View Full Version : pee in a bottle or not
mweinstone
01-28-2006, 18:03
only sometimes when im in the winter i use a colapsable water bottle to pee in the middle of the night or in the early morn.its so hard to get dressed and get out sometimes.then you have to rinse it and carry it .does anyone else ever do this?i know the couple of times ive done it ,it was alot less energy wasted but also it was kind of imbarressing to talk about.i learned it out west on the divide but used it as a kid on the AT.whats your method of dealing with cold nitime trips to the woods to pee?signed,...small blattermat.
Hikes in Rain
01-28-2006, 18:10
Um, don't drink so much? I headed for the woods. I can just see it, it's dark, my contacts are out and I can't find my glasses, I've been snoring so my throat is dry and there are two bottles.
mweinstone
01-28-2006, 18:30
i drink a gallon a day in the city.its cause im thirsty.but if you did try it i think you would feel like me,.....its great but its gross.in the future tents will hve privies.and further in the future the trail will be heated and air conditioned.with a monorail.okay this thread is stupid.im sorry.
MisterSweetie
01-28-2006, 18:48
mweinstone, unquenchable thirst is a sign of diabetes. If that's a potential concern (based on your body type and eating habits), it's worth checking out. Don't mean to pry, but I'd rather you know and find out than not know and I not have said it. My mom is diabetic, and she'd have been much better off to have found out years earlier.
As for peeing in a bottle, I think that's pretty common! Lots of people keep an empty bottle for just that purpose.
Um, don't drink so much? It's not that simple if you have an enlarged prostate. Multiple nightly trips are the norm no matter when you stop drinking. Under hydrating to avoid these trips is a very bad idea. Better to sleep hydrated and pee more often.
The problem of mixing bottles is simply avoided if you mark your pee bottle with a skull and cross bones.
To save weight, I use a ZipLoc pea bag, the gallon size. Not that I need a gallon, but the wide opening is very useful not to pee on your sleeping bag in a small tartptent. There is no need to talk about this with anyone on the trail if you don't want to. Discreetly empty the bag in the morning, either in the privy or in the woods.
I put the pee bag in a second gallon bag to store cleanly in my backpack. Both are marked with a skull and crossbones so I won't accidently use them to hold food.
I find that the small stout Koolaid or Countrytime lemon ade bottles work best. Once the top is removed the large openings are funnel shaped to help prevent spillage and they hold a bladders worth.
Chuckle... I used to use a pee bottle (empty gatorade bottle - wider mouth is a good thing!), until I went from ground pounding to hanging in my hammock. The first night I swung between the trees I actually tried the pee bottle in the hammock........I won't go into any details, but let's just say I now step out of the hammock and go behind the tree.....:o
Jeez, I pee in bottles all the time. I've even peed in my food pot to avoid leaving the tent when its cold. I always reach out the tent and dump it though...
mweinstone
01-28-2006, 20:11
all yall bottle peein biatches is crackin me up.everybodys got their own special bottle.i seriously thaught i was a freak.when you pee in your cookpot ,youve obviously lost the battle that goes on in your head when you wake up at 4am ,...the one that goes,...oh man..i gotta go.nah i can wait,....crap ,i cant wait....oh man i waited to long......oh well....
Just Jeff
01-28-2006, 20:26
Some people wrap their duct tape around their pee bottle to mark it.
all yall bottle peein biatches is crackin me up.everybodys got their own special bottle.i seriously thaught i was a freak.when you pee in your cookpot ,youve obviously lost the battle that goes on in your head when you wake up at 4am ,...the one that goes,...oh man..i gotta go.nah i can wait,....crap ,i cant wait....oh man i waited to long......oh well....I've even done it in my house so I don't have to go downstairs or wait for my turn...used to do it all the freakin time in college when I was the lone male living in a house with 10 females and two bathrooms...In fact this habit has been with me as long as I can remember..car trips...
When I worked at the mello yello bottling plant we peed in bottles all the time
When I worked at the mello yello bottling plant we peed in bottles all the time
Nooooooooooooo.................................... ....!
No......but I might have if I'd ever worked there.
.. although some not so successfully. A few years back someone was named Ziplock after an unfortunate accident.
.. although some not so successfully. A few years back someone was named Ziplock after an unfortunate accident.Didn't someone female hike with a five gallon bucket...
hikerjohnd
01-28-2006, 22:02
thought about carrying a pee bottle - but when I start packing and the scale comes out, it is usually the first thing to leave behind...
