It’s not an easy subject for people to address, but if you plan on spending any amount of time in the remote outdoors, you need to know how to poop in the wilderness. With a little planning and a few supplies, you’ll be able to take care of business without a lot of stress. Here are a few simple tips that will help make everything come out okay in the end.
Supplies
To effectively poop in the woods in the most hygienic way possible, you’ll need:
- Folding shovel or spade
- Single-ply toilet paper
- Wet wipes (optional)
- Plastic bag for used wet wipes (optional)
- Water
Find a secluded spot
It goes without saying that you’ll need a little privacy to poop in the wilderness. Performance anxiety is a real issue that plagues many people just trying to urinate, so imagine how compounded that will be by defecating in the wide, open spaces of the wilderness. Find a spot at least 200 feet away from the trail or campsite, preferably with a bit of cover provided by trees or scrub.
Take note of your surroundings
If you have to poop in the wilderness, the last thing you want is to be startled by wildlife. Check for tracks, hair, or any other indicators that wildlife has been through recently. You should already be familiar with what poison ivy, oak, and sumac look like so you don’t cop a squat right into a patch. If there’s water nearby, move your location a couple hundred feet away to avoid contaminating the water.
Dig a hole and settle in
Pick a spot with soft soil where you can dig a hole about six inches deep. If you don’t have a folding shovel or spade, you can use a sharp rock or a stick — you’re not digging a trench. Don’t just fling the dirt away as you shovel; make a neat pile next to your hole so you can fill it in when you’re finished. Due to the nature of the position you’ll take over the hole, you may not be able to comfortably squat with your underwear and/or pants on, so consider whether you’ll need additional privacy.
Wiping
Assuming you’ve planned for the possibility that you may have to poop in the wilderness, single-ply toilet paper is the best for the method of digging a hole and burying it. If you choose to use wet wipes, you will need to bring a plastic bag to pack them out with you — do not put them in the hole! Wet wipes have chemicals that, while non-toxic to humans, could leach into the surrounding environment and cause ecological damage.
If you did not plan ahead and bring toilet paper, leaves are a natural option, but you’ll have to collect them beforehand, and you’d better know which are toxic and which are benign. How a poison ivy rash feels on the most intimate area of your body is not something you want to discover in the wilderness. Once you’re back at camp or on the trail, be sure to wash your hands with soap and water immediately, or in a pinch, a dollop of hand sanitizer will do the trick.
Leave no trace
Now that you’ve finished your business, it’s time to cover your tracks. Pour some water in the hole and use a stick to stir everything together. This sounds absolutely nasty (and it is), but it’s the most effective way to begin the breakdown process in the ground. Fill the hole in with dirt, tamp it down, and you’re on your way — with no evidence that you just did the deed in the wild blue yonder.
Featured Image from Juan Marin/Unsplash
