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A delicate subject

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Making my TP winder, and then reading something from yellowcanoe about a DIY toilet, make me wonder about something rather delicate. The question I have in mind is, ahem, er, um, this: Ladies, how do you manage your #1 when it's pouring buckets and you'd really rather not leave the tent?

I've seen a couple of approaches to this matter, none of which would be suitable for a canoe trip with numerous portages and several changes of campsite. I'm hoping to get an idea or two that I can offer a friend who would like to join me on a trip in the future.

Thanks,
Dave
 
Butter up, put the raincoat on.. Get out of the tent and pee. I haven't tried for precise aim into any device. Now in my experience I have a much larger bladder capacity than HE..

Gavia's SO.... the LOWER you go the better chances you have of not peeing in your pants! Those squats count.. So reassure her that if she needs to.. get outside .. go low. If she should miss.. did you guys know urine is STERILE? If you miss anything or find it running down your leg it's not a big deal!
 
Thanks, YC. But the ewwww! factor has to be taken into account.
 
I know a NOLS instructor who spends about 6 months a year camping out. He swears by the umbrella that he keeps lashed to his pack for. No joke. An umbrella in the wilderness! Seems it would be a bit of a juggling act with pants, TP, umbrella--all with only two hands but he has it figured out.
Of course there is always the no hands umbrella: http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/291040082717
 
I didn't want to drag my wife into this, and goodness knows she's not a willing contributor, but...she's had to answer the call in various places on country bike rides, nature walks, and canoe trips. She no longer thinks it's a big deal. Once, after getting off a train in a sleepy French town, and with no public conveniences around (and no people) on an early morning...we chose a spot beside a crumbling wall next to a canal, and I "stood guard", while she went "la pee pee." No big deal. She wouldn't bother with in- tent wrestling with any contraption. Instead, I do the husbandly thing, and if it's raining cats and dogs, I hold the umbrella while she goes...we'll have been married 36 years this summer. Holding an umbrella is the least I can do at this point in our lives, and stand guard, and avert my eyes. Find what works for you and especially your friend. Maybe set up a tarp in anticipation of the weather and deed?
A very good friend of ours got stuck in her car, on a highway, in a blizzard. All she had was an empty coffee cup. She told me she managed. I was so impressed...I bought her an extra large double double, and wished her luck. http://www.rolluptherimtowin.com/en/index.php
 
No matter the devices they invent for us to go #1 in the tent, aim is critical and usually moot and I don't want that wet spot inside. On with the rain gear and out we go. No need to go far, it will just wash away and as YC says, it is sterile, besides, I'm marking my territory.
 
I know a NOLS instructor who spends about 6 months a year camping out. He swears by the umbrella that he keeps lashed to his pack for. No joke. An umbrella in the wilderness! Seems it would be a bit of a juggling act with pants, TP, umbrella--all with only two hands but he has it figured out.

That’s funny, I was thinking about starting a thread “Who carries an umbrella with their gear”

I do, and have for years. When my sons were young and we paddled tandem we carried umbrellas (one per boat) and used them as downwind sails, with the boys holding them in the bows.

I still carry an umbrella. If it is raining and I need to use the thunderbox/cat hole/toilet bucket an umbrella is easier than donning raingear, and even if I’m already wearing raingear when I get back under the tarp I’m not covered in dripping GoreTex, I can simply furl the umbrella and be dry and done.

If it is a middle of the night call of nature an umbrella is wayyyy easier than putting on raingear, taking care of business and (especially) taking off wet raingear before getting back into the tent.

It not as much of a juggling act as you might think. I carry a golf umbrella with a 50” diameter. For hands-free operation I just let it rest on my head instead of holding it.

The furled umbrella doesn’t take up much space. I cut off the handle in any case, so it would sleeve into the backrest frame of the wind/sun chair.



I know folks who do serious desert backpacking who swear by reflective umbrellas attached to their packs for sun and heat protection.

http://www.golite.com/Chrome-Dome-Trekking-Umbrella-P928.aspx
 
As a woman who can't squat, I have a Go-Girl. Outside with an umbrella if needed. It's all fun and games until someone 'wets' the tent! Luckily, most of the camp sites I've used that have facilities have had outhouses instead of thunder boxes.
 
Umbrellas – Not just a toiletry item

Umbrellas – Not just a toiletry item

I use a small tent, and there is not a lot of dry vestibule space for changing out of raingear or wet clothes. If it is raining I usually have a tarp up, and will take off wet raingear under the tarp rather than do so dripping in the tent.

That still leaves the distance between the tarp and tent to traverse in the rain, and sometimes those two shelters are not that close together. If I’m dry I’d like to stay dry, and I’d really like to keep the inside of the tent dry as well.

Wet raingear comes off under the tarp, the umbrella covers me going to and fro and I leave it furled under the tarp or in the vestibule.
 
Shenis envy? Sorry about that.
An umbrella comes along on trips, only if we remember it. This talk of umbrellas brings to mind a 60's group I loved, and once saw in concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It75wQ0JypA&feature=kp
Love needn't grow under your umbrella, but they're handy devices nonetheless. Similarly, a full sized poncho should be pretty roomy for this situation.
 
