Toiletting on the Trail

[sbhikes]

Grass works well, too. Just make sure you check it for ticks. I think sage is the best (good smell!) but I don't think it grows on the AT.

[Smile]

Doc Bronners! OUCH.
.

yes, definately skip the Dr. Bronners, and the Gold Bond in the GREEN bottle ladies!

There is this mesh yellow material ( somebody help me out here) it's like an absorbent felt, you can use that during the day multiple times, put on the outside of pack, it dries and then wash each night ( or during day) and it works really well. Learned this from some FL hiking ladies a few years back. They come in big sheets so you can make a bunch from one cheap purchase.

SBhikes, pee device from a salad bottle - very clever! I've heard about these....but never used one, here's a link to the P-mate, very interesting site, but about that 100% guarantee policy ( don't buy a refurbished one
http://www.pmateusa.com/home.html

And believe it or not a glove for winter with a "snot spot" built in!
http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___11666

[kanga]

There is this mesh yellow material ( somebody help me out here) it's like an absorbent felt, you can use that during the day multiple times, put on the outside of pack, it dries and then wash each night ( or during day) and it works really well.

in the past, i just cut a green pack towel into a quarter of the normal size, using the quarter that had the snap webbing on it. it was absorbent felt like?

[Smile]

Kanga, that might be it, it was a like a pack towel, but not shammy like.
Pack towel sounds like it might be a better choice actually, less thick, easy to wash out/dry. Sunshine does wonder for bacterial control as well.

[kanga]

kinda like this but kelly green. plus it's so old i think it actually says cascade on it..

[Smile]

Yup, that will work, and the yellow color is perfect, and small piece of that sort of screams "don't touch me!" hanging from the back of your pack
( like yellow snow)

[Blissful]

I like my tp. I have to say...

[Smile]

Oh yeah, still the ultimate

[daylaandjasper]

I'm a fan of the Pee bandana for #1, tp for #2. I have carried wet wipes before but found the antibacterial ones made my skin irritated and made chafing issues worse.

[m_factor]

There's a good book out by Kathleen Meyer called "How to $hit in the Woods" (It's really spelled with and "S" but the autocensor didn't like it). It describes techniques appropriate for different types of environments. Desert is different than rainforest is different than canyon, etc.

Along the AT, if you are sufficiently far from trail, water, shelter and campsites, it is generally acceptable to bury your TP as long as you truly bury it properly. Your cathole should be at least 6" deep and still be in bioactive soil in order to aid decomposition. Unfortunately, most people do not make the effort to dig a suitably deep and wide cathole so you'll see toilet paper flowers here and there. If you want to be sure not to contribute to that particular problem, just carry out all your TP. Use ziploc bags and maybe an opaque plastic shopping bag for "privacy".

For what it's worth, if I'm just stopping to pee, I'll usually carry any TP I use out with me or at least carry it until the next time I get to a privy.

Do NOT try to burn your TP where you use it. You don't want to take the chance of starting a forest fire. Besides, if it's wet, it doesn't burn well.

If I carry my TP and later find a suitably hot campfire in a well established fire ring, where the wind is blowing away from everyone, and nobody is cooking anything over the fire, then I might consider burning the TP. But usually in this case, there's a nearby privy to use and I would rather just dump it there.

Along the AT, you'll find privies where you are encouraged to pee in them and privies where you are encouraged to "pee in the woods and poop in the privy". Both are correct for the type of waste management they use.

Don't be afraid to change up your approach given the situations you find yourself in.

There are some bushes along the AT with dinner plate sized leaves. I use them where available. Just know your poisonous leaves and avoid them. I also use the pantyliner trick at times. There are plenty of other solutions being bandied about here, too.

One more thing... tampons, pads, wet wipes, food, and anything other than TP and human waste do NOT belong in the privy. They take much too long to break down (if ever), may attract animals, and end up having to be pulled out by hand - YUCK!

Also, just because something says it's "biodegradable" (like some wet wipes) doesn't mean it degrades quickly or should be left in the woods or privy.

