A Series of Newbie Questions

I wear my dirty laundry. The only extra thing I might have is a second pair of socks. Those are probably hanging from my pack drying or stowed somewhere. But I don't worry about dirt/dirtiness. Part of the game. In fact, the dirtier the better, means I'm having a good time.

Toilet paper? Who uses toilet paper? :) That's just extra weight! Just kidding, I usally burn mine or pack it out in my 'garbage bag', usually a 1 gallon ziploc.

– Do you ever use the straps on your trekking poles? Have you removed them? Have you kept them? Why?

I took mine off and the straps stay at home. Reason was to save weight and I personally found them annoying.

– How do you handle your dirty laundry and what, to you, constitutes "dirty"

I don't mind being dirty during my trips. I typically hike in and out wearing the same clothes. I only change at night when going to bed.

– How do you handle your garbage?
– Do you actually pack out your toilet paper when required? If so, how do you handle it?

I burn any paper waste and pack out my plastic items in a trashbag that hangs from the outside of my pack

No straps on my poles. Straps in the summer are just something else to fiddle with, get in the way and when worn correctly (between the palm and grip) can be a irritant on bare skin. When snow shoeing- yes I use straps

I wash and wear when needed- I use fast drying clothes, so if they really need a wash, I wash then wear them dry. They have to be pretty dirty for me to wash them.

Usually its the first used empty freezer bag then the next one is for double bagging and everything else goes inside those.

If required everyone SHOULD always pack it out! I normally don't use TP so it is not a problem/issue (nature always provides an alternative). I also carry a "blue bag" (its an official term and also the bags are usually blue) if I anticipate needing to carry it out, like climbing on Mt. Rainier or some place like that.

Its time to wash up a bit when you can no longer stand the smell of your own stench.

Generally, yes, I use straps on a $10 set of MYOG poles. No handles, since my weight almost always goes on top (down hill) or on the strap (uphill). Handles encourage wrong placement of the staff.

Dirty Laundry? Sometimes. Generally I bring only one set of cloths for two weeks out. They get pretty grubby. I usually find a stream or lake and soak them for about 10 minutes. Then I take them to shore on the bank and work them for about 2 minutes, then I rinse them out, back to shore and wring them out as best I can and put them in the sun, if possible. Socks are rinsed out every day. When doing my pants/underpants, I slip my sleeping pants on…usually long johns, sometimes 3/4 length. What makes these dirty? sweat and bodily oils. I don't worry about clean "dirt", ha ha. So, it sort of depends on the temp. I wash up after supper most days, though. Not real clean, just my crotch, under arms and front and back. Takes a whole minute once you get the routine down. You stay FAR less smelly. When I can smell myself, I am due!

Generally, I burn toilet paper by placing it on a burning fire. Sometimes I bury it. If required, a crap bag is used, but that is only good for about 3-4 uses. Double Bag It!!! Really! Keep the bag down wind when you open it.

Missed the garbage. Generally this is confined to 1 small baggie per day. Far smaller and much lighter than carrying it in full. Cocoa ia a b%tch. The Swiss Miss has aluminum liners, so if I get a chance to burn all paper, I have to pick out the aluminum. Nestles seems better.

If you need to clean yourself or your clothes, you can do so with a gallon ziploc bag and a few drops of dr bronners. Just be sure to dump the soapy water far away from any water sources.

Straps:
I once had a sewn pair of grosgrain loops on my GG LT4 poles, but I did a poor job with the stitching and they came off by the end of the first trip. I decided not to replace them because I discovered I didn't have any utility for them; they were just something else to fiddle with.

Laundry:
I only carry one set of clothes [the clothes that I wear], save sometimes an extra pair of socks, though sometimes I'll strip various clothes off and wash them in a stream or lake, sometimes with a little Dr. Bronner's. I've only done such in warmer weather with synthetics; I dunno if it'd be recommended when it gets cool and one is wearing wool, which takes longer to dry. More often than not I won't wash anything on a trip though.

Garbage:
Sometimes I carry a thin produce bag for my garbage, other times I just keep it in the bottom of my grocery bag that I use for food/bear hang bag.

TP:
In an effort to simplify my kit, I recently started going TP-free. It works pretty well.

edit for clarity

I do use the straps on my poles, I find on uphills I like that both my wrist and my hand are used instead of just my hand. It's a personal preference thing.

I carry very little spare clothing so my dirty laundry is going to be one pair of socks and one pair of underwear. They go in a ziploc bag.

Garbage- same thing. I keep my garbage to a minimum by leaving excess packaging at home but what garbage I do generate goes in a ziploc, and if I'm carrying a bear cannister it will go inside the bear cannister.

I'm a woman and so when I go #1 I just drop the used TP into a small black plastic sack I keep specifically for used TP, instead of dropping it on the ground. I pack it back out. For #2 I bury the TP with the waste.

I've decided to be a bit more descriptive with one of my questions:

How do you handle your garbage when you sleep (to keep bears away and critters from chewing the bag apart)…especially when you are above tree line and may not have space in your bear can?

BTW, thanks to all that have responded! I've been interested in how all of you handle such things.

I hang garbage with my food or put it in a bear can with my food. There's no other alternative.

We wash ourselves and our clothes regularly, not as often when it's cold and bodies/clothes don't pick up as much salt, oil, etc. Trail dirt doesn't bother us at all, just the stuff our bodies produce.

Do people really not use TP or carry it out?

I just bury along with p00p. As long as I'm in a biologically active area, like there are roots around, it decomposes within a year. The paper is slightly beneficial. If I was in an alpine area of loose rock, I might do something else, but you can usually find an area with plants that isn't near where too many humans go.

