The Big Walk - My First Kit

As I outlined in the last post, I am assembling various "KITS" (as those across the pond say) and this weekend I put together the easiest of the lot - my Trail Hygiene Kit or as I am calling it  Provisions for Pooping on the Path.

To some this is a taboo subject but it is a fact of life so deal with it. If you are too delicate, leave now! Otherwise read on and enjoy!

Pooping in the woods is as old as humanity and yes there are scientists who specialize in fossilized poop, human, dinosaur, or other animals. In lieu of the human hand, leaves, animal skins, moss and more has been used in the past to wipe our bums; then we used paper, newspaper, old mail order catalogs and telephone books until 1857  when it became wildly sold, in the USA and became a commodity - though catalogs and phone books were still used as they were usually free.

So how does one POOH ON THE PATH??  Note: I will be only talking about what I WILL DO, your choices and milage will vary. To find out more, trust me on this, there are lots of YouTube videos that cover the subject.  Unless I am near a village, operating train station, or park, I will have to literally go in the woods.

• One must find a place that does not expose one's bum to others near by be that behind bushes or a large tree. You must be 100 ft minimum for a number 1 (pee) or 200 ft for a number 2 (poop) from any water sources.
• Using a stick, rock or trowel, dig a small hole a.k.a "cat hole" that is 8" deep and 6" wide . I will be carrying a small plastic trowel which is kept in a plastic bag. Set the dirt to one side. If you dig the hold by a tree, you can lean your back on it so you are in a sitting position.
• Lower your pants and do the deed. For women, there are pants that have zippers in the crotch or some women were skirts and go commando, to assist in the step. I will be dropping trou.
• Wipe, or not, with TP or a bum wipe of some sort but do not put in the cat hole (more on this later).
• Stand up, not stepping in anything, and pull up your pants.
• Cover it and if possible, mix your deposit with some dirt to aid in decomposition and absorption. If you want mark your spot by putting sticks in the shape of an "X" on top.
• Now, take a bag, turn it inside out, and put your hand in the "inside" and pick up your TP and/or Wipe. Turn the back over the wipes and seal. DO NOT BURY IT, they won't bio-degrade anytime soon and wild animals might try to dig it up. The should be packed out, follow the Leave no Trace mantra! 
• Use hand sanitizer to clean your hands. 
• Put the trowel in the carrying plastic bag.
• Continue on down the trail.

Here is what is in my kit

• Plastic trowel in a zip lock bag
• Toilet Paper - I have taken a roll of TP and made mini rolls which are a few feet long. I store all the rolls in a zip lock bag but have 4 in a sandwich bag. This is so when I head into the wood, I am only taking the sandwich bag and there is less chance of all of the rolls from getting wet, if it were raining or I drop the bag while it is open
• Hand Wipes - again divided into a large zip lock bag and a sandwich bag which has 4 wipes.  I can use them for wiping my butt or hands.
• Hand Sanitizer
• Pet Poop Bags - to hold the used TP and wipes. These are light weight and easy to tie off and dispose of when I hit a village.

The larger bag(s) of the TP mini-rolls and hand wipes will be kept in my overnight bag which is transported from B&B to B&B each day.  Everything else is stored in a larger zip-lock bag so it is easy to pull out of my pack when needed.

The next kit to assemble is the First Aid kit.