Female urinal use

[Catch-Up]

Last fall on the Georgia section of the trail, I had the eery unpleasant experience of contacting poison ivy while squatting in the woods. If you like, you can read about my experience at http://www.appalachiantrailsectionhi...0/day-ten.html
It was SO not funny!

So I've been investigating the female urinal to see if maybe I could avoid squatting in the woods so much. Has anyone used one of these contraptions? If so, are they useful? For the life of me, I can't see how you can use them without pulling down your pants, aren't you suppose to be able to do that? Or are they just for keeping you from having to squat?

Here are a couple of the things I have looked at - anyone have a better solution? Thanks.
The Lady Elegance P EZ http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Elegance-...ef=pd_sim_sg_2

and the Sport and Travel by Freshette http://www.amazon.com/Freshette-Spor...f=pd_sim_hpc_4

[Emily Harper]

That sucks! I don't think the female urinal thing is helpful. There really isn't much you can do. Just make sure you know what poison ivy looks like and you should be golden.

[Owlbear]

Sorry to hear about the itchies in the business, sounds like a horrible ordeal!

I've been wondering about this issue myself. I've been back and forth about it a few times, I'd really like to be able to forego squatting in the woods as much as possible, but I have to wonder how well/often I'd be able to clean any urinal apparatus after each use.

If you like, you can check out the GoGirl on Amazon, that's the one I've been considering. It looks like it might be lighter weight (0.8 oz according to Amazon, but I can never tell how accurate those are) and made of squishy plastic, which sounds like it would be easier to cram in with all my other toiletries without getting in the way too much.

[RhinoMama]

Hi girls!! Wanted to say we purchased the Go Girl for ourselves. They do work. Take the time to fit it properly and you can write your name in the snow!!! HAHAHAHAHA!! I did learn to NOT be in a hurry!!! So pee before you are at the urgent stage. Just so you know, urine is sterile when it leaves the body. I have mine in a mesh bag hanging from the pack. After use, a quick rinse with water is good enough. I am not sharing this device so no need to worry about germs. Keep a mini towel just for clean up and that can be rinsed at camp.

[Wise Old Owl]

In spite of trying to figure out a device to solve your problem, think like an American Indian and learn how to identify the plant so it doesn't happen again.

Look really careful see the middle leaf is a little less than one inch on the stalk that separates it from the other two.
Now you Know.

[Hawkwind61]

I picked up a "Go Girl" a few years back...found it rather more pesky to use than usefull...only way I can figure it would be 'easy' to use would be if one hiked in a skirt, skort, kilt, or very loose shorts. I prefer convertable hiking pants...hence mine sits in a box of trail experiment fails.

[dink]

years before any of these devices were thought of, I took a tall plastic bubble bath bottle that was shaped like a long neck wine bottle, cut a 3 inch long oval in the side of the bottle...don't have to drop your drawers at all unless they are tight, just unzip and slide it into place...haven't had to squat in years!

[Hawkwind61]

years before any of these devices were thought of, I took a tall plastic bubble bath bottle that was shaped like a long neck wine bottle, cut a 3 inch long oval in the side of the bottle...don't have to drop your drawers at all unless they are tight, just unzip and slide it into place...haven't had to squat in years!

Great idea!

[dink]

Great idea!

been using the same kind of thing for 30+ years now...started because I didn't want to get out of my kayak...the bottle and a coffee can with a lid worked great!!

[CodeBlue]

I've used a few of these devices. I like the Go Girl if I'm just trying to avoid nasty toilet situations. In the woods, I still have to take off my pack and pull down my drawers to use it. For functionality on the trail, I like the pstyle. I can use it with a pack on and not have to pull down my pants. It is a bit unwieldy, but it fits in the cargo pocket of my pants.

[MissMagnolia]

I've used a few of these devices. I like the Go Girl if I'm just trying to avoid nasty toilet situations. In the woods, I still have to take off my pack and pull down my drawers to use it. For functionality on the trail, I like the pstyle. I can use it with a pack on and not have to pull down my pants. It is a bit unwieldy, but it fits in the cargo pocket of my pants.

+1 on the Pstyle, but you still have to drop your pants if you don't have a zipper unless they are loose enough to work with. Still it might help save the knees a bit with about half (?) the squatting as otherwise.

[Not Sunshine]

I beg to differ: I LOVE my go-girl! As long as I'm standing on level ground. I can't pee a straight stream to save my life - it always runs down my leg somehow. I don't understand why gravity can't be my friend when I'm trying to pee in the woods. But I tell ya - My go girl is in my pack.

[NotYet]

It's difficult to write your name in the snow while squatting.

[Drybones]

Poison ivy & oak is pretty easy to identify...look before squatting.

[HooKooDooKu]

Poison ivy & oak is pretty easy to identify...look before squatting.

For the untrained eye, I would disagree. It takes some time to learn to identify poison oak and ivy.

What is easy is to avoid touching ANYTHING with three leaves.

If you hike frequently enough, it's easy enough to learn what poison oak and ivy look like, but it takes time. Simply keep your eyes out for all plants with three leaves. After you do so enough, you will eventually begin to notice the subtle differences between various three-leaved plants. After a while, you can go back an search the web for images of poison oak and ivy, and you'll be able to compare that to the three leaved plants you've been paying attention to. From there, you should begin to have no problem picking out poison oak and ivy from other three leave plants.

I personally hiked in the woods for years not knowing what poison ivy looked like. I acquired about 2 acres of land and started to survey it. I quickly caught a case of poison ivy. So over the course of several days after work, I returned to the property with a spray bottle of RoundUp. I began spraying ANYTHING with three leaves. After the 1st day, I could begin to notice SOME three-leaved plants that were obviously NOT poison ivy. By the time I had been spraying RoundUp for about 4 evenings, I learned what poison ivy looked like simply by paying attention over time.

[quilteresq]

Ditto on the Pstyle. I don't take it all the time, but I really like it on a multi-day hike. I still have a little bag I carry with TP, the Pstyle, and some alcohol gel, but it's discrete if I need it to be. I'm planning on experimenting with hiking in my hike skirt more this summer as well. It's REALLY easy to use with a skirt - just not sure I like that mode of hiking enough to consider it for the AT.

[Nutbrown]

I am planning on buying a Pstyle too. Or fashion one like Dink did. Maybe using something that is made of the flexible silicone stuff for cooking????

[ambroseya]

From reading about it on many sites... the downside to cooking silicone would be squishing it out of shape too much so that you make an unintended mess... but if you have the money for material and time for experimentation in a safe bathroom/shower....

[OBXWaMi]

Love my P-Style. Chose it over the flexible silicone one because I was worried it be too easy to accidentally collapse it during use. I have never been able to squat and pee without either getting my clothes wet. This has been the answer!

[Catch-Up]

Thanks, ladies. I believe I will try the pstyle. I have never seen it before in my searches to find a urinal. It is different from the others and looks like it would work even though my hiking shorts do not have a zipper. I'll let you know how it works for me after my next section hike in April/May.