What Will You Do When the TP Is Gone?
Jul 18th, 2010 | By Mike | Category: Health | Print This Article
We have all been in the same situation. Sitting, restfully on the toilet, we reach for a square of toilet paper only to find a cardboard roll. Reflexively, we reach for the cupboard to get another roll only to find it bare. Panic sets in and we frantically search for an alternative.
Now imagine the same scenario when the you-know-what really hits the fan, during a long term emergency. Will you be prepared?
While this may be a light-hearted issue for many, especially those who deem themselves fully prepared for an emergency, the best laid plans can literally be flushed down the toilet if this simple, yet essential detail is not addressed.
There are two issues here: 1) Is there a sufficient stockpile of TP and, 2) should the stockpile run out, what’s the alternative TP solution? Whether you find yourself haplessly short of a square or you are preparing for the worst, you’re better off thinking about it today.
Stockpiling TP
We all try to buy enough TP, and, while we know that, to be fully prepared, we should have extra packages stored, it’s a problem for some preppers just finding enough space for multiple 36 roll packages.
Space bag solution. By simply removing the cardboard from the TP roll, you can flatten the rolls. After organizing them inside a space bag and sucking the air out, you can squish as many as 50 rolls into the width of a phone book. Ten of these can be stacked in the same space of a large box.
Alternative TP
If you follow the stockpile tip, this may not ever be an issue for you. Still, it’s best to be prepared – at any time.
Reading material. Who among us will admit that, at one time or another, the bottom half of the sports page came in handy. You may not want to get rid of your old Yellow Page books. The paper is thinner and they’re great for portion control if you use one page at a time. Most of the paper substitutes that are available are full of ink which makes it a bit messy, but they can work.
Reusable cloth. Cloth wipes or cloth TP alternatives are growing in popularity, especially for the environmentally conscious. Of course, if you’re stranded on your toilet, the closest cloth material might be the only option. For a long term emergency, cloth wipes could only be used if there were sufficient water and cleanser supplies in order to maintain sanitary conditions. However, since cloth does last and has worked for diapering children for many years, this is my personal long-term plan.
Plant leaves. Just like hard-core camping. The urban folks may find plants to be a bit sparse, but the suburban or rural survivalist may have access to good, wide leaves that can be turned right into the ground for excellent mulch.
Plain water. It has worked well in Europe (think bidets), so water would be a natural alternative anywhere. For the temporarily stranded, it works, especially when applied through a squeeze bottle or a water bottle. Of course, the same technique is available for the long term survivor, however, the issue comes back to the availability of a water source.
Thankfully, this piece is at an end. It can’t be any more enjoyable to read about toilet paper alternatives than it is to write about it, but the issue is valid and important. Actually, there are many other viable TP alternatives, however, you will only need to adopt one or two as a back up to your stock pile. This should get you through any emergency.
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What about paper towels? Will this become an extravagance later?
I like the reusable paper cloth plan, but what to do when clean water is scarce.
All this prepping for the end times is a bit scarry, but I know it is coming. I don’t even know how to can foods. I live on an island in Hawaii, surrounded by water, but would need a desalinization plan. I have been following some of the comments, and you all seem to have acres of lands and the ability to dig deep storehouses. We don’t have acres usually (land is such a commodity) and if we dig deep we may hit a lava tube. So I guess we have to plan to head for the hills, which are limited and others have also thought of this. Only other option I can think of is to buy a boat and float around in the ocean. Yes God is in control, but He also said in His word that His people die from lack of knowledge (about Him and I believe about the resources He has given all around us).
Help!
Go to YouTube, since you live in Hawaii you have all the Humidity you need for this. Y ouTube shows a video on a machine that pulls water from the air, and it can make up to 800 gallons of good drinkable water a day. These machines aren’t cheap right now, b ut its an option.
Can you post the name of the machine? Thanks!
Living in the tropics there are several ways to obtain water. However, since you’re also on an island, one thing I’d recommend is pick up a desalinator at any marine shop that goes in a lifeboat.
Most of these are good for 70 to 100 gal. and have replacable filters.
