Right, and the title states use of a bidet. I guess he forgot to determine what that IS... and DOES. A 250 ml, 8oz Labratory Wash Bottle works great. I've USED one for ten years. Other folks use the flip top shampoo bottles, the ones you press down on one side and the other pops up. They have a good angle to do the job. I would narrow down the jet of water with epoxy, hot melt glue, etc 8 oz is plenty. You don't need a liter, and a smaller bottle is easier to carry, more discreet....and easily fits down into the bowl behind your bum. have A playlist on this to help people; Off Grid Toilet Ideas" on RU-vid ru-vid.com/group/PLsEWVATMY6q1G0Qt4Cs3qHsrVMQ-WJ4Ig..
Good info, thanks Andrew. Brings back memories, pleasant and otherwise. Pleasant was the perfect fallen-tree-forked-branch seat I found that overlooked a meadow in BC. Midway through my process of elimination a bull moose walked out of the opposite tree line. I had a tag and a rifle and had been hunting hard for four days without seeing one, but this guy got a pass as I sat motionless and bare-assed for at least 15 minutes until he wandered back into the foliage. No meat that trip but the moment was worth it. Not so pleasant was the midnight pee I attempted from the saddle on Grand Teton into the gully on the Idaho side. An icy, upward blast of spindrift-laden wind managed to return most of my liquid offering onto my chest, face and hair. Dripping with urine and humiliation, I scrubbed myself off as best I could with snow and returned to my tent once again reminded that Mother Nature can be a cruel mistress.
Pretty good for what it covers; here are other considerations. Often you are with someone. So in selecting your site, privacy is also a consideration. If there is a designated area, you can have an agreement, like leaving a hiking stick along the access path to signify the area is “occupied”. For many, squatting is an unnatural position. Putting some rocks under your heels or using the natural ground slope will help with balance. If packing out toilet paper is a goal, it’s nice to use a brown paper bag - rather than a clear zip lock bag - to put it in. The brown paper bag will go in a zip lock bag because you know it’s going to rain. Finally, Metamuscil is your friend. Some diets leave you with … paste. It can require a lot of TP. With fiber supplements, the stuff comes out firm and clean; hardly any clean up. Finally plus one - learn at home. Play with fiber supplements before you go (on your trip). check your balance squatting. Remember the privacy thing because at least the first few times you may want to take your pants all the way off. And note the direction water will flow relative to your shoes. I am wondering about just using hand sanitizer after the water clean up. Everything has to go somewhere and just putting purifier on your hands doesn’t make any residue disappear.
I bought a big container of Toilet Paper Tablets on amazon.. you can fit about 8 (if I remember correctly) in a waterproof match storage box. Pretty decent sized and make for nice wet naps.
Just to polish the rear view mirror?? Are you kidding?? I'll need to polish that mirror a few times!! A trail diet isn't exactly high fiber bran muffins. It's mostly water (a natural laxative, btw) plus rehydrated foods. So I think the roll's gonna be on my "must keep dry" list and see alot of action when I tiptoe away from camp. "I'm just gonna go for a quick hike over yonder, be back in a few."
Very important issue, seldom taught well (if at all) - well done! Supporting the comment of "brandi wynter" below I always use a tiny bit of bio-degradable soap + water to wash my hands afterwards. Sanitizer is meant & work best to disinfect a clean surface, however its cleaning abilities are really limited. ATB Gereon
“I like to budget four squares of toilet paper a day.” “Half a dozen sticks, rocks, and some pine cones, I could just keep going.” “Wasn’t that satisfying?” This dude has some awesome one liners.
I'm laughing out loud 😂. It's not a subject that's openly talked about by many, but it is something we all do. May as well talk about. Thanks Andrew for sharing.
I hesitate to disagree with someone as expert as Mr Skurka, but in many types of country you just can't create a decent cat-hole with the heel of a trail shoe. I'd urge people to carry a trowel of some kind so you can practice Leave No Trace principles. You don't need to carry a monster like he shows here. There are a number of very lightweight options on the market these days, or you can adapt a snow stake for a multi-use solution. Also, while it's simple common-sense to cleanse your hands afterwards, people should be aware that the big risk on the trail is cross-infection from other hikers who aren't being so careful. So beware of any food that may have been touched by others, and clean your hands after any handshakes or other physical contact.
