when nature calls

so, a little off color, but i am going to post it. Today while hiking during my lunch break, i saw more poop on the trail and I am not talking about dog poop. There are also several areas of paper remains which got me thinking. What is the best toilet paper to use when digging a cathole (which these people apparently dont do here in CT) and doing your business. I know wipes do not degrade as quickly as toilet paper, but does regular toilet paper biodegrade or is there something better? From what I see on the trail it seems to take a long time for it to dissapear. I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing when I have to plant a beacon. I usually take plain old TP and remove the cardboard center and put it in a ziplock near the top of my pack. I know it`s a silly question but i am just curious what others are doing.

Animals will dig up TP.

Thus the best practice in the NE is generally to bury your feces in a cathole and pack the TP out. (If you prefer, you can use snow in winter.)

I carry some plastic bags with my TP to pack it out. (I also carry hand sanitizer with my TP...)


BTW, not off color--just part of hiking. The best techniques depend on the local environment. There is an informative book: "How to Shit in the Woods" by Kathleen Meyer: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...eld-keywords=how+to+shit+in+the+woods&x=0&y=0

Doug

A friend of mine once told me her pooping-in-the-woods dissertation. Ever since that lesson I've been happily doing my business using rocks, twigs, and snow cones (my favorite) as TP. So far no monkey-butt.

cbcbd said:

A friend of mine once told me her pooping-in-the-woods dissertation. Ever since that lesson I've been happily doing my business using rocks, twigs, and snow cones (my favorite) as TP. So far no monkey-butt.

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I like leaves myself....hobblebush has really nice big ones and they are abundant!!! Ferns work too and I will go for the occasional rock, but I avoid twigs whenever possible. Of course snowballs in the winter

On a related note my new ipood! shovel made it's maiden voyage this weekend. Super light weight aluminum, collapsable, you can even store stuff in the handle if you want to. No excuse for leaving your crap lying around on the trail with one of those handy....

Baby wipes and then pack them out in a bag. Makes you feel as fresh as home. They freeze though so keep them in an inside pocket. I'm sure Wu will chime in here soon.

I've found myself wandering the woods and taking notice of the size of the leaves around to use if needed....

If it's a wilderness area, aren't you supposed to hold it in?

The best technique to use is the one piece of toilet paper method.

1. Take your piece of toilet paper, and fold it in half.
2. Fold it in half again.
3. Rip off the corner that corresponds to the center of the toilet paper. Save this piece.
4. When you unfold the toilet paper, you should now have a nice finger sized hole in the middle.
5. Stick your finger through the hole, and then use your finger to clean up your behind.
6. When done cleaning, take your other hand (the clean one), and wrap it around the sheet of toilet paper and pull it off from your dirty finger, taking most of the waste with it.
7. There will always be some left beneath your finger nail. Remember that tiny corner your ripped off and I told you to save? Use that to clean beneath the nail.
8. Voila! You're done, and you only needed to use one sheet of toilet paper! Hooray for protecting the environment!

DSettahr said:

The best technique to use is the one piece of toilet paper method.

1. Take your piece of toilet paper, and fold it in half.
2. Fold it in half again.
3. Rip off the corner that corresponds to the center of the toilet paper. Save this piece.
4. When you unfold the toilet paper, you should now have a nice finger sized hole in the middle.
5. Stick your finger through the hole, and then use your finger to clean up your behind.
6. When done cleaning, take your other hand (the clean one), and wrap it around the sheet of toilet paper and pull it off from your dirty finger, taking most of the waste with it.
7. There will always be some left beneath your finger nail. Remember that tiny corner your ripped off and I told you to save? Use that to clean beneath the nail.
8. Voila! You're done, and you only needed to use one sheet of toilet paper! Hooray for protecting the environment!

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holy shit

Striped maple leaves are also reportedly hypoallergenic.

HAMTERO said:

I'm sure Wu will chime in here soon.

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Not very nice. I hold it then wait to use the bathroom at White Mountain Bagel.

-Dr. Wu

It strikes me that an in-side-out zip lock baggie and half sheet of paper towel torn in half again could accomplish everything; Go where you will, wipe with one quarter, cover deposit, pluck up with baggie, reverse baggie, finish wiping, insert paper towel quarter, zip and pack out. Similar to my "In support of a Blue Bag Movement" thread rec, but no special gear required. Double bag if you're anal. ("heh...heh heh...he said anal...")

That is one experience where I totally wimp out although I am pretty good at hiding where I did my business.

DSettahr said:

The best technique to use is the one piece of toilet paper method.

1. Take your piece of toilet paper, and fold it in half.
2. Fold it in half again.
3. Rip off the corner that corresponds to the center of the toilet paper. Save this piece.
4. When you unfold the toilet paper, you should now have a nice finger sized hole in the middle.
5. Stick your finger through the hole, and then use your finger to clean up your behind.
6. When done cleaning, take your other hand (the clean one), and wrap it around the sheet of toilet paper and pull it off from your dirty finger, taking most of the waste with it.
7. There will always be some left beneath your finger nail. Remember that tiny corner your ripped off and I told you to save? Use that to clean beneath the nail.
8. Voila! You're done, and you only needed to use one sheet of toilet paper! Hooray for protecting the environment!

Click to expand...

I have heard of that technique but have been afraid to try it. Nif, I do have an ipood and love it! Just the name alone makes it cool! I do love the poo bags that we get out west and Alaska one ups it by giving you a whole can to crap in!

Years ago in Nepal I found myself in a small patch of wild mint when nature called. Very refreshing! Moss works well, too. When I need paper, I minimize it by wrapping a little paper around a small bundle of leaves.

I use wipes and ziplocks. TP blooms offend my sensibilities.

As for the digging, I ran an experiment in my local woods and found that buried treasure gets dug up by the critters. This was true over enough iterations and variations that I no longer spend time digging. This may be bs (hs?), but I just see to it that I am far enough off-trail not to be seen. I know human waste is toxic, but it got dug up every time I checked, so I stopped putting in that effort. Can someone (more) scientific corroborate or deny?

i just hope for dry BM when out in the wilderness, then minimal or no TP required. i will usually save the used TP for firestarter around the campfire.

When kayaking we use WAG bags, when necessary other times we dig a hole then put organic matter on top when done then a rock on top of that if available.
I'm curious which animals dig up feces. Thinking it's not feasible that all wildlife routinely dig up poop it would e interesting to know which would do that.
My thinking would be porcupine, which are known for chewing up out houses, looking for the salt content of urine, it could be interesting to know what other animals might do the same.

On my AT thru-hike I developed a utilitarian approach to broadleaf deciduous trees that has served me well to this day.

For winter outings, innumerable people speak about the joys of using snow. However, I find that a better approach is to only camp when it's really cold. This makes pooping seem really unpleasant to your subconscious, and it thus causes a helpful weekend-long bout of constipation which usually starts to let go somewhere near the big New Hampshire State Liquor Store just below Concord.

Nif said:

I like leaves myself....hobblebush has really nice big ones and they are abundant!!! Ferns work too and I will go for the occasional rock, but I avoid twigs whenever possible. No excuse for leaving your crap lying around on the trail with one of those handy....

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As one living with long-term, chronic Lyme disease, I no longer use leaves or anything else I find out in nature. TP and a baggie for packout in a dedicated pant pocket are so handy and possibly healthier. Perhaps if I hadn't been so "green" when in deer country...