First off, I did do a search, with the operative term “pooping”, and, wow, there are a whole heaping lot of poop references on the SD. The most relevant recent one was :**Toolie’s GD threadabout environmental ethics of human waste disposal. Doesn’t quite fit the bill with my question.
In conversation recently, the subject came up of taking a poop/leak outdoors. Some just had a horror about it, that it was really denigrating, and they couldn’t do it. I don’t have any problem with it, and, since I go on hikes and am outdoors a lot., that’s a good thing. I’m no exhibitionist, and find an appropriate spot, with cover from view, but, can have it all out and done with quick, cover with leaves, and on with life.
So, can you take a whizz/plop outdoors just fine, or, if difficult, why is that? There might be some funny stories on the subject, too, so, share if ya want.
Man, rereading this it sounds kinda weird, not meant to be; just wondering why something I see as a normal course of body events be not so easy for some folks.
Well, can’t speak for going outdoors - not a camper or much of a hiker, so I never had to, but I can speak for this. I’ve got a shy bladder. This means that no matter HOW bad I have to go, I can’t do it if someone I know is listening. Most of the time, strangers are no big deal, but if my friends or family are in the room, it’s no pee, no poop. I’ve had to go so bad I was in pain, but couldn’t because a family member followed me into the bathroom.
So yes, a normal bodily function can be not so easy for some.
While camping I have no problem doing either (though those flies sure get annoying – how the hell do they find you a mere 15 seconds after the brown leaves the butt?!).
While in civilization… well, ahem, let’s just say territory-marking is still alive and well. There’s definitely a certain satisfaction =)
Living where I do, I frequently find myself miles away from indoor facilities. I no longer need porcelain to do my business. I am a woman, and for me it’s spread feet, drop pants (squat) and hook an arm between legs (back to front) and pull pants forward away from the stream/poo. I never get any on myself, and a quick scattering of leaf litter covers any visible traces.
It’s advisable to do a good check for bears before assuming the position, though.
Oh, and regarding the “cover with leaves” thing… I was always taught to dig a hole at least 6" deep and bury/cover the waste with dirt afterward so people don’t accidentally step on it and so it doesn’t attract wildlife. Leave no trace and all that. Is this unnecessary?
Maybe it depends where you are. I live in a part of my country that’s densely populated and where footpaths in the countryside are fairly heavily used, so I bury poop to reduce the risk of an unsuspecting fellow walker encountering it. If you’re in the middle of nowhere in the wilderness, I suppose you could get away with leaving it in all its glory:D. There is a certain satisfaction in “territory marking”, as has been said upthread.
Yes, Ellef, you are correct in that I am in the middle of nowhere in the wilderness. It’s not as if I were going to tinkle on the daisies in the town park.
Never needed to poop outdoors but I can’t see myself having a problem with it if the situation required it, and there was sufficient cover available. No problems with peeing outdoors.
I can go #1 outdoors just fine, but I have a problem with #2. The only time I can is if I’m on a multi-day camping trip with no other possible facilities. If my body knows there is a chance I may be at, say, a gas station later, I can’t do #2 outdoors. It is weird, I know.
I’ve never been in a situation where I needed to poop outdoors. Pee, sure, that’s not a problem. But I do hike to the porta-johns or composters for number 2. If I know I’m likely to be near a real bathroom later, I’ll sometimes choose to hold it until then if there are only porta-johns around, thought. Those boxes are nasty. Composters are delightful; love campgrounds with composting toilets!
Like kaiwik, I’ve learned to keep the bottom garments out of the way. One of the nice things about hippie skirts is that, if you need to, you can squat and fan out your skirt to provide a visual cover, but if you’re using this technique, you must pay attention to the slope of the ground beneath you! Wet hems suck.
I followed the link - and with some great trepidation clicked on the “photos” link (they were photos of a covered-wagon journey - phew!).
Then I went to amazon.com, and pasted the book title into the search box.
To be treated to such titles as:
[ul]
[li]Up Shit Creek: A Collection of Horrifyingly True Wilderness Toilet Misadventures (wonder if Lieu contributed to that one? )[/li][li]How to Have Sex in the Woods (step 1: don’t let your partner see you using either of the earlier titles!)[/li][li]Who Cut the Cheese: A Cultural History of the Fart (originally published as the intro to one of the shit-related books?)[/li][li]Sex in a Tent: A Wild Couple’s Guide to Getting Naughty in Nature (not gonna be needed, unless the shit-related books give sufficient info on cleaning up)[/li][li]What’s Your Poo Telling You? (it’s telling you to go take a hike!)[/li][li]Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (not sure what this has to do with shitting in the woods… but it’s got romance AND zombies - what’s not to love?)[/li][li]How to Die in the Outdoors: 100 Interesting Ways (one of which must involve getting trampled by angry deer who’ve come to investigate the sudden stench).[/li][/ul]
Back to the OP: I haven’t. Ever. Being of a non-penis-bearing configuration, it’s trickier anyway, and having crappy (er, bad choice of words there) knees, squatting AIN’T gonna happen too well. I fear I’d have to strip buck nekkid below the waste and do the nasty while standing.
In my younger days, when camping actually happened, I always managed to hold it while away from facilities. Nowadays, I don’t even put myself in that situation. Heck, I don’t even like outhouses (but will use them if absolutely forced to).
I much prefer pooping outdoors as compared to a bathroom. There are few moments of purer bareness and vulnerability than exposing your third eye to the wind and the sun, and pushing out a fragrant mass of cells in a helpless, primordial squat. Aftershakes in the form of a bristly / needle-y / frozen wipe tangibly connect one with the earth.
I’ve been in situations where I was getting pretty close to Yellow underwear and in those cases, when no restroom was available, I made do with what I could. Usally it means finding an alcove or something where I’m hard to see and finishing up quickly.