Why not use depends instead. Works well on a long day of football watching.
Being serious though....I use a bottle all the time.
smokymtnsteve
01-28-2006, 22:07
Why not use depends instead. Works well on a long day of football watching.
Being serious though....I use a bottle all the time.
U must be related to ronnie reagan :rolleyes:
No.....but I did meet him once.
Only when it is bitter cold, or raining. And, I use a zip lock, usually a empty food bag, after use, I mark it with a piece of duct tape, and put it in another zip lock. Have gotten 2 - 3 uses, but usually I throw it away at first chance.
Doctari.
betic4lyf
01-28-2006, 22:34
if it is diabetes get it checked immediately. if it is type 1, like me, it can get serious fast. when i was at the hospital, they checked my blood sugar, and the first time, it was something like ten times the normal amount. and i was going every hour, to thirty minutes. or you could just pee outside. something to try, is just to go out the tent door.
What were your symptoms? Besides the frequent pee I mean.
mweinstone, unquenchable thirst is a sign of diabetes. If that's a potential concern (based on your body type and eating habits), it's worth checking out. Don't mean to pry, but I'd rather you know and find out than not know and I not have said it. My mom is diabetic, and she'd have been much better off to have found out years earlier.
As for peeing in a bottle, I think that's pretty common! Lots of people keep an empty bottle for just that purpose.
Question: How do you tell a non hiker from a hiker.
Answer: A non hiker has a canopy over his bed. A hiker has a canopee beside his bed.
Weary
I carried a pee bottle for the first week or so. I was pretty unsuccessful at hitting it without making a mess. So I stopped, just got up and got out of the tent even when I was cold and tired. I found that's better than a wet sleeping bag. Guess it's easier for guys...
mweinstone
01-28-2006, 23:36
someone must have told me it was bad as a kid .
digger51
01-28-2006, 23:38
I always cary a liter wide mouth soda bottle after stepping out of my tent one night at Muscrat Creek Shelter and stepping in something someone was too lazy to walk to the privy to deposit.
It only took one winter trip to convince me that a pee bottle was a must! I don't want to get out of that bag until morning when it's cold!
Warm weather is no problem ... I'll hop out of my hammock two or three times a night if I've kept well-hydrated.
One thing though; don't empty your pee bottle in the privy, as I believe it kills the decomposing organisms that are hard at work there. Just empty it in the woods. Probably shouldn't even pee in the privy period, bottle or no.
My room mate pee's in the same water bottle he drinks out of all the time. I guess he rinses it out each morning. It seems really gross but he hasn't gotten sick yet.
Rain Man
01-29-2006, 00:08
One thing though; don't empty your pee bottle in the privy, as I believe it kills the decomposing organisms that are hard at work there. Just empty it in the woods. Probably shouldn't even pee in the privy period, bottle or no.
Not so fast! The old composting prvies were that way. The new mouldering privies need the pee. Don't you ever read the instructions while sitting in privies??? LOL
Rain:sunMan
.
sliderule
01-29-2006, 00:17
...it was kind of imbarressing to talk about.
You are 44 years old. You have come to an internet forum to seek advice on how to relieve yourself. And you are embarrassed. Imagine that!!!
Only when it is bitter cold, ZipLocs are perfect for winter camping. You pee in the bag, and set it in the snow just outside your tent. In the morning you invert the bag and dump out a frozen yellow brick that buries itself in the snow. No one likes to get out of a tent at ten below to pee.
What's the difference between a mouldering and compost privy?
tarps folks, tarps. just lift the side and let it fly. all you got to do is roll over.
My room mate pee's in the same water bottle he drinks out of all the time. I guess he rinses it out each morning. It seems really gross but he hasn't gotten sick yet.Won't make you sick! Urine is good for you! (unlike turds, don't eat them)
I use a empty mylar bag, the kind use in boxed wine. weighs an oz or 2. For those new to backpacking and the pee situation, you'll learn fast to use that bottle in lieu of getting out of a warm bag. Women can use a lady-j, but it takes some practice to use it in a tent.
Men, you GUYS have it sooooo easy when it comes to this peeing thing
Men, you GUYS have it sooooo easy when it comes to this peeing thing
My wife can put up with the peeing problem, its the lack of clean hair and makeup she can't do.
Big Dawg
01-29-2006, 07:55
This thread is crackin me up!! But I'll have to admit, I've used a bottle too when it's real cold or heavy rain. Using a ziploc sounds interesting, & lighter too!
