How do I estimate toilet paper requirements?

[whynotwalk]

... and on a slightly more scientific note, tests have shown that mixing a little dirt, leaves or similar organic material into your faecal matter, speeds up the breakdown process. I believe it's something to do with the other organisms that are found in dirt etc. The more active the "pile" is, in terms of bacteria etc, the more quickly it breaks down. You can use a stick or similar to do the mixing.

One final caution: we don't wish blow flies and their "offspring" - or even furry critters - to be helping with the aeration process. They can become vectors for spreading diarrhoea, giardia etc. So bury your stuff deep!

cheers

Peter

[GPSGuided]

... and on a slightly more scientific note, tests have shown that mixing a little dirt, leaves or similar organic material into your faecal matter, speeds up the breakdown process. I believe it's something to do with the other organisms that are found in dirt etc. The more active the "pile" is, in terms of bacteria etc, the more quickly it breaks down. You can use a stick or similar to do the mixing.

Are you suggesting that we should be sh!t-stirrers in the name of environment?

[matagi]

Can I suggest leaving the cardboard tube in place? It is the correct diameter to hold a small bottle of hand sanitiser.

[highercountry]

Toilet paper, pfft, you're all soft.
I got caught short down the beach once and found that nice smooth, round and flattened river rocks worked really well.
Well, better than nothing at all.

[Onestepmore]

Someone asked how you can keep TP dry. Zip lock bags sound good (until they split -I think the last pack I bought were dodgy cheap oones, as most of then seem to split just below the green zip thing)
I've just always had it in a separate plastic bag.
Some local camping and fishing shops sell small rectangular packs that don't have any cardboard tube in them. Less bulk.

I remember seeing these, and thinking it was a useless extra - maybe not?
Sea to Summit sil nylon loo paper dry bag with a string to go around your neck or a tree etc
And bright orange so you don't leave it behind

http://www.campsaver.com/ultra-sil-outh ... per-holder

(Ladies - Femfresh wipes are good, but as far as I know they're not biodegradable, so you need to bag 'em and keep 'em till the end of your trip. Alcohol and soap free, dermatologically and gynaecologically tested and non irritant)

[GPSGuided]

Sea to Summit sil nylon loo paper...

For a sec I was thinking that OSM was going to introduce to us a new 1000 water head rated reusable toilet accessory. My mind then went off thinking Cuben etc until it came back to earth. Oops!

[Onestepmore]

Lol, I'm sure Zpacs could make you one GPSGuided!

[Scottyk]

I'm doing the South Coast Track in Tasmania - could be 9 days depending on weather.
I've seen estimates of how much protein I should eat each day, how much water to drink and so on. But I've never seen an estimate of how much toilet paper to pack.

All jokes about using stinging nettles etc aside, is there any rule of thumb? Presumably it would be different for ladies and gents (we are ladies).

Any help out there?

I think this thread proves that the great folk on the forum will give advice on just about anything. So here is my bit!
Seriously, this might be something you could work out for yourself, you use it everyday so go from there.
You need as much as you use in 9 days plus a bit more for backup. No one can really tell you how much you would use in 9 days, I bet you could work it out though.

[GPSGuided]

You need as much as you use in 9 days plus a bit more for backup. No one can really tell you how much you would use in 9 days, I bet you could work it out though.

An algorithm would be,
Think of the worst case of stomach upset that lasts for 9 days but would still not induce you to set off your PLB. Prepare that much TP to cover it. Done for worst case scenario!

[DaveNoble]

Hmmm - now what did people do before 1890 or so, when toilet paper started being used by the masses in wealthy parts of the world? You could always use local material - e.g. plenty of moss, ferns, paperbark etc on the south coast (OK you may have a problem if you come into a zone where the only plant material is scoparia!), or you could take a book - and tear out a few pages each day. Then again - you need to make sure you read enough to keep ahead of your toilet paper needs.

Dave

[corvus]

Never ever use TP rolls on my walks knowing what can happen to one that gets wet!! my choice is the pocket packs of Kleenex Tissues 9 to a pack (individual wrapping and can be distributed throughout your pack for safety ) and large enough to be torn in half (two wipes) per sheet and I always follow up with a Kleenex Flushable Fresh Wipe
corvus

[Onestepmore]

Now what other forum can give bottom wiping instructions?

[GPSGuided]

It's a feature!

[Strider]

Now what other forum can give bottom wiping instructions?

This one

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthrea ... =140388783

[Moondog55]

I may be a bit bulky but on a long trip that I know is guaranteed to be wet I like to pack my TP in a medium sized Milo tin, I also keep my sanitiser in the tube in the middle. Otherwise I use ziplock bags but I usually take a full roll on most trips, I use it for dishwashing/drying purposes and other camp jobs as well as nasal tissue at need. In fact I find a couple of ziplock bags of TP indispensable in my city-survival kit along with Chux and Wet-ones

[madmacca]

Someone asked how you can keep TP dry. Zip lock bags sound good (until they split -I think the last pack I bought were dodgy cheap oones, as most of then seem to split just below the green zip thing)

My TP baggie had done several multi-week trips before it finally started splitting. I just taped the split over with gaffer tape (which I always carry for essential field repairs), and it kept the bag waterproof to the end of the trip.