I have a theory that dirty smelly clothes make you less attractive to bugs. Conversely, perfume is an attractant. I only carry extra socks.

Hang garbage with food unless I burn it. My garbage is pretty unsmelly, so I forget sometimes but creatures don't notice it.

What garbage are you carrying that's so bulky it won't fit in your bear canister? It seems like all the garbage I produce while hiking is food related, which should fit back into the bear canister where the original wrapped food was.

I'm thinking in terms of getting a food resupply where I can't dump my garbage.

…or perhaps I'm just showing my newbieness.

Please please please pack out used toilet paper, every time, no matter what! Hiked Eagle Creek trail on the Columbia Gorge – it was beautiful. kept passing amazing campsites that would have been great to camp in, but there was used toilet paper everywhere! not good for fellow hikers, and not good for wildlife/environment. and burying it doesn't cut it – it gets dug up by animals.

Please respect the environment and fellow hikers. If toilet paper must be used for 1 or 2, please pack it out!

And to answer the original post, if I use TP, I triple bag it and hang it in my bear hang (separate from food), and then pack it out – every time.

Also check out the Leave No Trace principles for more info on waste: http://lnt.org/learn/7-principles

PS – sorry to get on my high horse here, but I was really saddened and disgusted by the amount of toilet paper in the woods, as well as unburied human waste (that was really disgusting!).

Again, I think your overestimating the bulkiness of your garbage. A bunch of snickers wrappers don't take up much volume. Certainly less volume than that night's dinner.

Good comments – no need to be sorry

I've been where there is loose TP and p00p on the ground, I agree, not good

I've been to many sites that I know had been used many times before me that season and I saw no sign of anything.

One thing is, I think some people intentionally leave a scrap of toilet paper on the surface to let other people know that it had been used, but that is unnecesary.

And some poeple are just slobs and don't bother burying it – they aren't reading this anyway.

Heavily used site on Eagle Creek – maybe haul it out

Walk off into the bushes away from where anyone goes – I don't see a problem – toilet paper decomposes very quickly

Ken, these are all good questions!

Trekking pole straps–yes, I use them. That way the pressure is on my wrist and the heel of my hand, I don't have to grip the pole hard with my hand and I have no problems with my carpal tunnel syndrome. Using the straps also means I can snap a photo and/or manage my dog's leash without having to drop the poles. For how to use your straps, see:
http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/poles2.htm

Dirty laundry: I rinse socks daily. Otherwise I'm wearing it and it waits until I get home. The general rule for lightweight backpacking is to take only the clothing you would wear all at one time in the worst conditions you'd expect for the specific trip, the exception being a spare pair of socks. The time I slipped and fell in a big mud puddle on Washington's Olympic Coast, I wore my base layer top and rain pants while rinsing out my very muddy pants and shirt (in that case, in the surf). I wear quick drying fabrics so they were almost dry in an hour even in the coastal damp. I put the damp shirt and pants back on and my body heat finished the drying in another 20 minutes. A gallon ziplock bag makes a great "washing machine" for socks and lets me dump the dirty water 200 feet from water sources. I also use that bag if my clothes or socks are damp at bedtime–I seal them in the bag and put it inside my sleeping bag. (I wear my base layer for sleeping.) The clothes aren't dry in the morning, but at least they are warm when I put them on, and no moisture gets into my sleeping bag insulation.

Garbage: I use the freezer bag "cooking" (really rehydration) method, so I have a dirty quart ziplock bag every day in which to seal garbage. At the end of an 8-9 day trip, I may have at most 2 or 3 quart bags full–and that includes TP and the bulky pads this old lady is obliged to wear. It easily fits into my bear canister or Ursack. If your garbage amounts to more bulk or weight than the food you packed in, you're most definitely doing something wrong!

You mentioned a mid-trip resupply; if you're having somone come in to meet you, he can easily take out a sealed quart or two of garbage. IF it is legal to build a fire and there's an existing fire ring (note that the existence of a fire ring doesn't necesssarily mean a fire is legal!), you can burn at least the bulky garbage; just don't try to burn thick plastic or any aluminum foil. Don't do this close to your camp, though, since the odor of burning food may attract wildlife. I rarely build fires but just pack everything out. I also pack out trash "found" along the way if I possibly can.

As for the TP: my "lunch" (really a continual moveable feast of snacks) for each day is packed in a zippered sandwich bag, so at the end of each day I always have a sandwich bag available in which to seal the next day's TP. That bag is sealed inside the used quart freezer bag from my evening meal, which amounts to double-bagging the TP. That's sufficient to avoid contaminating my food! If there's any smell, neither I nor my dog can detect it.

I know that some folks like to burn their TP. I also know of a number of forest fires that have started that way! If it's dry and windy, or your cathole is in dry organic soil, please don't try! If conditions are wet, you can bury the TP in the cathole, but soak it thoroughly so it will disintegrate faster. If the soil is dry, though, please pack the TP out!

There's an amusing book available called "How to S*** in the Woods," which should be required reading for everyone going out into the wilds, even for half a day!

“…toilet paper decomposes very quickly”

Elsewhere on this site ‘lynn tramper’ mentions a study looking at the decomposition of, among other things, toilet paper.

It take about two years to decompose. Unless the ground is very wet, then it takes longer.

IMHO, it takes a chipmunk about a day to find it and dig it up.

(If you can clean your butt at home in the shower, you can clean it in the woods. Just saying…)

“…some people intentionally leave a scrap of toilet paper on the surface to let other people know that it had been used, but that is unnecessary.”

Especially in high use sites, mark the spot with an ‘X’ of two twigs.