If it was me, I’d also figure out a way, before hand, of how to get to North America, so you’d have access to more land. Maybe get a group together of like minded people to go in and buy a boat that could move all of you, and have it stocked with enough supplies, ready to go.
The reason for this is, even though history shows people have lived on the Hawaiian Islands for generations, what happens in the event of a dirty bomb, where most of the existing land becomes contaminated? And it may be decades or centuries before its usable again. In that case, you’d have (at first) a lot of people scrambling for what available resources there are……and don’t expect a boat to dock with supplies anytime soon.
I live in a small, rural town in the Idaho Panhandle. Our local Post Office puts out stacks of new PhoneBooks for the taking. I have a huge pile of these solely for the purpose of a replacement of TP. In some states, your local Super Market chains also provide stacks of phone books free for the taking. Check it out.,…Thanks
p.s. if you dont find this on Y ouTube, then just google it.
Good article Mike. Personal hygiene is important no matter what scenario one is living in. You didn’t mention the old school farm outhouse emergency T/P. That’s right, corn cobs and shucks ! I’m sure you left that out as a consideration of your readers ‘feelings’. It does work though.
hickabilly…. and sadly, receiving the Sears Roebuck/Montgomery Ward catalogs in our mailboxes have gone by the wayside.
As a child, I rounded out my education with those catalogs while seated in the outhouse longer than I really need to be. Good pictures! Good reading practice finding out what some of the items that I didn’t know existed were for. 
Why is it that all the errors in spelling, grammar, etc show up AFTER the comment has been posted.
By the time toilet paper runs we will be able to use the useless fiat money that is now being printed. Tommy
I did a little research about how this problem was handled in ancient times. I found that the Romans, who were the most advanced in sanitation technology of their time came up with the idea of using a sopnge tied to a short stick. After each use, the sponge was cleaned in a bucket of soapy water and they never had to touch the soiled sponge.
Is it a coincidence that OTG articles are now printer-friendly? I don’t think so.
Our family is already doing things to cut down on TP. My son’s family with five children are using no TP at all. They are using the little cloths instead. The used cloths are washed with the baby diapers in a washing machine that is just for diapers. They got the cloths on the internet somewhere. What is really funny is our daughter-in-law used to only use one certain brand of TP because it was soft (but expensive!). Now that the house is full of children she’s changed her mind on a lot of things that she used to think were a *must have*. LOL! At my house, the ladies use a wet cloth which is easy to get as the tub is right by the toilet. But this is only for wet – not the other end. For that we use the TP but just changing that one thing – ladies using the cloth for the wet part – has cut way back on the TP use. Our son lives in a city but we live out in the boonies. For many years we had an outhouse only – and I do miss it a lot of times. It was built over a septic tank we weren’t using and it never smelled bad! We are going to build another one there again so we don’t have to rely on the water flush toilet in the house.
I’ve also been experimenting the last few years with things such as: how long can I go without washing my hair? (that one will absolutely surprise you! After the first two or three weeks, my hair actually gets softer and less *dirty* feeling – and now I’ve discovered that if we go swimming at our local lake, my hair dries out feeling even nicer); how long can I go without bathing/shower? (using wet cloths for localized cleaning, using vinegar for deoderant and other stinky places – it kills bacteria, etc.); how long can I go without brushing teeth (not long for me as I’ve had years of peridontal issues but we’re getting on top of that now with the laser treatments – they work!); what food can I fix that is nutrient dense, easy to put together and takes little or no energy to fix (since we rely on propane for cooking here, the cost of the propane is a big incentive to do this anyway! – this also gets us already figured out what we can eat and what we need stored); what can I fix for food that is nutrient dense and easy to store; what kind of kitchen “tools” (pans, etc.) do I need for feeding people on the rough? how long can I make my blue jeans/clothes last? Shoes, too? How low can I get my elec. bill even with a couple of deep freezers running (in the winter it routinely runs below $50 a month and the summer we work at keeping it below $150 a month even with AC running – working on getting it even lower with different things such as leaning plywood against our mobile home on the outside where we have windows/patio doors that tend to get really warm – that’s helped a lot!). How little fuel can we get by with our cars/trucks (we use a 50 MPG Geo Metro – have several of them actually – for a car, and our big trucks we own due to our business are older MECHANICAL Cummins diesels that are easy to work on *and* we can run them on used veg. oil which cuts our diesel use in half. Our MPG with the Cummins is really good, too. We do have the ability/skills to turn the veg. oil into biodiesel and sometimes we do. We’ve also plugged into a local university’s chemistry class where they are turning veg. oil from the cafeteria into biodiesel as part of their class work – then they give the biodiesel away. Sometimes they have a batch we can have and it all helps. The newer diesels cannot use the used veg. oil – their fuel pumps have a filter inside of them that you cannot get to – if they get plugged up…it’s a new fuel pump for ya. That’s why we stick with the older ones. People tell us we smell like french fries going down the road – which is a nice thing considering we’re driving a stinky TRASH truck. LOL!
