Peeing while underway

The Loop of Henle, at your service

– Last Updated: Oct-23-05 7:50 PM EST –

A couple points of interest regarding the peeing lifestyle. First, you should not only be looking foir a place to pee, but considering physiology in your paddling. For instance, those that pee at night are told by their docs to not drink after 6pm. Generally speaking, and you can try this for your own body, one will pee out liquid that you have taken in 4-5 hours previously. Generally, the receptors in the bladder wall will begin to sense a need to pee at about 250cc, and you will feel a raging desire to "shake the dew off the lily" at about 400cc; although these are post-renally processed amounts, you get the drift since a can of Coke is 12 ozs or 355 ml (one ml = one cc). So, drink a can of Coke or two and bammo, in 4-5 hours you'll be jonesin' for a pot to piss in. Second tip, avoid caffeine (and the equivalent in tea and ice tea, xanthine) and alcohol. These will make you pee larger amounts and very rapidly (ahead of the 4-5 hour schedule). Avoid these when paddling for extended trips or over open water. Also, if you are taking a doctor prescribed diuretic (eg furosemide, Lasix, spironolactne, etc), consider not taking the dose before you paddle; you will loose enough water via perspiration and not need to take a pee break just for the diuretic. Finally, and this is a fun factoid for all you backwoodsy types, and I swear this is true, if you get stuck and cannot find water--or if you are stuck out at sea and cannot drink salt water--you should drink your paddling buddy's pee and he/she should drink yours! Why? Each of your renal systems differ in what they are capable of extracting from the urine (ions, nutrients, etc), and pee is sterile (unless you have a urinary tract infection), so the rec in hard core survival parlance is to drink your buddy's urine, not your own. (Okay, now I KNOW none of you want to paddle with me anymore--). True.

You can drink your own if vital
Dilute it 1 part to 3 or 4 parts water…maybe a twist of lemon.

The pee issue
Tricky question this one… I am told a plastic baggie (zip lock) works well, but I have never succeeded in such maneuvers… Over the side takes no swell and practice. jumping out and in takes warm water and weather, pulling off the water is my only success story, and even that is negotiable depending on time of month and place… aaaahhhh the quest prevails.

salty food
Try a few slices of bacon for breakfast, or add salt to your oatmeal if you’re on a multiday trip. It helps keep the water “on board” for a few more hours.



Disregard this questionable advice if you have renal, heart, or blood pressure problems. It works for me, though.



Lyn

Most of
the places I get to paddle regularly are surrounded by private property. People here tend to defend their property rights and are not afraid to enforce them. Many of you probably heard about the people shot to death by the tresspassing deer hunter here last fall. This happened right outside my hometown. I knew one of men who died that day. This incident was caused over trespassing. Although this was an extreme case, I’m not going to risk putting myself in that situation.



If you bother to stop on shore to take a leak, (as I think most of us do), where do you suppose it ends up? Back in the ground, back in the water table, and/or back in the lake. Runoff from our storm sewers is a much, much greater problem than urine. We are merely another animal. Urine from a healthy person is not a contaminant. Some perscription drugs that end up passing out in the urine are harmful to the environment, but this applies to the minority.

Holy crap… I mean holy pee !!!
I’ll never take a normal pee again.

The next time I am in the woods behind my work shop taking a pee, I am going to reread all this good info and see which lasts longer: the pee or the BS !



Cheers,

JackL

I take
breaks whenever I can. It’s nice to stop every few hours, get out and stretch the legs. I also have a Freshette, once referred to on P. Net as a paddling penis, as I recall. I fitted a extra 1 1/2 or so foot of plastic tubing around the outside of the tube it came with. Sorry, but that little tube wasn’t cuttin’ it. Now I can pee in a bottle or over the side.



I use it mostly for camping, though, when it’s too damn cold to get out of the tent.

long denim skirts
Over the years I found that wearing a long denim skirt or dress worked out well for hiking and other outdoor activities.



Of course you have to aim well, be at the used McDonalds coke container from the back of your car (be sure the lid gets put back on tight and drop at nearest outhouse) or at the poison ivy (just kidding) you are standing astride.



There are lots of good suggestions folks have given here. Lasix hits me hard and keeps on striking. I find that diet pop goes through me quicker than regular coke. Salty food before a trip helps.




sorry jack
I believe we are on Pee net, aren’t we

peeing while underway revisited…
…thanks to all responders on this issue! Didn’t know it was such a hot topic, and I now have some good ideas and some interesting food for thought from a few of you! :slight_smile:

Thanks for keeping it clean…

P@C
You can P@C, even in a drysuit. my wife is quite good at it.



while some of youse can find a suitable spot to stop every couple hours there are times, at sea, when a pee is a necessity and comfort issue.



front relief zip, one layer of undergarment that allows for access and a funnel, fenis, or FUD. I steady her boat, she sits on the backdeck and lets it fly. she generally pees into her helmet or sometimes I lend her my relief jar (a ol’ wide mouth gatorade bottle)



It’s no biggie if you are balanced and can relax.



steve

Here’s a good answer:
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=49571&memberId=12500226&storeId=226

relaxing is key for the flow to follow
Yrs ago, I used to drive a VW Rabbit through the back roads. Your post reminded me that I had perfected a way of not even getting out of the car but of getting the annoying bladder emptied onto the country roadside very discreetly. I was more agile then - I’ve never tried this from a Dodge Van. I think the Rabbit was just small enough and roomy enough - or am I bigger now or both. Damn I miss that Rabbit.

time for rescue practice
You can always tell everyone it’s time for rescue practice, and be the first to jump in the water.



Don’t long distance bike racers have to deal with this problem? I seem to remember hearing that they would just pee in their bike shorts, so they wouldn’t lose time hopping off the bike on a long race.

I Had to Read this Entire Posting HaHa
Could only think of one thing to add:


  1. Drag a large tree trunk behind your kayak
  2. Raft the tree trunk adjacent to your kayak as

    in a rescue
  3. Hang your back bumper over the side of the

    tree trunk (as in the deep woods)
  4. Do your business
  5. Use wave action cleansing like a European bidet
  6. Air dry



    On a more serious note - no wonder women don’t want to paddle more. This business hinders progress :slight_smile:

Here’s what I do
Get an empty shampoo bottle that’s flat (as opposed to round) and has “shoulders”. Cut the neck and one of the shoulders off diagonally. The flatness of the bottle allows you to slip it up the leg of your shorts or between skin and wetsuit, depending on the temperature. The remaining shoulder will catch the drips.

If you can hold it for a 2 - 3 hour trip, you’re lucky. Some women, including myself, cannot, especially when there’s no place to go at the landing that you’ve travelled two hours to get to and the last gas station was an hour back down the road.

As for #2, well, luckily, I haven’t run into that problem yet. I guess I’d have to recruit my hubby to hold the boat.