[Moondog55]

@David. quite often they used whatever was available but that is one of the uses listed for the cotton flannel roll carried by the old timers ( the primary use was as cleaning rag and patch material for the black powder muzzle loader ) Cloth wipes can be washed and reused many times and I have heard it was the main use for last years "Farmers Almanac" and /or Yellow pages

[Onestepmore]

History Of Toilet Paper
http://nobodys-perfect.com/vtpm/exhibit ... story.html

There is even a Toilet Paper Encyclopaedia
http://encyclopedia.toiletpaperworld.co ... l-timeline

I like thse gems, from Wikepedia
Gargantua dismisses the use of paper as ineffective, rhyming that: "Who his foul tail with paper wipes, Shall at his ballocks leave some chips." (Sir Thomas Urquhart's 1653 English translation).
He concludes that "the neck of a goose, that is well downed" provides an optimum cleansing medium.[3]

I'm not sure what the goose thinks of this

[perfectlydark]

Lol! I wonder how many animal necks were tested before the conclusion that a well downed goose was best?

[tibboh]

Never ever use TP rolls on my walks knowing what can happen to one that gets wet!! my choice is the pocket packs of Kleenex Tissues 9 to a pack (individual wrapping and can be distributed throughout your pack for safety ) and large enough to be torn in half (two wipes) per sheet and I always follow up with a Kleenex Flushable Fresh Wipe
corvus

This is my regime....works very well. One small pack a day is overkill. Keep one in the lid of your pack, one always in the daypack. One small pack of the flushable biodegradable wipes for a week and dont forget the small bottle of hand sanitiser, a modern marvel.

[whynotwalk]

He concludes that "the neck of a goose, that is well downed" provides an optimum cleansing medium.

Could this be the origin of Toilet Duck brand of toilet cleaner

[davidf]

There is no way I,d let a duck or a goose near my quacker.

[perfectlydark]

Id say the feelings mutual

[Onestepmore]

I doubt the goose was alive
(Now I have horrible pictures of a basket of dead goose necks and heads ready for the said gentleman)

Lol, or were they kept penned ready in the 'ablutions chamber' for when they were needed? "I think I'll use the grey one this morning"
Imagine your job description 'I'm the maid that looks after the geese that are used to wipe his Lordship's bottom"
Ewww, another thought - I wonder if they reused them? I mean, washed the down on the goose's neck and then it was ready for another go?

I need to stop and do something useful rather than making up imaginary scenarios to do with geese and s * * t .

[DaveNoble]

This is an alternative translation from Gargantua - “... I say and maintain, that of all torcheculs, arsewisps, bumfodders, tail-napkins, bunghole cleansers, and wipe-breeches, there is none in the world comparable to the neck of a goose ...”
― François Rabelais. This is only a short quote from a whole chapter on this issue - and he mentions using, amongst other things, his mother gloves, a lady's neckerchief, a March cat (the claws were a bit of a problem however), lettuce, spinach, nettles, sheets or a pillow, a hat, calf skin, an attorney's bag..... before coming to the conclusion about the neck of a live goose. And his conclusion is backed up by no lesser a figure than John Scotus.

See - http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/r/rabelai ... k1.13.html

Dave

[Swifty]

Toilet paper, pfft, you're all soft.
I got caught short down the beach once and found that nice smooth, round and flattened river rocks worked really well.
Well, better than nothing at all.

This is exactly the method that the Afari's of Ethiopia use. Although these are rounded desert-varnished pebbles lying all over the place.
Geologists like me - be forewarned! Gives another meaning to the definition of "nuggets".

[GPSGuided]

Toilet paper, pfft, you're all soft.
I got caught short down the beach once and found that nice smooth, round and flattened river rocks worked really well.

For follow through, how do you dispose or manage those "nice smooth, round and flattened" river rocks after use? Flying turd rocks for 20 metres or a wash in the creek?

[neilmny]

It occured to me that the folder may have an advantage over the scruncher in terms of quantity used.
Surely the unruly scrunch takes more per episode than the fold.
On that basis the scruncher who seems to be running low on supply could for a short time become disciplined
and fold to save having to use such things as bracken or round rocks for the purpose for which they were not intended.

[Nuts]

Scoparia Will work- in a pinch! More a bulk cleaner though, It's not exactly great for the finish clean. A goose would be great but they're never around when one needs them!

We hand out 1 roll on tours but things can very easily turn to crap, two would be safer if solo..

[Strider]

Toilet paper, pfft, you're all soft.
I got caught short down the beach once and found that nice smooth, round and flattened river rocks worked really well.
Well, better than nothing at all.

This is exactly the method that the Afari's of Ethiopia use. Although these are rounded desert-varnished pebbles lying all over the place.
Geologists like me - be forewarned! Gives another meaning to the definition of "nuggets".

I guess this explains why geos are often known as rock lickers!