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Feminine mid-night calls of nature


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Home Forums General Forums General Lightweight Backpacking Discussion Feminine mid-night calls of nature

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Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 28 total)
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  • #1242405
    Roddie Larsen
    Member

    @hotrod

    Suggestions, please, to a FEMALE on how to pee in the middle of the night without getting out of the backpacking tent. Currently I use a Coolwhip container with lid, which is light but bulky to pack in. Any better ideas? Thanks.

    #1547281
    Kimberly Wersal
    BPL Member

    @kwersal

    Locale: Western Colorado

    Well, if you can make the cool whip container work, how about a heavy duty ziploc type bag? I just suck it up and drag myself out into the night, but I'm not willing to risk the sanctity of my down bag!

    #1547284
    P. P.
    Member

    @toesnorth

    Locale: PNW

    I use a freshette director and pee into a bottle…just like a guy, but tidier (they're available lots of places but here is the link to REI: http://www.rei.com/product/407267).
    There are other similar products out there, too, I just like this one. I can add a longer tube for peeing while kayaking, etc.
    I haven't lost a pi$$in' contest since I got one. Just ask my husband! ;-)

    #1547285
    Kier Selinsky
    Member

    @kieran

    Locale: Seattle, WA

    My wife just put this on her wish list. I think you'd have to get out of your bag, but may help in other situations:
    http://www.go-girl.com/

    #1547291
    P. P.
    Member

    @toesnorth

    Locale: PNW

    This one does not look as user-friendly as the freshette director and those who have used it tend to agree but YMMV.
    I carry mine in my front pants pocket so it always at the ready while hiking.

    #1547301
    Jack H.
    Member

    @found

    Locale: Sacramento, CA

    One of my female friends pees in our floorless shelter. It's really awkward to wake up to.

    #1547317
    Melody Nomura
    Member

    @kmnomura

    Are you serious? That is gross!

    #1547354
    Sarah Kirkconnell
    BPL Member

    @sarbar

    Locale: Homesteading On An Island In The PNW

    Might sound odd, but I look forward to getting up mid night. Then I can stretch my back!!!!

    #1547367
    Jack H.
    Member

    @found

    Locale: Sacramento, CA

    Yep, no joke.

    #1547376
    Keith Selbo
    Spectator

    @herman666

    Locale: Northern Virginia

    My wife has one. Aside from the ridiculous price for a piece of molded plastic, she thinks it's the greatest invention since goose down. She was never keen about dropping trou to take a leak in the great out doors and tended to hold it in a lot longer than she should have. The freshette has made for a great improvement in the hiking experience for her.

    #1547415
    Lynn Tramper
    Member

    @retropump

    Locale: The Antipodes of La Coruna

    I used to carry a whiz freedom and a 1 litre platypus bottle. Then I realised it was all just extra weight for something I could go out side and do for no extra pack weight.

    #1547477
    Sarah Kirkconnell
    BPL Member

    @sarbar

    Locale: Homesteading On An Island In The PNW

    Ooh…lol! No kidding!

    A couple years ago I was on a trip with a couple ladies. I wake up to hearing major cussing one tent over. Seems someone who "loved" her device had an accident. The bottle had tipped over, pee everywhere – her bag got soaked.

    At that point I turned my ipod on and drowned out the 2 am cuss-a-thon. If I didn't I was going to bust out laughing.

    No pee bottle and device = getting to carry ipod to cover up hiking partners mistake. Priceless.

    #1547550
    Mary D
    BPL Member

    @hikinggranny

    Locale: Gateway to Columbia River Gorge

    Sarah, that sounds like a story I heard 50 years ago, which the woman in question discovered that the coffee can she'd taken into the tent with her on a rainy night was upside down.

    At my age, I have to exit several times per night. I just grit my teeth and do it. I tried the Freshette. I couldn't get it to work without leaking and discovered that I have to pull my pants down to use it anyway.

    #1547559
    Diane “Piper” Soini
    BPL Member

    @sbhikes

    Locale: Santa Barbara

    I made my own urinary device out of a wishbone salad dressing bottle. Cut it diagonally from the bottom corner to the top near the neck where the cross-hatching pattern begins.

    I used my cookpot to pee in. Urine is sterile until it meets your urethra, so it's not like you're gonna poison yourself. Just wash your pot in the morning. The urine gets the baked on crud off good.

