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#138521 - 09/08/10 06:31 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! ***** [Re: Serac]
Spock Offline
member

Registered: 01/10/06
Posts: 679
Loc: Central Texas
I use Serac's method. It works fine, sometimes with a little Dr. Bonners. I usually extend it to a general crotch wash; that reduces the 'homeless aroma". A hand wash followed by waterless hand sanitizer completes the job. It beats TP completely.

My shower appliance is a perforated cap for a Platypus flask. With a regular cap, it's just a water bottle.


Edited by Spock (09/08/10 06:33 PM)

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#139015 - 09/19/10 09:54 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: Pappy]
POPsJr. Offline
newbie

Registered: 08/17/10
Posts: 5
Well said Pappy.

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#150026 - 05/08/11 12:32 AM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: Teej]
jwild Offline
member

Registered: 05/07/11
Posts: 85
a bottle and your hand? a bandanna? "smooth stones" and "soft" pinecones? REALLY? I have dropped a deuce many a times in the woods with nothing but what I could find purely out of necessity. I however would NOT go on a trip planning to do this. You can buy rapid-dissolve biodegradable toilet paper for relatively cheap or just use normal toilet paper (its biodegradable!) dig the cat hole deep and far from anything and finally COVER it goodjob
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“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”

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#153007 - 07/23/11 03:43 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: Teej]
greghp Offline
newbie

Registered: 07/23/11
Posts: 5
Loc: milton,wa
well i asked my grandfather who is like 80 now about doin the number 2 in the wood and he told me they would bring tp and burn it after use in the hole rite before he covers it. idk if that goes along with LNT but from what i can tell its not a bad thang to do.

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#153010 - 07/23/11 04:46 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: greghp]
OregonMouse Online   content
member

Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6799
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
Some burn their TP; some have set the forest on fire doing that. All it takes is a sudden gust of wind to blow the burning TP out of the hole into dry grass or needles. Never do this when the fire danger is high!

Note that animals often dig up the waste for the food particles it contains. When they do that, the TP gets scattered around the landscape. One thing which may help is to take water to the cathole with you, pour some in afterwards and stir the waste and TP with a stick to make a "soup" before covering up the hole. This helps to dissolve the paper.

Or you can pack out your TP, which is what I do and what the rangers prefer you do. I have medical conditions which require the use of TP (actually, I use pieces of paper towel, which are more absorbent) and moist towlettes. After a trip to Turkey, where they have a small hose attached to the toilet to clean up, I tried the squirt bottle method a couple of times. It works fine on a real toilet, but in the backcountry it runs down my legs and into my pants (aargh).
_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

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#154264 - 09/02/11 02:50 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: OregonMouse]
daryn Offline
member

Registered: 08/22/11
Posts: 19
Someone up the thread mentioned mullein. It is pretty plentiful on the front range of the Rocky Mountains and is often called "indian toilet paper" or "cowboy toilet paper". Very soft.

Great Mullein

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#154276 - 09/02/11 10:52 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: Pappy]
lori Offline
member

Registered: 01/22/08
Posts: 2801
Originally Posted By Pappy
The TP and our waste is very degradable. The problem is folks don't cover the cat-hole well enough and some critter will dig up the corpse and scatter it and the TP about the area. Very bad.



The TP you buy for home use is not. It's cotton fabric, practically, and it lasts a long, long time. The TP you buy for RVs (with chemical toilets) breaks down rapidly, as does the biodegradable stuff you'll find at sport stores. There's a reason the TP you find in the solar powered bacteria toilets in Yosemite/SEKI is not so soft and thick as the Charmin back home.
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#154362 - 09/06/11 04:01 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: lori]
Gershon Offline
member

Registered: 07/08/11
Posts: 1110
Loc: Colorado
I've given up toilet paper both at home and on the trail. There is a great variety of leaves in my yard and they are cheap. May as well practice and save some money while I do it.

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#154372 - 09/06/11 06:42 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: Gershon]
BZH Offline
member

Registered: 01/26/11
Posts: 1189
Loc: Madison, AL
Originally Posted By Gershon
I've given up toilet paper both at home and on the trail. There is a great variety of leaves in my yard and they are cheap. May as well practice and save some money while I do it.