Very necessary video, thanks for broaching the subject! However, I'd like to add something and hopefully it helps someone. I'm a big fan of hand sanitizer, it definitely has it's place in civilized life as well as the backwoods, however, it's not perfect. You talk about your back country bidet where you pour water on yourself and use your other hand to basically scrub your butt and then "cleaning" your hands with hand sanitizer. Alchohol or alcohol based hand sanitizers kill a lot of the "ickies" but not all of them, and certainly not 99.9% like manufacturers like to claim. E. coli, for example, is NOT killed by alcohol hand sanitizer which is reason enough not to depend on hand sanitizer alone. If it's all you have then definitely use it but use it correctly and use the right one. First off, non alcohol based hand sanitizers are useless money wasters, don't buy them, they don't work. Alcohol hand sanitizer must be at LEAST 60% alcohol content and preferably 70% or higher. Then you have to use enough so that your skin stays wet with it for at least 30 seconds, again preferably longer. If your hands are dirty, as in have dirt/grime/visible dirty stuff no amount of alcohol hand sanitizer will kill the ickies that hide in that dirt. Hands should ALWAYS be correctly washed with soap and water before using hand sanitizer when possible (to get rid of the dirt and the ickies that hide in it). In the case of using alcohol hand sanitizer after going to the bathroom in the woods you should still wash your hands with soap and water as soon as possible after using the sanitizer if possible. Basically, alcohol based hand sanitizer is great stuff but it's not perfect and it definitely does NOT work as well as old fashioned hand washing with soap and water. Always wash with soap and water whenever possible whether you've used hand sanitizer or not. Don't believe the hype hand sanitizers spew, great sanitizer is good but it's not as good as they claim. You may wonder why I leave such a reply...well I'll tell you. I use alcohol based sanitizers daily, it's become a ritual since working as an EMT and constantly being exposed to the ickies so we have it all over the house and I carry a bottle in my purse. Unfortunately, it didn't help when I was contaminated by a contractor who didn't wash his hands enough while working on our bathroom. Long story short I ended up in an ambulance on the way to the ER in so much pain I was praying to die. After all the tests and questions the docs finally figured out it was caused by being exposed to fecal matter because the contractor didn't wash his hands after going or on his hands from working on the sewer pipe. Either way, he passed it on to me, probably when I was signing paperwork and shaking hands at the end of the day. I always use hand sanitizer after shaking someones hand just because so many people don't wash their hands. Anywho, the final result was around 45 days of living hell and a total of 3 months before I was back to normal. The docs called it "a really, really nasty type of gastroenteritis" that caused my intestines to swell up along with horrible abdominal pain accompanied by uncontrollable nausea/vomiting/diarrhea. I lived on Gatorade and water for the first month. The second month I managed to eat small amounts of food occasionally with the Gatorade and water. The third month I was able to eat more but still suffered from severe abdominal pain afterwards. It wasn't until just after the third month that I could finally say I felt back to normal. I'm only writing this because this video, while informative, gives the impression that hand sanitizer alone is good enough to clean your hands after contact with fecal material and that is absolutely incorrect. In situations where there is no way at all to wash with soap and water, then, yes, hand sanitizer is definitely the best alternative but that is the only time. The sanitizer isn't perfect and washing with soap and water should always be performed when at all possible. Trust me, you do not want to go through what I did. Had I washed my hands with soap and water instead of just using hand sanitizer I would never have ended up in the ER but I believed the advertising and felt safe. I've since researched the facts and learned otherwise. Hopefully it helps someone.
any time i'm backcountry i forgo the hand sanitizer and stay strictly with biodegradable soap. like you said soap is the only way to be completely clean, a small thing of soap doesn't weight much and takes up little room
Yeah, I don't like the excess use of hand sanitizers either. They are good for what they are intended for: sterile environments like hospitals. Proper hygiene is another thing. I've always stayed away from hand sanitizers and never got or heard anyone close to me getting sick while backpacking. I do however wash my hands which is so much more important than just trying to sterilize your hands.
T Q P that's a pretty romantic ideal and I'm glad it's worked for you, but there is no bartering with a healthy case of giardiasis or worse, E coli or C diff. Bad bugs are out there. Just remember, before modern medicine there were still things like the plague. People die everyday of infections. You may be fortunate but we're all different. I don't think suggesting to eat food off the floor is that helpful. Sometimes we get sick and its hard to tell why. Best advice is to be thorough but not be OCD. A little dirt probably won't hurt, but it might. And when you're in the backcountry, small things like a GI infection can become a pretty big thing in a hurry, like a cut on your finger into a bad infection.
That was great and thank you. Information about a proper cat-hole and sanitary procedure is critical. It should be the first thing one learns about native camping. Leave No Trace, But keep yourself happy and hygienic. We all gotta drop the deuce at some point .. knowing where is just as important as knowing how. Don't be embarrassed! Get out in the Wonder knowing you did your business correctly. Everything else falls in to place. The amazement of the stars, the comforting sound of flowing water, the rhythm of the waves, the sounds of birds all around. The grand vista that you will explain with awe to anyone who will listen. For The Love. Camp!
