Bathroom Solutions

Options (Lemondrop versus…)

Finally, options for women who pee outside

Backcountry Lemon Drops.
An absorbent pad attached to a plastic-like bag, the Backcountry Lemondrop works by first unfolding the bag to expose the pad, placing your hand inside the bag for total protection while blotting and then turning the bag inside out to seal it.

Pee cloth.
Store bought or homemade the pee cloth solution can be as simple as a cotton bandana or as sophisticated as an antimicrobial wild patterned square potholder-like solution. Pee clothes are designed to be used and dried on the outside of a pack to be used again.

Toilet paper and resealable bags.
The toilet paper in this solution can be a roll from home packed in a resealable bag or camping toilet paper which is sometimes packaged in a plastic container dispenser. Prior to inventing Backcountry Lemon Drops this was my preferred solution. I used small rolls of camping toilet paper in a plastic dispenser and dog poop bags. This solution involves at least one resealable bag for packing out used paper and possibly a second to keep the roll protected.

Drip dry, no wipe
The OG solution since the dawn of human women. Drip dry means waiting, maybe giving a little shake or squeeze for all the drops to come off, and then pulling up your underwear to absorb the rest.

Let’s look at the considerations for each of these options across a variety of key features you will want for your outdoor toilet paper solution.

Packability.
No matter what outdoor activity you are doing you will want a wipe solution that’s small and lightweight. For extended trips

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops. As a single wipe, the Lemondrop is the smallest and lightest and most convenient solution (second only to drip dry). Before and after use, it fits easily in packs and pockets. Even for extended trips, 6 unused Lemon Drops take up the same space as one pee cloth.
✔ Pee cloth. Second in packability the pee cloth is also small and lightweight and can easily fit inside a pack or pocket before use. The consideration for the pee cloth is after its used, when it’s recommended to hang from the outside of a pack to dry.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags. The loser in this category, toilet paper and resealable bags are bulky. Not only do you need one resealable bag to hold the used paper, you need another resealable bag to hold the toilet paper roll (or use the plastic container it comes in when using camping TP)
✔ Drip dry, no wipe. Ok the real winner in this category since you carry nothing in or out.

Cleanliness
The outdoors is dirty and you want the cleanest most sanitary possible solution to be used down there. Not only just for good hygiene but also to just feel a little like a lady.

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops. The Absorbent pad of the Lemondrop is completely enclosed in the plastic-like bag up until use, your hand is completely enclosed when using so there’s no risk of contamination, and the used pad is completely enclosed when packing out. And you only use it once. Making it the cleanest and most sanitary option.
✘ Pee cloth. Before use the pee cloth can be well contained and protected in your pack. But once it’s used it now needs to hang off your pack to dry, making it susceptible to hitting the dirt, catching on branches. And the same cloth is reused multiple times without washing. Doesn’t feel very clean.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags. Toilet paper that’s packed in either a resealable bag or plastic container stays clean. Using toilet paper and disposing of used paper in a resealable bag poses risks of contamination if you touch the wrong areas.
✘ Drip dry, no wipe. What doesn’t shake off dries in your underwear. Enough said.

Usability
The time spent with your pants down is uncomfortable so you want your wipe solution to be fast and easy to use.

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops. Lemon Drops are quick to deploy, you can unfold them while peeing, fast to use, just blot for a second, and after turning the bag inside out you can be 100% confident you won’t touch any wet parts while holding it in your hand and pulling up your pants.
✔ Pee cloth. Also quick to deploy and fast to use the pee cloth may be tricky in the beginning after use while pulling up your pants as you figure out how to hold it or where to set it so as to not touch a wet part
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags. Having personally used this solution I know it’s the least user friendly. You are holding a roll of TP in one hand, wiping in another, and then somehow have to put the used paper into another bag which means either carefully setting down the roll to free a hand up for the bag or setting down the used paper which just means having to pick it up again without getting your hands wet. This is one of the slowest solutions and is absolutely the reason people just leave their toilet paper on the ground.
✘ Drip dry, no wipe. While one could argue this solution is very user friendly since there’s nothing to use, having to hold the squat while drying or shaking around a little means extra time with your pants down



Discretion
Depending on your personality and who you are outdoors with (i.e. hot date, new friends, tour guide), privacy around bathroom breaks could be an important feature.

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops. Lemon Drops can pack-in and pack-out in the tiniest sports pockets. No one ever has to see them if you don’t want them to.
✘ Pee cloth. The least discrete of the wipe solutions your used pee cloth will actually be hanging off your pack to dry for everyone to see (hopefully not touch or smell).
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags. Due to the bulky size of toilet paper rolls and most commonly used, clear resealable bags, this wipe solution is not easy to keep hidden from others as they will certainly see your supplies as you remove and repack them in your pack.
✔ Drip dry, no wipe. This solution is as discrete as your underwear (don’t forget the “hot date” scenario above).

Disposability / Leave No Trace
Respecting the outdoors means strict leave no trace, pack-it-out principles. Nothing makes me sadder than seeing used toilet paper on the trails.

