this one's pretty much just for guys....it's cold, and you gotta go....do you use a pee bottle?....i fine that a 1 litre platypus does the trick most often, and it packs well...your aim has to be dead on, though...just put a skull and crossbones on it before you head out.....

Edited by douglas on 10/14/2005 14:51:29 MDT.

After a bit of trial and error I discovered that a Hot/Cold, usually blue, flexible medicine bottle is the best solution for me, for a pee bottle. I don't believe I've seen anyone made reference to using it for this purpose, but these are the benefits I've found:

Generous intake port - Not too much aim, or unnecessary precision required.

I don't think anyone would ever confuse it for a drinking bottle, even at night.

When you "filler up" you can use it as a heating pad, which will conform to what ever body part you place it on - That's originally what it was made for afterall!

It takes up very little space, by collapsing to a tiny ball.

And, of course, its lightweight; plus you can find them absolutely everywhere.

Works for me.

Manuel, what an excellent suggestion...I am a recent convert to the bottle concept, but what a wonderful luxury it is to not have to leave the warm bag in the wee smalls, when it is coldest. It is 'the only way to go." Bill

Glad it works for you, though most of us can't fit the small-diameter Platypus bottle opening (hehe).

This works really well for me: Nalgene 32L w-i-d-e m-o-u-t-h bladder.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=9203324&parent_category_rn=5760748

For the really paranoid, change the blue loop-top cap to fireman red ($2).

Um, that's 32 oz. (1L) above. Darn metric system!

I just go outside and let her rip. Never have used a "pee" bottle

In another life when I thought I was a climber, pee bottles were an accepted standard, there are so many issues of breaking your sleep cycle by exposing yourself to inclement weather, by dressing,and opening up a tent to spindrift and going out that even the grouchiest tent mate will allow for them. The ultimate comfort occurs in a portaledge where you just roll over and let it rip.

there you go larry. ease of pee's

On the way to the traihead I bought a 20 oz bottle of water with a wide cap. Crushed it down and put it in an outside pocket of my pack. Worked great. Sure was nice not to get out in the cold.

Mark

I love efficiency and use a pee bottle to keep warm in the snow. Use a WELL LABLED nalgene bottle and your set.

Just put duck tape on the bottle so at night when you need a drink or need to fill it up you don't grab the wrong one plus that way you always have your duct tape

I buy a 12 - 14 ounce wide-mouthed bottle of fruit juice to take with me on the trail. It's always gone in the first hour, and after that, I have my pee bottle.

No way I'd ever confuse it with my playpus bladder system, even blindfolded, 3/4 asleep, in the dark - which is my usual condition when my Vagus nerve wakes me up.

Handling and operating this unusual system within the confines of a sleeping bag does take some getting used to. You don't want to have an accident inside your warm, dry down-filled cucoon. You will have to live with the results until the next available bag washing. Drips are bad enough; God forbid a spill! Brings a whole new meaning to "Get a grip".

My wife gets sooooooooo jealous. Self-preservation kicks in and I force myself to stiffle any pending smirk or laugh as she struggles out of her bag into the cold, wet night. Usually, I pretend I'm still asleep and can not see her scowl or hear her curse.

It's nice to know we guys have at least ONE real advantage over the double X chromosomes.

Edited by wandering_bob on 10/27/2005 16:39:50 MDT.

crap people just get up and go pee. too much thinking about this.

Not when it's cold, and DEFINITELY not when it's a full moon out and werewolves are prowling!

Briefly, vagus nerve contributes fibers to sacral nerves to become the pelvic nerve which innervates the bladder.

I actually like to get up and pee. The stars are sooo bright, and if there IS a full moon it is always a pretty sight. My wife hates it when I stumble over her on the way out of our tent. (Nope she is not a tarp person).

ahem. ladies find pee bottles useful, too. i try to avoid weather so cold that i don't want to leave my tent/tarp/what have you, but on an unexpectedly frigid trip last year i took the desperate measure of peeing in a Ziploc. so when i expect to be coooold at night i will pack an extra quart-size freezer bag, although i like the idea of using a sturdier container as a hot-water bottle for my feet.

For me anyway, I really don't like the idea of ziploc -- they can leak or -- even worse -- burst.

Use a Nalgene Cantene instead -- wide mouth, lightweight, and much, much sturdier.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=9203324&parent_category_rn=5760748&vcat=REI_SEARCH

Just had a brainstorm--nothing I've tried.

How about storing the soft-sided wide-mouth Nalgene inside a 1-gal ziploc? For both sexes, it means you have to physically open the ziplock before opening the bottle, which should wake you up enough to realize this is NOT your drinking bottle! And then when you stick it by your feet for warmth, the ziplock is added insurance for any bottle leakage or earlier spills.

For women, if you leave the bottle inside the ziplock during the process, it would give you an extra margin of error, so any spashing or misfires would land in the wider ziplock opening. It may be harder to handle both openings with only 1 hand, though (can't try, as I'm a guy!)

Edited by jcarter1 on 11/05/2005 13:39:26 MST.

Folks are speaking as if urine is toxic to ingest. Granted it may not delight and fascinate your palate like a '63 Petris, but it also will not harm you. Unless you have a bladder infection, urine is primarily sterile water and salts. I've never accidentally sipped from my wine box bladder or wide mouth cantene, but if I did I would just spit it back in the bag, take a swig of water to rinse my mouth and return to slumber.

There is actually a situation in which you want to drink your pee: Backcountry skiiers in Oregon were well hydrated when they were pinned in a snow cave for a couple of days by a sudden storm. Early on in their incarceration they had to pee so they collected their clear to pale urine in a water bottle. Much later when they were substantially dehydrated, they consumed their stored, very dilute urine and staved off severe dehydration. If your stored urine is too concentrated your mouth would reject it and even if you could swallow it, if it's concentration of salts is greater than your stomach cell walls, your body will pump water into your stomach to dilute the urine to attempt to equalize it to your cell concentration. That's a worst case scenario. In other words, it's pretty hard to harm yourself by drinking your pee or anyone else's.

Cheers, Al