Not so fast! The old composting prvies were that way. The new mouldering privies need the pee. Don't you ever read the instructions while sitting in privies??? LOL
Rain:sunMan
.
You're right, I stand corrected. Actually the AT Conference has an entire 220 page manual on trail sanitation that can be accessed here:
http://www.appalachiantrail.org/atf/cf/%7BD25B4747-42A3-4302-8D48-EF35C0B0D9F1%7D/Sanitation_Manual_rev.pdf
Quickly though, regarding pit toilets and composting privies:
"To minimize the labor of handling bulking materials and emptying
compost chambers, or if there is any uncertainty over the capacity
of a composting toilet or privy to treat leachate, it is best to separate
urine and feces by providing urinals or asking users to urinate
in the woods."
And regarding moldering privies:
"Unlike pit privies and batch-bin composting operations, which usually ask users to
urinate in the woods (to reduce odors and to minimize the amount of bulking agent
needed to absorb liquid), at all but the highest use levels, separation of urine from
the compost mass is unnecessary in a moldering privy, which actually benefits from
the liquid provided by urine."
The difference between the two seems to be the temperature at which the decomposition takes place, composting is hot and moldering is cool, although many other factors are considered. Just another reminder to get your ***** together!
Thanks Rain Man!
hopefulhiker
01-29-2006, 12:28
Its a personal preference. I spent a long time debating with Buffulo Bob about the size of the bottle on the AT last year...It is real convenience sometimes when it is real cold or pouring down rain..Also can be used as an emergency water bottle!
mweinstone
01-29-2006, 13:42
stop this madness
Just Jeff
01-29-2006, 14:53
With a hammock I can stand up and pee out the side of the tarp. Helps in the rain.
sliderule
01-29-2006, 15:01
I spent a long time debating with Buffulo Bob about the size of the bottle on the AT last year...It is real convenience sometimes when it is real cold or pouring down rain..Also can be used as an emergency water bottle!
All this has got me thinking about my next invention. I think I will market it as the Bladderpus. (I am sure that Cascade Designs won't mind.) My design will be unisex capable, having both a male and female end. And it will be equipped with a check valve to prevent accidental ingestion of the contents.
But size is important. Perhaps I should apply for a federal grant to study the average nocturnal output of AT hikers. A secondary focus of the study would be to investigate the affect of elevation on bladder capacity, so as to increase the chance of AMA funding.
So look for me at a shelter near you. I will be using my new trail name: "Dipstick."
Hikerhead
01-29-2006, 15:04
With a hammock I can stand up and pee out the side of the tarp. Helps in the rain.
I don't even have to get out of my bag with my Clark.:D
I had the pleasure of making a deposit at the Springer Mtn. moldering privy Saturday and it said not to pee. Now I'm confused:-?
Kerosene
01-29-2006, 17:11
I don't even have to get out of my bag with my Clark.:DYes, but you need to remember to be careful about that first step in the morning! :banana
Big Dawg
01-29-2006, 17:26
stop this madness
Hey, you asked for it! :D
Hikerhead
01-29-2006, 18:42
Yes, but you need to remember to be careful about that first step in the morning! :banana
Always remember to go out on the other side and don't do it if you stored your pack underneath. You might think of doing it, but don't. :jump
Lone Wolf
01-29-2006, 20:06
only sometimes when im in the winter i use a colapsable water bottle to pee in the middle of the night or in the early morn.its so hard to get dressed and get out sometimes.then you have to rinse it and carry it .does anyone else ever do this?i know the couple of times ive done it ,it was alot less energy wasted but also it was kind of imbarressing to talk about.i learned it out west on the divide but used it as a kid on the AT.whats your method of dealing with cold nitime trips to the woods to pee?signed,...small blattermat.
Pee in a bottle? How dumb. Get your butt up and do it like normal.
smokymtnsteve
01-29-2006, 20:08
Pee in a bottle? How dumb. Get your butt up and do it like normal.
even @-50F :bse
Pee in a bottle? How dumb. Get your butt up and do it like normal.
I'll take dumb but warm. It would have to be shirt sleeve weather before I'd even consider going out in the middle of the night. Half asleep, I'd probably step on a rattler or off the side of a mountain.
even @-50F :bse
The Long Yellow Icicle ! ! :jump
smokymtnsteve
01-29-2006, 20:34
one of the LNT principals is
PLAN AHEAD AND PREPARE.
so before going to sleep one looks around thier campsite and decides where to go pee before it gets dark and you get sleepy. that way in the middle of the night you don't go stumbling aimlessly around in the dark.
as to rattlers and cold weather ..those suckers ain't active in cool weather.