For me, the wiping aspect is arguably the most important stage yet pretty much not covered very well here or other videos. The idea of wiping with rocks and leaves sounds good, sure. However, I was recently in India for three months, and after two weeks of using their less-than-smooth toilet paper, the accumulated scratching gave me the worst butt itch and made walking around (I wasn't hiking) a serious problem. So if you're hiking for weeks, how is accumulated wiping with rocks and leaves going to be any different? And I don't care how allegedly smooth they may be since that Indian toilet paper didn't seem all that rough, at first.
Well this makes perfect sense. Millions of people across Asia use this method even in cities. It is cleaner and more sanitary as long as you properly wash your hands after, always, anywhere. Thanks for the candid and clear demo!
Once I went biking deep in the woods early one morning, and something threw a large rock at me. I heard the thud and felt the vibration from a few feet away. So I stopped and got off my bike to investigate, and all the sudden I felt that mornings coffee and breakfast, and had to go and had to go quickly. Though I instantly felt like I was being watched, I hoped whatever threw that rock didn't mind, but I felt like it thought maybe I was also kind of marking my territory or something, so another rock splashed in the creek by me, and then I heard 2 wood knocks coming from about 50 yards on the other side of the creek. After I finished and used some tp I brought with me, I used a little hand sanitizer, walked out towards the creek, and with open arms, said thank you and also some Native American words and then got on my bike and left. True story.
Have you heard of Multi-Purpose Wipes by Wysi Wipe? They're these small compact biodegradable towelettes that are about the size of nickel. Add a tiny amount of water and they expand letting you unfold them. Not heavy and you can carry enough that you don't need to get your hands dirty. Worst case scenario, you can pee on them to open them up if you really had to.
Usually, when I need to poop outside I have a ligher to burn toilet paper ... I need more time because before starting I "prepare" the field to avoid that flames start a fire into the woods.
I find it interesting the differences between hiking culture and canoe culture. Canoe culture would generally involve a much more generous toilet paper allowance but also a much deeper hole. I've also never heard of doing anything but burying it. Then we travel a bit heavily by hiking standards and the areas are generally lower traffic and rich environmentally. You're also always close to a water source. So camp suds or biodegradable soup are easier to use.
Just for the benefit of anyone else who reads your comment, the reason *not* to bury it any deeper is that 6-8 inches is usually about the bottom of the topsoil layer that is full of the fungi, bacteria, etc that will break down the poop into soil. If you go below the topsoil into the mineral dirt below, it is far less biologically active and your poop will take far longer to break down.
4 PIECES!!! You've never eaten freeze-dried chili....holy shit!!!! Seriously though I'm a heavy tp user, I burn the paper and bury the poop...too many bears and things where I live for packing out the poop....
@@kidkodama No, it's not. Go take a nap, geez. Get over it! A person that smokes one cigarette causes far more harm to the planet than one wipe, or some toilet paper.
@@r.w.7232 You're basically ignoring a fact. It's a fact - look it up. Oh and cigarettes are bad for the environment as well, also a fact. Doesn't make the wet wipe magically harmless, it's just whataboutism.
rocks and pinecones 😳😂 it is an excellent video though guess we just pick and choose what parts to take and which things to leave behind some great lines heavy lifting polish the rearview mirror Wasn’t that satisfying? so funny! 😊
Should've used a squirting water bottle. Saves and uses your water wisely than pouring it. I also use soap around the hand that will be "dirty" before touching and scouring the bum with water. Save a little of water at the end and wash your hand. Then add soap to said hand and wash again.
I have Crohn’s disease and ibs , I’m attempting the Appalachian trail March 17 , are there any videos on which leaves Might be found , and which might be able to be used a lot , and not irritate .. just curious if there are some stead fast plants known along the way .. Thnaks for sharing ..
Yes, great informative vid, all crap jokes aside though, as an avid outdoorsmen, Eagle Scout and navy veteran - what I could have used the most from some “more informed” entity than myself, would be about the major negative effects that downhill backpacking could have on your knees - even if you’re an active person who rides bikes and plays basketball and was otherwise in great physical shape. I learned this whilst hiking with a big group of my friends and some others I didn’t know; and while I started out strong , descending Roan mountain with a still full pack and severe knee pain was one of the most painful things I’ve ever endured. To say that of course I was the last man off the trail by the end was a hit to my ego for sure , but more importantly begged the question why did my knees so seamlessly transition from fine to excruciating pain on each and every step coming down? I think the answers (based on my recent readings and research) is multi faceted. It was a perfect storm of several things I didn’t do that ultimately caused the pain, the tensions in my knee , inflammation was just in response to what I was throwing at my body. And I learned for the first time at 41 that I must heed those warnings and use common sense when it comes to hiking with weight. I learned a lot of things last fall on Roan MTn but don’t wish to ever replicate that feeling in my body again . Ouch
I could never figure out why in so many of these how to poop outside videos, nobody ever thinks to bring a few extra pairs of lightweight nitrile 'surgical' gloves (usually blue in color and cheap) instead of using their bare hands. All those fears of giving yourself and others e-coli definitely get reduced. Just remember to leave at least a couple of new ones in your first aid kit and pack the used ones out when done your hike.
