bathroom questions
How do y'all deal with going to the bathroom? Do you bring toilet paper? What do you do with used toilet paper?
Well you're going to get a lot of responses here, but here goes. I do take paper, as it tends to be nicer than leaves or whatever (and you will get that suggestion). An yes, I pack it out. You could bury it, but it takes a while to degrade, & I don't like to find someone else's, so I assume they would rather not find mine. I always take a gallon sized zip lock baggie for garbage, & that usually is sufficient to make it to a garbage can on a section hike.
I use toilet paper, and I bury it. I'm pretty sure that's what the majority of hikers do.
Please don't bury wet wipes, as they don't decompose well.
To pee, I use the P-style. Makes it easy to pee without taking off my pack, exposing myself, squatting, or even needing to wipe.
http://www.thepstyle.com/
I use the privies. They are scattered about frequently enough. I bury my waste and toilet paper on the very rare occasion I cant find a privy when the urge arrives (3 times in 4 years). I pack out disposable wipes.
My gf uses some device so she can pee standing up. She has a small water bottle that she rinses off with and a bandana to dry off. She hangs the bandana off her pack.
Go 200 feet off the trail and for Petes say stay away from any water sources!
I carry a little 4 oz squirt bottle. I use it for 2 things: to rinse off my p-style after I use it and 2, as a bidet.
I do carry some wet wipes as well, mostly to clean up at the end of the day, and I pack those out.
I prefer the woods to privies. I do carry TP, but only use it for #2. Otherwise, I do a little shake 'n dance to help drip/dry and then a daily wipe down of my ladybits with a wet wipe. Of course, I pack out both the TP and the wipes. I also carry hand sanitizer to use, regardless of whether I'm wiping (I'd prefer not to get norovirus or any other nasty bugs, and while the nurse in me can get over most of the griminess of the trail, hand hygiene is hard to let go of).
I carry TP and Wet Wipes. I only use 4 squares of TP when I poo and a wet wipe, I pack them out. I hike in a skirt and pee standing up. I have a small microfiber towel with silver for after, it hangs from my pack and has no odor. I pack a glycerin gel packet in the ziplock bag my waste paper is in to absorb the smell.
Brilliant!Originally Posted by Diamondlil
"I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list." - S. Sontag
Thank you, for that information.
I pack out tp, because I don't like seeing tp on the hike ..Kleenex travel tissues, even more so.
I did try the rapidly decomposing tp for RV or sailboat, and "green" Eco-wipes, for awhile. If nothing else, these products are a considerable improvement.
I cut and remove the cardboard roll inside the toilet paper roll: it carries better that way, requiring less volume in the backpack: 2-ply and a stronger tp if I can find it. If this, then I pack it out.
Now, to find gylcerine gel packs.
I forgot to say 1/2 cup pears, 1/4 cup raspberries makes waste come out cleaner, so less tp is needed.
Dehydrated or dried pears, or dehydrated pear sauce (not applesauce) or freeze-dried raspberries work as well.
Take with water, or rehydrate as an accompaniment to a meal.
It is a convenient amount of "human dietary fiber".
If you see honey glazed semi-dried pears, get those. I need a dehydrator and experience to make my own. I include red raspberries in my trail snack bag.
Last edited by Connie; 07-14-2016 at 11:56.
For peeing, I use torn strips of paper towels and pack them out...a very small piece absorbs a lot and a snack-size bag will hold 3 days worth. (Got that tip from Twistwrist). Paper towels are lighter and have more uses than wet wipes.
For number 2, I wipe with a few strips of wet paper towels and pack them out or use toilet paper and bury it...depends on what I packed in my hygiene kit. I also rinse with a peri bottle that women get after childbirth with a few drops of dr bronners.
I had GI issues on a recent hike and developed chafing so stopped several times during the day to use my peri bottle. Wearing a skirt made it easy to rinse and air dry.
Forgot to add that sometimes I wipe with green rhodo leaves after peeing.
If you are walking off the trail, say 100 feet or so, be totally aware of the direction you are going from the trail. It is easy to get disoriented looking for the perfect, discreet, tree, especially on a cloudy day. I always turn around and try to hone in on something unusual for a landmark so I can be sure I'm going the right direction to get back. If the urge hits suddenly, you may forget where you just came from. Suddenly you feel real stupid when you loose the trail.
Pee: "pee rag"
Poop: I usually do not use TP. I use a drop or two of Bronner soap and water. My sister uses wet wipes and packs them out.
IF I do use TP, I pack it out. Many places (Death Valley, Yosemite, SEKI, Anza-Borrego) in California (which is where I am most of the time...), you are supposed to pack TP out. Some people do. Others do not. I have never had a ranger ask to see my used TP. I have had a ranger check to see if I have a bear can.
I also hate seeing toilet paper half dug up by animals or put under a rock. I got somebody else's poo on my tarp because somebody pooped in a campsite and threw a rock on top of it.Move suspicious rocks carefully.
Andrew Skurka poo clinic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwmwxkD86Ec
Last edited by DLP; 07-14-2016 at 13:30.
There are little dogs that eat poop, the best hiking companion dog, you think?
The real reason I posted to the thread again, if you are in the desert the rangers will love you because himan waste lasts practically forever in desert-country.
If you bring the small EcoSafe toilet. I did, wuthout the seat. It was designed for river rafters (bigger model) and kayakers (smaller model). It uses RV type connectors to whoosh clean it out at a RV pump-out.
Hikers carry bear canisters, so why not?
That is how I rationalized the small Eco-Safe Toilet, no seat added, in my oversize backpack.
In fact, if the soil isn't rich with bacteria and bugs, etc. for example, above treeline in the rocky mountains, I read it is better to smear waste do the sun will quickly dry it and it will seteriorate from sun exposure.
I read that. I don't do that.
I look for thick rich soil.
I have packed it out. I find it is more practical if I get up higher in the rocky mountains, near my home, after I pooped-in-the-woods, or at a road stop entoute to the hike of the day, if not at home.
The UV rays from sunlight will sterilize poo if its smeared on rocks thinly. It works.
In desert-country 'tho there is a big fine.
I spent one winter in Arizona: they don't even want urine.
I had that eco-toilet that trip.
The ranger showed me where hot springs are, abandoned cabins and I could "primitive camp".
I had no interest in abandoned cabins, but it was great to "primitive camp".
OMG, the glycerin gel pack is a great idea!!!
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The newer adult diapers are very comfortable and you don't have to stop hiking to use the bathroom.
I can't read the sarcasm in that statement, tell me you are joking.
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