libertymtn … I love your post! Do you mind saying which state you live in?
We “girls” washed our hair once a week. My grandmother had very long hair that she wore in a bun at the nape of her neck. My parents lived with Grandma and Grandpa the first two years of married life and Mama said she never saw Granny wash her hair but, Mama said, Granny must have cleaned it somehow because it always looked clean and neat and never smelled. 
I grew up “country” but became “citified” later in life and now, I wonder how well I would do if suddenly everything went off “the grid”.
When I was a child, we bathed once a week in a number two wash tub whether we needed it or not….the historical “Saturday Night Bath”
Libertymtn: Yes, we’ve tried going as long as possible without showering, etc…but as far as brushing teeth: ask any dentist, you do NOT need toothpaste, it’s just a “nice minty flavor”. All you need is a vigorous workout with toothbrush and water. We have stocked up on toothbrushes (still have them from Y2K-lol).
Bless ya all!
Toothpaste does have the benefit of flouride in it as well as very mild abrasives to help clean your teeth.
Floride is a toxic chemical that should have never put into toothpaste.
you can use baking soda and water for the abrasive effect of cleaning your teeth, but the more important thing is to floss. you can actually get bone loss at the base of the tooth from bacteria/ plaque eating away at it.
one way to get rid of bacteria on the teeth is to eat a peice of cheese at the end of the meal or an apple- both actually get teeth and keep bacteria at bay.
My boyfriend can’t use the commercial toothpastes (makes him physically ill!), so he “picks” his teeth with a flosser several times a day (we have a huge stock of them from Dollar Tree!). About once a week, he’ll break down & actually brush his teeth with a toothbrush & baking soda. Recently he lost an old filling from childhood & needed it recapped. Upon going to the dentist, they told him his teeth were some of the best they’ve seen! When he told them his dental habits, they were quite surprised. Coupled with the fact that he is one of the few in his family to actually still have all his teeth at his age (almost 40 yrs). Certainly will never get him to change those habits – they work for him & his teeth!
I’ve often wondered what peasants in 3rd world countries do. I’m sure that they’re not
spending their money on TP when they can barely feed the family. Anyone know what groups like
the Peace Corps or such teach the people going into those areas?
Regarding the outhouse not smelling….my local gun club has pit toilets that have a vent pipe
running from the pit up through the roof with a ‘turbine’ vent on top. You can actually feel the
air rushing past yer bum *into* the pit as the turbine vent pulls the nasty smells up and out.
We have enough TP to last 6mths but our other solution is specifically the Bounty Select-a-Size.
These are the strongest of their category and can be torn into strips for an vitrtually unlimited no.
of applications & purposes including drying them out and using them in fire places.
They also make great & usable rags for gun cleaning…
Brad
In some countries it is taboo to eat with the left hand, that is after all what you used to wipe your butt with.
There were many times as a child when we had to use cloth because we didn’t have money for TP.
Having lived with the natives in the southern Philippines for two years, the solution is simple. You will never have to use TP if you don’t mind drip-drying.
Beginners should start with about a quart of luke-warm water in any pourable container. Lean forward on the seat and with your right hand, pour some water starting a the base of the tailbone. Use the left hand to gently wash away. Gross at first, but very clean. Cleaner than with TP. Use a couple squares of TP to dry yourself. THOROUGHLY WASH YOUR HANDS. After a few weeks, you will be disgusted with the TP smear.
