Dont wear your day clothes to bed-myth?

[Rick Cheehy]

Yes, I am but your safe Ben. Cuz I know the Wu tang clan ain't nothing to mess with :)

[EndoftheTrail]

You got it, Rick.

I'm still waiting for Richard Matthews — our resident Chinese scholar — to answer my question above why Nalgene is the best brand name for pee bottles.

[Rick Cheehy]

I'm gonna fall asleep tonight trying to figure that one out, I know it. I don't know any Chinese but there's a pun in there somewheres.

[Ashley Brown]

Oops. I wish I'd read Mike's advice more carefully. I've been peeing on rocks and wiping my butt with my drink bottle.

[EndoftheTrail]

Folks down under — figures! :)

[Rick Cheehy]

No prob there, dual use is dual use!

[Richard Matthews]

I do not know Ben. I have a friend that is a "branding" expert. They have to do a lot of research to make sure a brand name does not have negative meanings in the worlds dominate languages.

The Tang branding is thought to be unintentional. Yes, I know that it was not formulated for NASA.

But, I would like know about Nalgene.

[Mike Clelland]

Whew – the pee bottle comment really got some attention.

I "usually" keep a separate pee-bottle for winter trips, just a plastic gaitor-aid bottle.

I use it as a water bottle early in the trip UNTIL the first filling late at night in the snow shelter.

I *have* on occation, rinced it out, and used it as a water bottle again. It's not a big deal.

I know a LOT of NOLS instructors (outdoor professionals) who do it all the time. I have gotten up early to start the stove, and then been handed a nalgene bottle full of urine plenty of times by a tent mate, and had him say: "Just rinse that out and fill it with coffee. Thanks."

Happy Easter.

[Richard Matthews]

Romance is the only reason to share a tent. Yuck.. that is just sick!!!!

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Yep, the pee bottle thing isn't all that helpful. You still have to get out of your bag and get upright somehow, so you may as well just go outside.

I once tried one of those Lady Js to try to even the score a bit. I learned a lot about the proper balance of inflow and outflow that fateful day.

[James Dubendorf]

Mike,

Like many, I have benefited from your contributions to BPL- just the other night I used the slippery half hitch (I still remember those great illustrations) to tighten my tarp during a snowstorm, and went entirely stakeless. And the given the right situation, and the right smooth rock, I might consider leaving aside the TP. But I can't promise the dual use pee bottle will become part of my kit!

Seriously, though, some practical questions. As long as your are, ahem, using your own bottle all the time, I take it the actual health risks are very small. Do you find that there is ever *aftertaste*, or is that what the morning coffee is for? Perhaps some Tang?

One advantage of a floorless shelter, or a floorless vestibule area, of course, is that one need not leave the shelter, particularly if there is snow. I recall a recent thread here discussing the disposal of both liquids and solids in this manner in very fowl weather. Don't know why that has never made the cover of the REI catalog.

James

[Matthew Robinson]

I have gotten up early to start the stove, and then been handed a nalgene bottle full of urine plenty of times by a tent mate, and had him say: "Just rinse that out and fill it with coffee. Thanks."

^—-id like to see someone hand me a bottle of pee and make demands. bye bye bottle!

[Rick Cheehy]

….and somehow this makes me want to work for nols even more.

I work at starbucks now and I would love it if Mike would walk in one busy monday morning and stand amongst the yuppies in his month old polypro long johns, hand one of my baristas a nalgene full of ice cold urine and ask them to rinse it out and fill it with coffee.
That would probably be the best city day of my life.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi James

> I take it the actual health risks are very small.
In fact, unless you have an infection of the urinary tract (uncommon in males), there is no actual health risk. Urine is effectively sterile.

But then, I never have to get up in the night anyhow. Smirk.

Cheers

[Dan Cunningham]

It's sterile when it is in you, and when it first comes out, but not after it's been sitting in a bottle for a while. Subsequent to elimination from the body, the bacteria start to have a party.

[EndoftheTrail]

Dan is right — but I just haven't gotten to the point of dual using one bottle for both drinking and peeing…

[Greg Mihalik]

This seems to fall into the same area as washing off your potty trowel and then using it for dinner….

[Rick Cheehy]

Poor Joseph, he just wanted to know if its bad to sleep in your clothes. Is it me, do I cause all the threads I post on to wander down these weird side trails? I mention it's better to get up to pee when still wearing clothes and here we are three days later slurping Top ramen of our orange plastic potty trowels. Maybe I should get a dirtbike! ;}

[D G]

"This seems to fall into the same area as washing off your potty trowel and then using it for dinner…."

How would this be any different than a member of the non toilet paper crowd eating with their hands? ;)

[Joseph Scalia]

The reason I started this thread is because BSA Scout leaders always emphasize changing out of your moisture laden day clothes before going to bed to prevent sleeping cold. I have heard this among other outdoor youth program leaders and was wondering if there was any truth to this idea. I was always under the impression that any moisture in the clothes would dry out quickly from body heat before causing any chilling effect.

[Rick Cheehy]

If your crazy enough to wear cotton it's true, but nylon, fleece, wool, etc. will dry out in most conditions.

[Mike Clelland]

Change out of WET clothes, like if you are soaked from rain. But, with the modern synthetic clothing (wool included) the ability to stay warm with a tiny bit of dampness is easy.

The synthetic sleeping bag makes this easier. Down works too, but it requires some care over longer trips. Basicly, just allowing it to dry out is all that's needed.

[Brad Groves]

The clothes would have to be really soaked and I'd have to be really cold before I'd try changing. I used to bring spare clothes; then I realized that when I took my wet clothes off they stayed wet for an inordinate amount of time. If I kept them on they usually dried within a half hour or so. Your body heat does wonders as a natural clothing dryer. And keeps wet (and heavy) clothes out of your pack.

If you're hypothermic and unstable then drying your clothes with your body heat would be… stupid, unless it was your only option. But on a normal day, with normal wetness, and no real threat of impending hypothermia, wear 'em! (As noted earlier, just please make sure none of those leaders are bringing jeans or cotton flannel shirts–and make sure they don't try to slip in cotton underwear…)

[Christopher Chupka]

Couple years ago outside of Taos up the standard (walkup) route to Wheeler Peak

Not very old pee either

Sunglasses and temp

And why I didn't go outside at night

[Brian Lewis]

"The reason I started this thread is because BSA Scout leaders always emphasize changing out of your moisture laden day clothes before going to bed to prevent sleeping cold."

Thru-hiking for months last year, I never changed clothes at night and didn't have any problem as a result — I'm in the camp of "don't change unless clothes are particularly dirty or wet".
A few times last year my one pair of pants was either too dirty or wet or both (typically these happened at the same time, I don't use gaiters) so I would either unzip the pant legs or just leave off the pants, but otherwise the only clothing adjustment is whether I'm wearing my warmth layer inside the bag or not, and perhaps changing socks for something dryer and/or thicker.

I'm not saying that the choice that's right for me is necessarily a universal truth, but I'm inclined to believe the idea posted earlier about the old rule of thumb passed on by BSA leaders being based on older clothing technology.

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