Do you have enough space for all the catholes?

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#154378 - 09/06/11 08:25 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: OregonMouse]
balzaccom Offline
member

Registered: 04/06/09
Posts: 2232
Loc: Napa, CA
Originally Posted By OregonMouse
Note that animals often dig up the waste for the food particles it contains. When they do that, the TP gets scattered around the landscape. One thing which may help is to take water to the cathole with you, pour some in afterwards and stir the waste and TP with a stick to make a "soup" before covering up the hole. This helps to dissolve the paper.

Or you can pack out your TP, which is what I do and what the rangers prefer you do.


In many parks, rangers don't suggest this--they REQUIRE it.

And it is what we do in all cases. WE are SICK of seeing toilet paper in the backcountry. And yeah, it probably started out buried. But it wasn't when we got there.

Thanks.
_________________________
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/

Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

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#154682 - 09/15/11 01:55 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: balzaccom]
Tye Offline
member

Registered: 09/15/11
Posts: 76
Loc: Texas
Just a newbie here reading through the thread laughing. Trivia note: Sears & Roebuck invented the glossy covering for catalogs in the early 20th Century. You can guess why.

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#172978 - 12/12/12 03:29 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: Tye]
StylinLP Offline
member

Registered: 12/09/12
Posts: 21
Loc: Phoenix, AZ
Why not just wear a catherter and a bag/diaper? That is what forest rangers should require smile

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#172995 - 12/12/12 10:17 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: balzaccom]
wandering_daisy Offline
member

Registered: 01/11/06
Posts: 2865
Loc: California
I actually find more Kleenex on the trail than TP. And Kleenex is NOT at all biodegradable - that is why you do not put it in a toilet. Those delicate hikers need to learn to "snort" out the snot. The most Keenex I find is between the High Sierra Camps in Yosemite. I really wonder what people are thinking dropping a used Kleenex on the trail? Do the drop it on the floor in their house?

We all know the TP is a luxury, not a necessity. Much of the world's popluation do not use it. Consider it a priviledge to take it. Come on, it is NO BIG DEAL to put it in a plastic bag and carry it out. None of it belongs in the Wilderness, either above ground or below.

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#173217 - 12/21/12 08:57 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: wandering_daisy]
hillslide Offline
newbie

Registered: 12/21/12
Posts: 1
Wet wipes and a plastic bag...

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#175724 - 03/12/13 07:29 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: hillslide]
enthusiast Offline
member

Registered: 12/03/12
Posts: 31
Loc: Auglaize CO., OH
Hemorrhoids? Anyone? You surely must use the wet wipes for that, right?

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#175837 - 03/18/13 01:02 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: balzaccom]
skcreidc Offline
member

Registered: 08/16/10
Posts: 1590
Loc: San Diego CA
One of my regular hiking spots (it's a day hiking spot) gets heavy human traffic. For some reason there are certain times when toilet and tissue paper collect all over the place. It's pretty disgusting; some of it has obviously been dug up by animals. When it gets that way, I'll wear plastic gloves and bag all I see. There is a few of us that will do this; pick up trash. Otherwise it just stays there.

Just bring a plastic/ziplock bag and carry it out.

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#175848 - 03/18/13 04:43 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: skcreidc]
OregonMouse Online   content
member

Registered: 02/03/06
Posts: 6799
Loc: Gateway to Columbia Gorge
Extreme heroism!!! awesome
_________________________
May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view--E. Abbey

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#175853 - 03/18/13 07:53 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: OregonMouse]
balzaccom Offline
member

Registered: 04/06/09
Posts: 2232
Loc: Napa, CA
Originally Posted By OregonMouse
Extreme heroism!!! awesome


Amen~!
_________________________
Check our our website: http://www.backpackthesierra.com/

Or just read a good mystery novel set in the Sierra; https://www.amazon.com/Danger-Falling-Rocks-Paul-Wagner/dp/0984884963

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#175886 - 03/19/13 05:17 PM Re: serious question: Toilet paper! [Re: balzaccom]
skcreidc Offline
member

Registered: 08/16/10
Posts: 1590
Loc: San Diego CA
Sheesh people, you both are making me blush! blush There are at least four of us picking up stuff, but thanks for the props. Nice to know it's appreciated.

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