Works with snow too, but be ready for a shock.
I have two questions regarding earlier comments, in reference to using cloth, and a “special” wash machine, didn’t they just wash the babies diapers in the same wash machine, or do you mean in a separate load? thx, and in reference to the using water in a bottle to wash, if water is available is salt water ok to use if you live near the ocean, or is that not good? thx
Here’s some light humor>I learned from my Dog,I just rub my butt on the ground..Here’s one for the true environmentalist>save a tree ”wipe your butt with a owl”..All kidding aside,a clean rag in fresh rain water will do in a pinch ,also sweet gum leaves or dogwood leaves they are soft in summer and rarely tear,do not use any vine leaves unless your sure what they are,wild grape vine leaves work well,,,get familiar what poison ivy and poison oak leaves look like ,they have 3 and 5 leaves they run on the ground and run up trees..DO NOT make the mistake of using these leaves or you’ll be doing like my dog..
Be careful using fresh rain water on your privates – especially women. Rain water is polluted terribly. Boil it first! I camp primitive regularly and I used to use rain water to wash in and wash dishes if it was available, as it poured off our dining fly attached to our canvas “wall” tent. Then, one time, we camped in a city park and did the same thing. I got a terrible case of bladder infection after a fresh rain water sponge bath. I boil my rain water water before using on my body.
What size spacebag?
The phone book or any magazine or catalog is a viable option. crumble and smooth out the glossy pages several times before you use them, and you probably don’t need a whole page. FWIW.
Back in the 1970s my older brother was watching Johnny Carson on late night tv, and part of the monolog was about the shortage of toilet paper in the USA. The next day my bro went and bought much, and stored it. Well the joke that Caron stated actually started a run on toilet paper in the USA and a shortage occurred. That was a lesson I learned from him, and I have stored about 2 years supply and I replace it as used in the pumphouse where it is stored. Over time saves money as it is always something that is needed, used, and cannot replace if runs out. I actually have plans and things ready just in case, if I have to dig an outhouse on the property if something drastic happens.
You folks in the Lower 48 have it easy. We get all of our toilet paper by ship every week. If the storms are bad in the Gulf of Alaska and the ships can’t get into the Port of Anchorage for statewide air distribution to the villages, and truck distribution to the road system villages and municipalities, things get a bit tense. There have been times when the School District order was anchored off shore waiting out the storm, and they had to make a run on Costco’s inventory just to keep everyone “happy”. Up here, a lengthy and substantial supply of TP is a must for day to day living!
Ice and snow, lichen moss, or other forms of tundra are a great substitute! Outhouses are a must in bush Alaska. “Honey Buckets” are still widely used in many villages where no septic or sewer systems are possible due to the permafrost ice below ground level. Personal clean up is stil an issue. We cut plenty of wood to melt snow for various things, including internittent hygiene. High protein low carb diets and hard work usually equal reduced bodily waste biproducts too, so diet can help.
Off the grid living is great, except when there is little or no sun like we have in the winter time. I turn my solar panels due east in the winter time at a 90 degree vertical angle to get a little light and some battery bank charging, but efficiency is very low. I have a wood fired gasification type boiler for heating our home, but power is always scarce but is required to run the water circulation pump for infloor and baseboard heat, unless we use the generator. Since biodiesel won’t flow under freezing temps, we use only arctic grade diesel which will be rare in the future. We use wood alot. I am looking for a relaible source of energy to charge my battery bank in the dead of winter. if you have any ideas, let me know please. NO sun, NO wind, NO a/c grid power, NO hydroelectric, NO geothermal; however there is an old bicycle in the garage, that may come in handy for powering an older DC alternator when we need it. .