Interesting idea. You wouldn't need any TP nor any soap/sanitizer using that method. You're supposed to pack out used TP in most parks, so packing out one used glove per day is about the same (or less) weight and bulk of nasty stuff.
I went backpacking in ROcky Mountain National Park this summer. I pooped in a hole, then used tp to wipe my butt with gloves on, but still washed hands and used hand sanitizer afterwards. It was just nice to have the extra protection of the gloves. But I don't like using plastic products unnecessarily so i may opt out of gloves. Plus if you just use one square per poop and bury it, you have no waste as compared to the waste of a glove. @@mpoisot
Very informative. Thank you. Too many crazy germaphobes in the comment section. People have been pooping in the woods since the dawn of man. If you’re squatting good and low, there’s almost zero mess on your booty. The deeper the squat, the cleaner the bumbum.
I'm taking a trip into the Arctics this summer. How'd you poop (properly) in the tundra and moraine where I assume anything will decompose pretty slowly?
Dig a little hole and cover after, get a Kula cloth and a portable bidet, bring some wipes but pack them out, bury your stuff. The Arctic has lots of moss, but good luck finding a hiding spot, since there's no trees. Tell everyone to turn around.
@@meaganshkwarek7440 Ah, thanks for the tip, although that trip had happened in 2017. It was more like desert while the tundra being swamp-like - there had been simply no way to take a dump among the tussocks. I managed with some (round-ish) rocks and did pack my TP out...no issue with privacy though since I had been alone for 5 days. The wind was brutal for my exposed buttocks.
Just burn that square of paper real quick and drop it on the pile. Watch that it's burned out then cover or pee on it. If you're out far enough nobody is ever going to find that anyway. Every other animal just craps right on top of ground where ever they are.
I never thought about using the shit stir stick as a literal flag of shit to mark the used shitter with. Handleing it excessively and breaking it is new to me as well.
Hi Andrew, ignore the silly comments, this is a great informative video and I’m glad someone boldly took on this topic. I was wondering if you would be able to post a video on the best ways to masturbate in the woods. For a long time now I have been trying to perfect my technique and clean up method and yet still haven’t figured a way to get the sticky residue completely off my hand nor figured the best way to polish the hood (if you know what I mean, wink wink). Do you use hand sanitizer when taking a number 3’s? How many squares of paper do you allocate each day for spunk removal?
In modern times that we live in there's no reason to wipe your rear with sticks. I will find other ways to be environmentally friendly other than wiping myself with grass/moss/sticks/etc
The speed of decomposition will depend entirely on the soil, as well as how much TP has been used. In very arid areas, like a lot of the southwest, TP probably can last years. Whereas in rain forest areas like the Olympics or southern Appalachians (not a true rain forest, but pretty close), that 3-week estimate is probably about right, maybe even less.
I do agree that desert toilet paper will last much longer without moisture.I also wanted to let you know I am a big fan of yours and have learned a lot from you in my preparation to hike the JMT next year! Thanks for all the content you put out, and good luck in your next elk season.
Early heavy lifting???? Polish the rear view mirror??? Stir it up like a stew??? You funny guy! I drape my TP - actually cut up squares of blue shop paper towels - over a branch and burn it. Cat hole dept should be enough to cover it with an inch of soil to keep the flies out. The deeper you go the less bacteria there is to break the poop down. One guy wrote that he needs a deep hole because his turds rear up like an angry cobra. I had to share that.
this is a good tip, to use flora (probably not fauna lol) to do the heavy lifting. It reduces the amount of TP you have to use and if you only use one square you can bury it and don't have to pack it out. I have always packed it out so this is intriguing to me. @@skurkaandrew
Not to sound like a true slav (which i am btw) but that isn't proper squating. If u squat like that u'll lose balance and maybe fall on your business and after a very short while your legs and ankles will hurt, especially if you were just on a hike. Squat with your feet resting flat on the ground, heels touching the ground and legs spread apart and u'll be able to maintain that position for a loooong while before feeling any fatigue.