I'll take dumb but warm. It would have to be shirt sleeve weather before I'd even consider going out in the middle of the night. Half asleep, I'd probably step on a rattler or off the side of a mountain.
be careful, you could fall off the couch and die.
orangebug
01-30-2006, 10:22
Drinking less water and removing the prostate gland are not viable solutions.
One of the byproducts of metabolism is WATER. If you have been exercising all day, eat a few thousand calories and go to bed, you will need to follow Nature's Command at some point in the night.
One lightweight solution would involve bringing a Foley catheter and running the tubing outside your shelter. Just don't trip over it with the balloon still inflated. :eek:
Just Jeff
01-30-2006, 10:50
Just don't trip over it with the balloon still inflated. :eek:
I am going to be sick.
nyushka42
01-30-2006, 11:04
Some people wrap their duct tape around their pee bottle to mark it.
Ah, another use for duct tape!
Wear a diaper - problem solved.
Cut a flap in the floor of your tent about 8 inches square. Leave one side uncut for a hinge. Add velcro to the 3 other sides. Keep flap sealed with the velcro when not in use. Simple, huh?
Cut a flap in the floor of your tent about 8 inches square. Leave one side uncut for a hinge. Add velcro to the 3 other sides. Keep flap sealed with the velcro when not in use. Simple, huh?
a dookie door. nice
Can't u see I'm trying to eat my lunch........this lemonade just isn't the same now!
mweinstone
01-30-2006, 15:01
bladder exploding...........must.....call..............9.. ...1...1...............ohno!
Just Jeff
01-30-2006, 16:16
I'm just never going to pee until I get back home. Problem solved.
And if I can't hold it, I'll pee in your bottle.
About my third night out and very new to shelters I was trying to fall asleep in one (can't remember the name) that was full and the guy right next to me starts peeing in a bottle in his sleeping bag. 'What the hell?!' I thought. And I thought snoring was bad. Than I realized that I was just jealous.
But Girls, all is not lost, I learned a secret while I was out there. Boys, you are going to have to close your eyes for this one. Apparently some women cut down one of those yellow heet bottles making a rectangular funnel. All you need to add is something like a peanut butter container to catch it and your all set. I think. You still won't catch me doing that in a shelter though.
Skidsteer
01-30-2006, 22:52
About my third night out and very new to shelters I was trying to fall asleep in one (can't remember the name) that was full and the guy right next to me starts peeing in a bottle in his sleeping bag. 'What the hell?!' I thought. And I thought snoring was bad. Than I realized that I was just jealous.
But Girls, all is not lost, I learned a secret while I was out there. Boys, you are going to have to close your eyes for this one. Apparently some women cut down one of those yellow heet bottles making a rectangular funnel. All you need to add is something like a peanut butter container to catch it and your all set. I think. You still won't catch me doing that in a shelter though.
I'm not sure if I could ever get my eyes shut again after seeing something like that! ;)
I once camped out in my station wagon at a trailhead in N.H. The rain was pouring down, but I had to go. I found a 16oz. drink bottle on the floor. Kneeling awkwardly, I soon found that the bottle would not hold enough. Out into the rain I went.:o Oh well!:rolleyes:
Great idea about the ziplocks. From my HH, I just stand up thru the slit, conduct 'bidness' and toss the bottle near a tree. I don't have to leave my sleeping bag, just drop back into my zone. Come to think of it, much easier than going at home; I wonder what the little woman would think of suspicious gatorade bottles lying by the dresser?
Just Jeff
01-31-2006, 11:08
I once camped out in my station wagon at a trailhead in N.H. The rain was pouring down, but I had to go. I found a 16oz. drink bottle on the floor. Kneeling awkwardly, I soon found that the bottle would not hold enough. Out into the rain I went.:o Oh well!:rolleyes:
Why didn't you just dump the bottle out the window and fill it up again?
mweinstone
01-31-2006, 19:02
i just moved my start date up to feb 12th if my ride plan solidifies.you know what this means?even more oppurtunity to do wee wee exsperiments!
oh and by the way,....mister 16 ozs isnt enough?yall needs ta be super sizedin that thang.im serious man.get away from my sleeping bag when you do that s**t.an dont be commin round here till you git youself a damm ol milk gallon an sh**.damm homey!