advice from more experienced people! My questions are:

1. Is it worth buying a travel potty, or is it one of the many baby-related white elephants?
2. What are the alternatives to a travel potty?
3. How long is DS1 likely to need a travel potty for? (weeks? months? years?)
4. Any recommendations for a good travel potty (not too expensive please!)

Thanks for your help!

We had a travel potty and it was useless. Dd didn't want to sit in public in a potty - she preferred to go to an actual toilet. Only took it out with us once!

We used ours all of the time! Usually behind trees and down alley ways. When she said she needed to go, she really needed to go, there was no waiting around trying to find a loo. We use a potette and would recommend.

Oh I should probably add, mine was frightened of actual toilets for months as well so we had to use a potty at home. That probably influenced the amount we used the travel potty out of the house.

We had a potette too and it was a godsend.
Definitely worth the money. We used it more as a training seat on the toilet than a potty though.

We bought a potette and DS wouldn't use it at all but he was scared of toilets too unless the child seat was on. A friend gave us a My Carry Potty and it was amazing, he loved it until he outgrew it. We also got a travel foldable loo seat which has been v useful and still gets used.

Yes for a girl, no for a boy was my experience. Purely due to physiology and angle the wee went.

We had a potette because Ds refused to use public toilets for a loooong time. He still hates hand dryers now, and it took nearly a YEAR to get him to accept using public toilets. Potette was good although the liners were quite expensive. It was worth it though

Thanks all. I think I will see how DS1 gets on with toilets before making a decision (we're in 'acclimatisation to potty in the house' week, and he's already done a wee in it before his bath, and expressed interest in the toilet, so I'm hopeful it might be quite straightforward...)

We have the potette. We used a few times on the bigger toilet seats, but DD seemed to get the hang of those quicker than I expected. I do find it really useful for outdoors though.

We used the potette for ages as dd had a fear of using the toilets without a child seat. We also used it for the occasional "I need to wee/poo NOW" on long drives. We just popped an open nappy under it in potty mode and it meant she could do a roadside wee without having to attempt squatting. We could then wrap the nappy up and dispose. Much cheaper than the liners.

DD uses the Potette and it is easily the most useful child related item I've purchased. She is scared of public loos and hates even going into one so we usually find a discrete corner/alleyway and use the potty. She also tends to suddenly realise she needs to go and shouts "I need to pee NOW" so it's useful in that we don't have to hunt around for the loo.

For a boy, also have a look at travel john disposable urinals. We only discovered them when we went on a camping trip, but wish I'd known about them when my DS were potty training. They are like a pouch with an absorbent lining, and you can re seal them so no leakages. No good for a girl but our boys could aim accurately, they have a plastic bit at the top to prevent splashes!