    To use the device, I had to position various skin folds correctly. Then afterwards, I would insert a small plastic bottle of water with a flip-top lid into the hole and flush myself and the device with water.

    #1547599
    Roddie Larsen
    Member

    @hotrod

    I have a Freshette and have used it. I never liked hauling the stinky wet thing out of a plastic bag so just started holding up the coolwhip tub to me so as not to miss. I never thought about rinsing/flushing it right into the container—Duh! How much water (ounces) does it take to rinse?

    The ziploc bag has been considered but how do you make it "stand up" and not collapse at a critical moment? Is it really leak proof if it flops over during the night after use? It would be a good solution for the bulkiness of the coolwhip container if it is secure enough. I assume it is rinsed out in the morning and reused?

    #1547602
    Ryan Jordan
    Admin

    @ryan

    Locale: Central Rockies

    Diane, you are my new hero. I like that you can leave the little Brillo pad at home now.

    #1547605
    Lori P
    BPL Member

    @lori999

    Locale: Central Valley

    I eliminated getting out of the tent by getting rid of the tent. It's a lot easier to roll out of the hammock. I go the distance, do the deed, and come back – thought about the pee bottle thing but find that not having to winch myself off the ground, out a zipper door between guy lines, actually made it less hateful a task.

    #1547606
    Roddie Larsen
    Member

    @hotrod

    Brillo. Could use it as tp…..

    #1547627
    Sarah Kirkconnell
    BPL Member

    @sarbar

    Locale: Homesteading On An Island In The PNW

    The other reason to get up at night is I love seeing the sky. You know when you open your eyes and above you is a sky that is so dark yet so brilliant? There is nothing like that, in an alpine meadow at 2 or 3 am. Or at 4 when dawns first light is slithering up.

    Or in winter when it is snowing lightly. So much snow that night is light. No sounds but the snow crystals by your ears.

    Granted when rainy and windy it sucks. lol….

    #1547673
    Roddie Larsen
    Member

    @hotrod

    Getting a little off-topic here, I remember backpacking for two weeks on the PCT in the Cascades in Washington, and exiting the tent for my usual middle-of-the-night call of nature. I was mesmerized by the entire sky, even south, being filled with an incredible display of the northern lights. I was the only one of us that enjoyed that, thanks to my full bladder.

    #1547728
    Brad Groves
    BPL Member

    @4quietwoods

    Locale: Michigan

    I find it's much less fuss to just go out of the tent. Unless it's winter or really pouring rain, in which case I like a ziploc. No leaks so far! Mega bonus, just toss it out in the vestibule and let it freeze solid… just invert the bag and dump out the frozen pee in the morning.

    I'm somewhat, um, gender-challenged in fully answering the feminine use of a ziploc. However, it seems like if you have a decently balanced squat then you'd have both hands free to position and hold the baggie in place. Sounds like a bit of gymnastics in the middle of the night. The freshette idea makes a lot of sense.

    #1547733
    Sarah Kirkconnell
    BPL Member

    @sarbar

    Locale: Homesteading On An Island In The PNW

    Brad…peeing for a lady is not quite the same as for a guy – you can have the best squatting muscles but often having "aim" is something a woman doesn't have, especially with a full bladder. It often goes one direction at first then changes.
    While you could hold the bag up directly (which is what I am thinking you are saying) that just would not be easy if one has pants around the ankles or even underwear. (Those devices aim the urine, making it easy to make a bag or bowl.)

    #1547774
    Lynn Tramper
    Member

    @retropump

    Locale: The Antipodes of La Coruna

    What Brad describes is particularly challenging when there's two of you in the tent!

    #1547789
    Brad Groves
    BPL Member

    @4quietwoods

    Locale: Michigan

    Yeah, yeah, ladies, I know it'd be complicated at best… that's why I referred to it as gymnastics! Seems like a major pain! It's not the most convenient procedure as a guy. Unless it's really brutal outside, I really think its easier to just exit the tent.

    #1547929
    Kimberly Wersal
    BPL Member

    @kwersal

    Locale: Western Colorado

    The ziploc idea was just me brainstorming, since I think it COULD work for me, but I'm one of those that doesn't mind getting up and going outside to take care of business. I like the star-viewing opportunities, too.

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