I've paddled in 4 Yukon River races in a voyageur canoe, with at least half the crew being female. In the fast current there is little opportunity to go ashore, and you really can't stop the race for those all too frequent pit stops required by some (I swear there is over-hydration going on), so the ladies have experimented with several different funnel type contraptions, with varying success. I think they have it figured out now, but since I am in the bow and always "eyes front", I only know from comments overheard behind me how well they work, and if I need to pick up my feet while they get out the sponges. :eek: Imagine this for 6 days on the 1000-miler... though we do tend to briefly stop on average twice a day (for not more than 7 minutes - I time it) for those more critical necessities during our 18 hour paddling day (although suggested as an option, we do not hang butt over the side as seen in the movie "The Black Robe").

I know that in other boats the ladies, and guys too when paddling solo, diapers are used. Others I've heard (usually but not always just when solo) opt for the "free flow" method while not skipping a paddle stroke - it is just a part of the competitive event. More often it is a technique on the shorter YRQ race when at the first mandatory intermediate 190 mile stop at Carmacks, the pit crew attacks the boat with bleach and gloved hands while the paddling crew enjoys their mandatory rest period.
 
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I only know from comments overheard behind me how well they work, and if I need to pick up my feet while they get out the sponges.

I know that in other boats the ladies, and guys too when paddling solo, diapers are used. Others I've heard (usually but not always just when solo) opt for the "free flow" method while not skipping a paddle stroke - it is just a part of the competitive event. the pit crew attacks the boat with bleach and gloved hands while the paddling crew enjoys their mandatory rest period.

I’m so glad I’m a guy. My bailer has probably dumped more urine than bilge water.

I did catch the bailer on the gunwale once when I was hurrying (the wind was blowing me into a bad spot and I couldn’t grab the paddle) and managed to dump it in my lap. Fortunately it was pouring rain, but I’ve since gotten more cautious about observing conditions.

Since this is already getting graphic – I have a (male) friend who is a competitive runner. He would want to void before long events and the spot-a-pots were often busy. He developed a pre-race “stretching” routine and would just hang it out one side of his running shorts in a grassy area.

I haven’t been involved in competitive micturition since I was 5 and seeing who could pee the furthest. I can still write my name in the snow. Or at least my initials.
 
I'm wondering if a 2 liter soda bottle with a cut out would give me enough launch space to hit the Green River.. I am envious of guys who can shoot it out.. Gals get too close to the edge of crumbling banks and wind up in the mud.

So I wonder which device provides the longest arc??
 
I'm wondering if a 2 liter soda bottle with a cut out would give me enough launch space to hit the Green River.. I am envious of guys who can shoot it out.. Gals get too close to the edge of crumbling banks and wind up in the mud.

So I wonder which device provides the longest arc??

I use a cut out plastic laundry detergent bottle as a bailer and pee flinger. It seems to achieve good flinging arc distance on places like the Green where I don’t want to scramble down a steep bank everytime I need to dump camp urine into the river.

(OK, the whole “pee flinging” thing probably sounds weird to some but on western rivers, where the recommendation is to dispose of urine in the river, walking down to the water’s edge isn’t always that easy)

A two liter soda bottle would probably be just as effective at casting urine into the river. That said I think there is an experiment to be done there. Mark out some distances at home and start flinging with different devices. Please take photos of the flinging experiment.

BTW – I think I may have found my perfect bleach container – I’m told that those little plastic 8oz Coke bottles are impervious to bleach. Freaking Coke will eat through anything, including pennies, and the plastic and cap are supposedly bleach-proof.
 
This talk of a delicate matter brings to mind...
When I was a kid, I rambled around our countryside and small village with a friend named Ron. His elderly grandfather lived with the family in their stately old village home. That sprawling family home was our rainy day playground. Hockey games in the upstairs hall, ping pong in the dining room, and hide and seek wherever we could avoid getting found, and kicked outdoors. One day, I chose to hide in grandpa's room. Under his bed I found a big china jug. "Who left this big gravy jug here?" Ron explained it's function and placement "Grandpa uses it every night to save himself a trip down the long, cold hall to the bathroom." "Gee. He's a pretty good aim." That's when we started playing tricks on grandpa. Filling it up to the brim with green Koolaide, or pushing it waaay far back under the bed out of reach, or hiding it altogether. The fun soon wore off, as the octogenarian was pretty spry and fast on his feet. My friend Ron and I both dearly loved his grandpa, and hoped we brightened his days with our tomfoolery. More than once I saw a sheepish grin on his face, as he chased us across the yard.
I can't imagine how much he must've suffered some of those nights though.
 
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I like the plastic detergent bottle thing repurposed. I already have one for Canada where a bailing device is required. The opening in the bottom is sufficient..

I forgot to remember about the golf umbrella.. Its good that the umbrella got mixed in the pee thread. Shade is always nice in the desert.

Perhaps the bailer needs to be marked..to avoid the possiblity of this happening

 
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