How to Poop in the woods? Waste management on the Appalachian Trail

[Music] [Music] ah it's just gorgeous out today today we're going to discuss Waste Management AKA pooping in the woods so Waste Management particularly on the at is governed by the principles of the leave no Trace now they have recently kind of changed a bit of the policies on the leave no trace it previously has been number one Barry barrier poop when you can and if you can't bury it then carry it out they've kind of been switching this and I think that's just because there's more and more people on the trails and it takes a bear hit on the environment so now it's carry it out if you can and if you can't then bury it uh the at does have a fair number of privies so really that's your best one if there's something there and available use that but if you don't and you do have to bury your poop at least that's my plan you do have to have some systems in place for that first of all for your poop kit you're going to have to bury it so the standard is you should go roughly 200 250 feet off Trail so that's about 70 large steps and 250 feet sorry not meters feet from a water source so I mean that just sounds the reason no one wants to filter their water from where you're dropping the kids off at the pool and don't do it in the pool now the reason why we dig cat holes when we bury our poop as opposed to the animals who get to leave their poop all over the place is that the animals are consuming items in their diets that come from the habitat that they leave it in and it decomposes so there's nothing new introduced really into the into the environment unlike our diets which tend to be quite varied quite processed and coming from goodness knows where with all sorts of bacteria and the types of things that we leave in the woods isn't native to the environment that we're dropping it in and it can be quite dangerous to some of the animals if they consume it which is the reason why you would want to bury it so that they themselves aren't exposed to our nasty bacteria and quite frankly I mean that's just a lot of poop there's a lot of people on those trails so you kind of want to keep that underground where it can decompose ideally if it's on a self-facing slope in their Sun and that's elevated that's the unicorn of all spots just so that it can decompose the best you're not going to really find that particularly on the at where it tends to be quite uh quite shaded so in order to vary to bury your poop properly you need to dig a cat hole a cat hole is essentially just a hole where you put your poop and there are certain criteria for that cat hole mostly it has to be it should be oh six to eight inches deep and approximately four inches wide now I have that kind of measured roughly on my trowel that I carry so I know roughly how much that is some people don't carry trowels they'll use sticks they're trekking poles whatever Trails don't weigh much they're handy but yeah so you dig a cat hole you drop the kids off in the hole and then you cover it up with some nice soil Pat it down just lightly not too much you want it to decompose and then you're done you go wash your hands and you've done your leave no Trace principle um some people use toilet paper if you use toilet paper to wipe they recommend that you do carry that out that you don't bury it and if you use wipes definitely carry that out you just put them in a Ziploc bag some people like to cover their Ziploc bags with duct tape or something because they don't want to see their poopy teepee I try to avoid TP altogether by using a bidet there's plenty of different ones on the market the one I've chosen to use isn't technically a bidet at all it's a squeeze bottle I think for science equipment I don't know it was cheap it was small I like the size it holds the right amount has a nice little curve it's easy to aim and it has its own bottle okay so first of all I wanted to just kind of go through what is in my bathroom bag the Vargo dig trowel try to get that a little closer and see how it's got the serrated edges there let's see that and if you can tell but it's got um wrapped edges so when I grab it like this it's quite formidable it works well and it doesn't cut my fingers so it's a great little tool I know a lot of people carry the deuce of Spades because it's half an ounce this is about I think I weighed it to three ounces so it's a little heavier it's a little sturdier but I get the job done I also carry with me a little bit of toilet paper not a lot so we carry a little roll you can also carry wipes but do remember if you carry wipes and or toilet paper you really should be carrying them out I know some people bury their toilet paper because they have compostable stuff but even still they recommend that you do take that out with you now what I use and I like to use is a bidet I don't use a typical bidet there's lots of them on the market and they look really good but I always use filtered water don't just use any kind of water because you're introducing bacteria to an area which could potentially infiltrate the interior part of your body and you really don't want to do that so a good squeeze like this after I have a bowel movement I can really after that shake it off I don't usually use toilet paper if I feel the need to I will and then I can carry that out with me or you can also you know if you have a cool cloth some people use that to kind of adapt to dry which can work I use mine for urination when I because I'll I'll squeeze this on as well and then use the cool cloth to dry that way I stay nice and clean prevents like monkey butt and whatnot and it's just a nice easy way to stay clean on a continual basis and it's super super easy and the Kulu cloth if you're not familiar with that um they just look like that they have an antibacterial side on the inside and you just clip it to the outside of your bag this gets washed every time I do laundry so it's quite frequently washed and because I'm already cleaning with water prior I'm just really using it to dry so it doesn't get too too nasty but yeah just frequently wash them I don't put them in the dryer they don't need to go in the dryer just let them hang out to dry on the back of your pack and and that's all good um then after you're done the bathroom obviously wash your hands I prefer to wash with soap and water versus hand sanitizer it just it works better they've proven that washing your hands is cleaner but if you don't have a lot of water available or it's just inconvenient I always do carry a bottle of hand sanitizer in my my poop kit so you know just in case [Music] just to give you an idea six inches is down here so I my cat hole needs to be at least that far down and at least the serrated edge wide so you know you're gonna dig a cat hole clearly I'm just digging into snow I can't get to the ground under there because well that'd be a long ways down that begs the question what do you do in snow you do your best in the snow and you hope that when the snow melts it dissolves it as well but still do a cat hole the best you can and whatnot because I'm I'm not going to be able to do that in this uh this terrain at this moment so there you go um but if you are using a stick to dig your cat hole some people for leverage will put it down and then put their foot on it like that which is okay but just be careful that is a great way to injure yourself if that stick happens to you know slide off and catch your shoe and then you've got a big hole in your foot so you know FYI just think about what you're doing before you go ahead and do it it might not be the best idea now the position you need to get a little flexible here so maybe this is something you might want to incorporate into your training program is learning how to squat because having nice loose hips will help this process I am a flexible person so I have no problem getting down into that position getting into the squat position is Handy but it's also difficult so if it's not something you've practiced you really probably should it's also good quite frankly just for your joints in general to learn how to squat like that if you can't squat like that there are other ways to do it so yeah so if you can't bend down you're going to grab a tree and just kind of lean back a bit if you can I know they have even One straps you can tie around yourself but chances are likely if you're doing the at hike you're probably strong enough to be able to do this or just kind of lean on a rock or something you can lean against trees and try to go like that but the further you are from the ground the bigger potential you have to make a splashing mess I know particularly oops particularly when you have to go immediately it's probably not going to be a nice solid Adventure it'll probably be more like your soft serve screaming and the whatnot so those are some tips on how to poop in the woods sadly I could not do the cat hole but snow if you enjoyed this little rant on how to poop in the woods do give it a like it helps the algorithm and then more people can check us out and if you want to see how our journey unfolds do subscribe and catch us as we uh get started on our hike it's getting closer and closer and I'm a little envious of those who've already started but soon enough we'll be there too see you then [Music]

Channel: Summit Sam

Views: 1,311

Keywords: how to poop in the woods, how to poop in the backcountry, how to go to the bathroom in the woods, how to poop on the Appalachian trail, hygiene in the backcountry, backpacking and pooping, camping and pooping, Appalachian trail 2023, Summit Sam Appalachian trail, tips and tricks on how to poop in the woods, Backpacking over 50, Hiking over 40

Id: tXAaDBMZr_Y

Length: 12min 23sec (743 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 24 2023