Make Your Own Gear – A Titanium Potty Trowel

[David Wood]

> Tough crowd in this thread

Sure was – I hear Roger's next MYOG article will be how to install one of those chicken-wire screens in front of your machine to stop the incoming beer bottles… ;)

[Ken Thompson]

It better be titanium chicken wire.

[Frank Deland]

Thru-hiker does not have titanium any more. What is a source for small quantities of sheet Ti?

[WV Hiker]

As another poster said – get a Montbell Ti trowel. Only .45 oz. heavier and a much cleaner design.

[Tohru Ohnuki]

I've been getting titanium rod/sheet from sellers on ebay..

[Mary D]

I have an old, very sturdy semi-circular aluminum stake (left over from some long-since-discarded junky tent) which works just fine as a potty trowel. Weighs the same as the Ti trowel here and is also an extra tent stake just in case (needed it on my last trip when I lost a stake, even though the latter was painted blaze orange). It's just the right size that I can roll up my stove windscreen (inside a plastic bag, of course) inside the curve of the stake for the windscreen's protection.

I don't have the tools or the skill to make this trowel and am quite satisfied with my old tent stake!

The standard plastic trowel, IMHO, is useless as well as heavy. During the Northwest's dry season (yes, we do have one!) it won't even scratch the surface of the ground, much less dig a hole.

[Milton Koenigsberger]

Never did like Hummers

[Mike M]

interesting design for the handle – makes sense when you see a shovel next to it

also picked up a few tips working w/ titanium (the stuff is tough to work w/ for anyone who hasn't tried)- thank you

I'd guess Roger's trowel could also double for a stake, my pvc one did the trick for me when I inadvertently left one stake at home

[Ryan Hutchins]

I like that there are ideas being shared to MYOG. Will I run out and replace my MontBell trowel with a sheet of titanium and a hammer to build my own? Probably not right away, but it is nice for people who don't think through engineering to see how to build something that should hold up. Thanks for sharing Roger (and Bill and others who have MYOG)

Now, what's up with the TP? between that and the huge fires in recent trip reports, I'm starting to wonder if anyone on BPL has heard of the LNT priciples (I'll assume Roger packs out his TP though!)

[Roger Caffin]

> if anyone on BPL has heard of the LNT priciples (I'll assume Roger packs out his TP though!)

A risky assumption!
The whole point of the trowel is to be able to dig a hole to bury one's doings. So the TP goes in the hole as well.

However, I would defy you to be able to see where we have dug a hole when we have finished. The hole gets filled, flattened and the mulch (leaves etc) or whatever gets replaced.

The only way you would know where I have been is the crossed sticks over the filled hole. But sticks get overlaid in the bush anyhow. So we make them into a rather obvious small cross.

Cheers

[Devin Montgomery]

>As another poster said – get a Montbell Ti trowel. Only .45 oz. heavier and a much cleaner design.

.45 oz may not break one's back, but from a engineering perspective, that makes the Montbell 50% heavier than the MYO. Besides, MYOG is only partially about saving weight and money; it's also about the pride of designing and crafting your own gear.

[Peter Glaskowsky]

Just a quick comment. It occurred to me that someone might follow the suggestion to do a dry run with a piece of galvanized steel, and practice with the gas torch at the same time.

That would be bad.

Heating galvanized steel or some other coated metals releases poisonous vapors that can cause a potentially fatal illness known as "metal fume fever."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever

I think it might be a good idea to add a warning to the article itself for the benefit of those who might not read the comments.

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[Rusty Conover]

The montbell Handy scoop is made of Stainless steel. Not titanium.

[matt brisbin]

For being such a great community I'm a bit surprised to see the negative comments. Regardless if it's been done before I find it fun to tinker around and design my own gear. I just got some Ti in the other day and have been playing with it, really tricky stuff.

If anyone has tips/pointers and such regarding the hot forming of 6AI-4v feel free to PM me.

Thanks for the write-up Roger.

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