Have you ever been caught short, with your shorts 'round your ankles, squatting in the bush by the side of the road and panicking about redbacks invading your nether regions?

Or found yourself hovering desperately above the rim of a disgustingly insanitary roadside toilet, hitching up your trousers to avoid the tsunami of grubby water on the floor? Or decided that it's far easier simply to avoid eating solids for the duration of a four-day music festival than to risk the plastic hell of a polluted portaloo on a scorching summers day?

Well luckily for you, road trippers, the industry renowned for producing useless travel gadgets has come up with a range of ingenious solutions for those in need of something a little comfier than the verge at the side of a freeway when nature calls.

First up, we have The Ploo. This neat little flat packed cardboard box turns into a portable potty complete with hygienic poo bag and comfy seat. It can even double as a stool (get it?) and can be used again and again. Pop it in the boot of your car and roadside rest stops just got a whole lot more civilised.

But what, you say, is a girl to do when she needs a tinkle and doesn't feel it's safe to squat? The Aussie bush is a)plentiful and b)crawling with little nasties, so bringing your nether regions into such close proximity with mother nature is tantamount to dicing with danger. Enter the charmingly named Whiz Freedom. It's a bright purple, strangely shaped device that describes itself as 'The world's first and hydrophobic, anti-bacterial and eco-friendly female urine director', promising 'the convenience of voiding when and where you want'. You heard it here first…

And finally, we have the Outback Bidet, which boasts that it can fit in a glove box or even a handbag, apparently. It promises convenient push button operation, operates off a single battery and comes with a frankly quite disturbing array of nozzles.

So there you have it: slip one or all of these convenient, er, conveniences into your car before you hit the road and the pee-stop just became a whole lot pee-sier.

Ever used one of these contraptions? Tell us about it using the comments form below: