Re: beginner's questions on backcountry pooping
Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 2:34 pm
WELL, WELL, WELL... this is interesting... I just finished a post to a different (june 2013) thread that talks about a doctor named Ken Murray who spoke at Adventure 16 and referred to a scholarly paper that found that if the brown stuff is left on a rock under the sun for 2 days, it becomes biologically dead and no longer a risk for contaminating the water. I find it ethical to protect other people from my **** by leaving it out to dry (not under a rock) in a place where it would be impossible for any other living (human) being to see it by accident. That handles the mess that leaves one's body. Then there's the mess that gets stuck to oneself on the way out. I don't take TP, ever. It spoils my enjoyment of the great outdoors and it adds complexity (the more I keep it simple, not lighter, just simpler, the more I am able to cover vast amounts of off-trail territory, like hammock not tent, it is a psychological thing). There's ONE very important item missing from the snow, sticks, leaves, pinecones list (by Bill Morell on Sat May 28, 2011 7:37 am): DIRT !!!!! Get huge handfulls of dirt and just keep bombarding your bottom with clean, dry, talc-like DIRT. With practice, your fingers will never get sticky brown (I use a stick or some leaves first, though). The cleaner and DRIER you get, the more you can rub it in, until you are very clean. But as the day wears on, it gets a little irritated and itchy down there, so when I get to water, I use water for a clean finish and to remove any leftover dirt.
Here's where it gets interesting: after doing this for a while, I realized that in the beginning, I was hesitant to use this method because my potty training had taught me that what happens down there is "dirty". There was a mental disconnect between mind (feelings) and body (brown stuff). This method cleared up that learned disconnect. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: If you have some sort of mental disconnect between mind and body, and you cannot feel all parts of your body all the time everywhere in the backcountry, YOU RUN A GREATER RISK OF INJURY and DEATH. Your mind must "known" how all parts of your body are feeling. Unfortunately, many (like me) were raised sort of numb (in particular, in families where parents were addicted, like booze). This method can shock one's mind into greater awareness of one's ENTIRE skin and bones body. ***
Here's where it gets interesting: after doing this for a while, I realized that in the beginning, I was hesitant to use this method because my potty training had taught me that what happens down there is "dirty". There was a mental disconnect between mind (feelings) and body (brown stuff). This method cleared up that learned disconnect. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: If you have some sort of mental disconnect between mind and body, and you cannot feel all parts of your body all the time everywhere in the backcountry, YOU RUN A GREATER RISK OF INJURY and DEATH. Your mind must "known" how all parts of your body are feeling. Unfortunately, many (like me) were raised sort of numb (in particular, in families where parents were addicted, like booze). This method can shock one's mind into greater awareness of one's ENTIRE skin and bones body. ***