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops.
✔ Pee cloth.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags. Although the resealable bag is meant to pack out used paper it seems like a lot people don’t try or give up and just start leaving their paper on the ground. This solution is too difficult and discourages pack-it-out behaviors.
✔ Drip dry, no wipe. Nothing to pack in, nothing to pack out (assuming your underwear stays on)


Environmentally responsible
Respecting the outdoors means strict leave no trace, pack-it-out principles. Nothing makes me sadder than seeing used toilet paper on the trails.

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops.
✔ Pee cloth.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags. Similar to the above
✔ Drip dry, no wipe. Nothing to pack in, nothing to pack out (assuming your underwear stays on)


Additional considerations for your pee wipe solution should be the situation or scenario you are outdoors in. Having the features above (or not having them) can make a huge difference in certain situations described below.

In the rain
Being outdoors in the rain makes for a whole new adventure. Outdoors in the rain means ponchos or rain coats with streams of water running down them and pack covers. Your wipe solution needs to be waterproof before and after use and easy enough to use around a poncho or raincoat.

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops. The best solution for this situation, the Backcountry Lemon drop stays dry before use, is easy and fast to use under a poncho and to quickly get you covered back up, and closes up quickly for easy pack-it-out finish
✘ Pee cloth. The pee cloth assumes you can attach it to the outside of your pack to dry which won’t work very well in the rain. Either the cloth gets rained on and is wet, or the cloth is under the pack cover and can’t ventilate. Either way, it’s not drying very well.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags. Once you pull your roll of toilet paper out it’s going to get wet. Which also means it will start to break down making usability more difficult and requiring you to use more which just makes the careful disposal of it in the resealable bag that much harder.
✔✘ Drip dry, no wipe. If you're squatting under a poncho then nbd and maybe since everything is already wet you won’t even notice your underwear. If you only have a raincoat then the extra time spent waiting to dry will mean more time getting wet on your lower body.


In the cold
In cold weather keeping your warm layers on is critical. You want to be fast with pants and ideally be able to keep your gloves on. Gloves can be tricky since it’s hard to know exactly what you’re touching.

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops. Although starting the bag open can be a little tricky with gloves, any glove that works with cell phones will have friction enough to start the bag opening. The best part of Backcountry Lemon Drops in the cold is that your glove is fully enclosed in the bag during use ensuring that you are wiping with only the wipe. Since it’s the fastest to use you’ll have your pants back on and a warm butt in no time.
✘ Pee cloth. The Pee Cloth solution relies on drying by hanging on the outside of your pack. Not only could the cloth not dry in between uses, it could actually freeze.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags. This solution is made difficult because of the glove factor. Handling the resealable bag, toilet paper container and even ensuring its only paper wiping and not your own glove make this a poor solution for cold weather.
✘ Drip dry, no wipe. Having to wait while your butt is freezing.



On your period
Being outdoors on your period brings a whole slew of challenges in itself (see this blog XXXX). Since you will often tend to your menstruation solution the same time you are peeing, it’s helpful to understand what wipe solution is best.

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops. Hands down the best assistance when on your period, the Lemon Drop solution makes removing and packing-out menstruation pads and tampons a breeze. Not only can you wipe while your hand is completely enclosed and protected in the plastic-like bag, but you can use the same Lemon Drop to remove tampons and pads and then by turning the bag inside out, completely and totally enclosing them in a sanitary pack-it-out solution.
✘ Pee cloth. Reusing a cloth that has menstrual blood on it is not my idea of being a lady. Neither does hanging my period soaked rag off my pack. I would not feel comfortable using a pee cloth on my period, period.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags.
✘ Drip dry, no wipe. This solution offers no assistance when menstruating.


Without a pack
Whether you are trail running, biking, or outdoor racing, sometimes you just don’t carry a pack with you. In this scenario, your wipe solution needs to be small, lightweight and easy to pack out.

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops. Stored in your pocket before and after use the Lemon Drop can pack out as small as it packed in. A single Lemon Drop weighs only XXX
✘ Pee cloth. The pee cloth can be stored in your pocket before using but without a pack the it needs to dry by hanging off your body or some other piece of equipment you may have (i.e. bike) which may not be ideal especially in a race situation where you are less likely to notice if it falls off.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags. Without a pack this solution simply won’t work. It’s too much bulk, too much to carry.
✔ Drip dry, no wipe. No pack, no wipes, no problem!


Peeing multiple times on one trip

✔ Backcountry Lemon Drops.
✔✘ Pee cloth.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags.
✘ Drip dry, no wipe.


Pooping


✘ Backcountry Lemon Drops.
✘ Pee cloth.
✘ Toilet paper and resealable bags.
✘ Drip dry, no wipe.


Conclusions
It’s wonderful to live in a world where we have multiple solutions to choose from that have different benefits across different situations. No need to limit yourself to only one solution. Depending on your range and variety of adventures, you may want multiple toilet paper solutions to cover every scenario!