Still going without tp?

"I would ratheer go outside than use most of the backcountry loos I've seen."

I have never and I will never use an outhouse / pit toilet to do #2. EEEeeewwww!!! Truth be told, I can't remember the last time I used an outhouse to do #1 either. The GREAT OUTDOOR is all around!! :)

Most of the world manages this without toilet paper, the trick is to be as hygienic about it as you can.

I lived and worked in India for two years and was often out of the city. I learned right away to go without TP and am glad I did: it freed me never to have to worry about it. Western style toilets were rare to non-existent in most of the places I went, including my own house.

There really several aspects to the process:

1) Learn to squat and be comfortable at it. Indian style toilets are low to the floor with foot rests to step and squat on to help you aim. We are a sitting/chair culture, not a squatting culture, but you can get used to it with practice just like anything else.

In the outdoors, try digging a cat-hole in a more rectangular shape so you can look down and see the front of it to help your aim.

2) Clean yourself always and only with some water and with one hand; your left hand is the preferred one in India, as most people are right handed. But be consistent.

3) Use water to clean that hand immediately while still squatting. Indians typically carry a small pot of water (known as a lota) for this. Houses have water taps at hand squatting level to do this.

Outdoors, put your water bottle at the ready as you squat. Pour from your right hand onto your left to clean. When done, clean your hands again.

4) Be aware of your hands. Clean them whenever practical and try to keep them clean. Indians are very aware of handedness and using their 'clean' hand for handling food, touching people, etc., around which there are numerous social norms.

I use these methods and clean my hand with biodegradable soap. I carry some Purell to clean with before I handle food or water.

"Not to defend Nick, but I interpreted his comment as saying that most women don't have a furry ass whereas some of us guys do…"

Thanks Kevin. Sheesh!

Been married for 10 years and have a daughter, I'm well aware of the female anatomy. Like I said before, if you couldn't interperet my first post, I was talking about how it can be more difficult to clean a hairy ass if you have soft bowel movements, than to clean a smooth(or significantly less hairy) ass.
No question that guys have it easier in the urine department… I guess you just gotta spell things out around here.

Actually, what i like the most about going No-TP, is that It's one less thing to bring. The fewer items in my pack the better.

I'm glad to hear that's all you meant, Nick – perhaps your meaning would have been clearer to some of us if you had worded it differently, maybe substituting the word "less" for the somewhat ambiguous "shouldn't". And for me, your subsequent comments didn't necessarily dispel my original interpretation. But sorry to have jumped in and drawn so much attention to what I'd perceived as an odd comment, because your latest comment does make your meaning clear now.

Just another reminder to me that whether one is writing or reading on the internet, it's often too easy for things to seem different to a reader than they did to the writer.

Yeah, I suppose I should have just been more blunt. I was trying not to be, but it seems those commenting on this thread don't have an issue with it. Also, I thought the forum censored the word "ass", so I was trying to avoid using it.
Oh well, off to antagonize someone else in another thread…

>"I have never and I will never use an outhouse / pit toilet to do #2."

When I do, I DO use some TP but for a different purpose. A factoid that stuck in my head from my First Aid instructor days is, "in 1900, the vast majority of black widow spider bites were inflicted on male genitalia." because that is what projects further into an outhouse and those bits have pretty thin skin.

Ever since, I've made a little TP "broom", lifted any seat, and swept under the seat and around the inside lip of the underlying outhouse. About 10% of the time, I'll dislodge a black widow.

TMI, I now.

For you non-TPer's, carry a small branch in with you as a whisk broom.

"in 1900, the vast majority of black widow spider bites were inflicted on male genitalia." because that is what projects further into an outhouse"

The real truth — those idiots were jacking off and it's the vibration that attracted the Black Widows! And it was a rare case of accidental impregnation of a Black Widow egg that produced Spider Man.