Sunday, May 27th, 2007...8:24 pm

Trail Tip: Don’t Pee in the Tent!

Jump to Comments

The title of the post may turn off some of you. But I’m trying to not only share the usual stuff you hear from experienced backpackers, but also the little things — done incorrectly — that can make your life miserable on the trail.

I have always hated to get up in the middle of the night and drag myself out of my warm sleeping bag for nature calls. So, early on I decided to bring a small Nalgene container as a “pee” bottle.

Here’s the problem — one you might not consider: if you miss, the result is pee rolling around on your water proof floor, soaking into your mat, sleeping bag, clothes and generally making a mess.

If you decide to use this method, have some absorbent material read to soak up a spill.

Better yet, just get up and find a spot away from any water source, enjoy the darkness and the millions of stars you’ll see on a clear wilderness night.

Be light. Be safe. Be one with the pack.

5 Comments

Filed under Backpacking tips and techniques, Uncategorized

5 Comments

  • Lone Star Scouter
    May 28th, 2007 at 9:32 am

    There are always those Astronaut diapers. But I’ll stick to finding a bush in the dark.

  • Mike Kretzler
    May 28th, 2007 at 4:14 pm

    I’ve done both and I much prefer, as cold as it can be, going outside of the tent. The risk of a spill and the need, especially if there isn’t a spill, to then manage this product in your tent is just too much in the middle of the night. Aside from the cold, I also enjoy being out in all that dark, and seeing all those stars, (with luck, anyway — I hike in the Pacific Northwest) so there are compensations.

  • Missy Mouse
    May 31st, 2007 at 9:46 am

    I wonder if you’d have to mark the piss-bottle so that in the middle of the night you didn’t drink outta the wrong Nalgene.

    Yuuuuck! :o

  • Bruce
    June 6th, 2007 at 5:11 pm

    Missy Mouse, you hit on a problem. I never drank from the wrong bottle, but when I got back from home I would have two nalgene and would mix them up. Yuck is right when you think you might be drinking next time out of your pee bottle. I don’t do it any more.

    Bruce

  • Bryan
    June 10th, 2007 at 11:13 am

    The spillage problem is only half as, well, nasty, as Bear Grylls peeing on his shirt and using it as a headwrap.

Leave a Reply