Hope this is helpful,

Mara
Stitches, AT99

[TinaLouise]

There are some bushes along the AT with dinner plate sized leaves.

Also, just because something says it's "biodegradable" (like some wet wipes) doesn't mean it degrades quickly or should be left in the woods or privy.

Mara
Stitches, AT99

When I can find them, I like sasafras leaves. I've started not carrying TP at all and instead I use a PeeStyle. I do carry wet wipes but prefer to pack them out.

I didn't know that about the "biodegradable" wet wipes until I attended a talk given by our local sewer management to our boy scout troop leaders. I had no idea that those wet wipes didn't break down as I "thought" that was what was ment by the word "biodegradable". Needless to say, I don't even flush them in a toilet now.

TinaLouise

[hontassquirt]

sorry for the dumb question here... i always use TP. not a lot because i use the whiz (i don't care to squat on spiders), so i don't need much. squatting kinda makes the wetness go wherever it wants to, and then i use more TP. with the whiz, i don't have that problem, so i can use less TP. i'm doing a thru hike with my daughter and although we've done long trips together, i believe a 6 month'er will snap us into reality a little more and i'll be reaching for leaves when available. how do you know what you'll be coming across, and which one's to use (poisonous/not poisonous)? i'm pretty sure in my readings, i've never found a section on "leaves to wipe with". how do you guys know?

[LaurieAnn]

I use TP.

On the topic of toileting one of my staff over at Outdoor Adventure Canada has arranged for me to gear review the Whiz Easy. I haven't tried a re-directer in a decade so this will be... um.. interesting. I have to say it is quite a bit different looking than anything else I've tried. If anything I can tease my husband about the fact that I'll be able to write my name in the snow. Seriously though, it might be great when we are snowshoeing. I'll post my thoughts on it when I've given it a go.

[Bear Cables]

I go the panty liner route and drip dry. For poop i use the TP followed by a wet wipe. The TP is buried deep enough and the wet wipe is packed out. I am going to try the squirt gun method next hike. Back in the day when I had my period during hiking the tampons were always packed out along with wipes. I keep a ziplock for that kind of trash in a small stuff bag and separate from clean stuff.

[hontassquirt]

I use TP.

On the topic of toileting one of my staff over at Outdoor Adventure Canada has arranged for me to gear review the Whiz Easy.

No matter how many times I use it, it's just awkward. Not because it doesn't work - it totally does. It's just....well, my mama didn't teach me to pee standing up...nor did I teach my daughter to. My favorite part is that we don't have to get out of the tent in the middle of the night. And it's so flexible, you can literally pack it anywhere (unlike the one's with hard plastic pieces). OH YEAH!!! Give it a few times before you say you don't like it!

[SassyWindsor]

One of the biggest negatives when hiking is the filth, along with the smells and visions, encountered all along the trail, especially around camp areas. LNT is fighting a loosing battle.

[allwen]

When NOT hiking, so when at home, work etc, I use toilet paper after going to the loo and wash and night time. When I am hiking, I do exactly the same thing! No difference needed

[theinfamousj]

I just use TP. Especially septic safe TP. (Is there any other kind now a days?) I bury very deep by using a snow stake as a toilet trowel. I dig my cathole as deep as the snow stake will go.

If I need to clean up from my period or from a looser #2, I'll just drip a bit of water onto the TP from my water bottle. Instant wet wipe!

[art gypsy]

I use TP and add a few wet ones to each mail drop to freshen up. Also use panty liners to stay fresh longer. Anything else and I will end up with a sore bottom.

[Smile]

The whole squirt gun thing sounds a bit silly to me, a cheap one would leak water and wouldn't be wise to keep filled in your pack, and I'm not sure that right out of a water source water is what you want to be squirting on yourself. If you use filtered water, that would make sense, but filling those darned little things are a hassle - you could wet and rinse a little piece of wipe or felt stuff much easier.

Not to mention the questions of being asked by others at a water source why you are filing a squirt gun! Eeek