Hello Tango ,you said you use a ”gasification type of boiler,have you tried wood smoke to run a gasoline generator?Funnel wood fumes into a generator’s engines carburator,pull cord and it should run..Google >wood gasification…These were used in both ww1andww2 to run vehicles with wood fumes,,..Usually a 2 or 3 inch hose will work,make a funnel over the smoldering wood and channel the smoke into the gas engine..Raising the engine 2-4 feet might help..Also if you have a good boiler there is a machined device called a ”Vortex tube,when you put 2oo psi of steam into it one side will produce steam hot enough to boil water and the other side blows cold air,from what i understand it seperated the hot and cold molecules,the chambered vortex tube is channelled in different directions,kind of like a rifle barrel..If you go the boiler rout make sure you have 3 or 4 safety valves so excess steam will blow off ,if pressure builds too fast ,a couple of steel valves to add and drain water and a extra valve to bleed off pressure..You could weld a 2inch pipe on top of your boiler and put a floating weight similar to a ”pressure cooker’s steam relief….Extream caution should be used with any boiler device..I would recommend at least a one quarter inch thick tank..I;ve got the tank,i’m going to try and build me one..Years ago popular science or popular mechanics had a article on vehicles that ran on wood fumes ,or smoke..Good luck.
Hey Ben from TX – Thanks for the info. I’ve been reading more about this subject since you mentioned it. Coincidentally this subject came up on a cell phone call on the way home tonight too. More research is needed, but we discussed early 20th century wood fired gas engines and steam engines. When all else fails, wood and fire are friends and need to be harnessed like a good workhorse team for production. I am also working on heat exchanges off of the wood fired boiler so I can waste not a single BTU that is generated by the fire. Check out the AquaTherm Econoburn wood gasification boiler on line and you’ll see what I’m talking about. They don’t address all of the heat capture or heat exchange options as you can imagine, but I stay awake nights thinking about the possibilities of how to use all the heat I generate for our farm and home use. Thanks for the support.
Hi again Tango,I ‘ll check out the Agua Therm Econoburn ,it sounds interesting..My brother in law suggested taking 1 or 2 alternators and putting a pully and belts on them and hook up to a small gas motor or chain saw motor to produce power to charge batteries..If you live in Alaska or Canada and are near snow runoff streams,electricity can be produced by hooking up a paddle wheel hooked up to a generator hooked up to batteries,put an inverter on it for ac power?Just an idea to kick around.
HELLO AGAIN TANGO, Teapartymom,Gardenmama,REMEMBER THE WOOD FUME GENERATOR Tango I TOLD YOU ABOUT?,WELL YOU’LL GET TO SEE IT RUN FIRST HAND ON THE ”>>HISTORY CHANNEL” ON TUESDAY AUGUST THE 3RD”The ”Colony” is about several individuals that survive in the city when all power fails,its an experiement on survival,a must see for all who want to learn from the best survivalist ideas if caught in the city with no power,.They use this wood fume generator,and this is where i saw it operate about a year ago..Watch it if possible..
Hey Ben from Texas: I’ll be in your Great State on that day and for the week for meetings and I’ll tune in from the hotel room for the History Channel movie. Great news! I’m going to research this more as time permits. I better hurry as we don’t have much time left to mess around the way things are goin’. We’re in Alaska and my house is above the flood plane about 1500 feet from the river – which freezes solid in the winter time. No joy there for sure. My HUP One Battery Bank is a -48 VDC bank with a 53 Kw capacity, using two 3.6 Kw Outback inverters. My Sharp 175 watt 12 panel solar bank puts in 2.1 Kw of gain at full sun through the Outback Charge Controller into the battery bank at -48 VDC as well, if we have sun. Very low on the horizon and weak in the winter. The wood fume generator seems the most likely as stack temps at 350 won’t hurt machinery, and the updraft will vary on load and output of the Econoburn, but it seems like the most likely source of power generation during the winter at this point, assuming I can’t get or have to closely ration diesel in the future for my generators. I just need enough electricity to keep my circulation pump running when the house calls for heat. The fireplace and good insulation have helped us too. Thanks for the tips here. I’ll be checking this out for sure. Next thing you know, the kooks in the White House will be taxing me for burning my own trees, since I’ve already met environmental requirements on my boiler stack output….and now I’m also considering my oil fired boiler and my generator for heat exchangers and generators! I’ve cut a lot of wood already for the winter supply, so I need to see how many BTUs I can really capture for more efficiency.
TANGO,good to hear your comming to the Lone Star State,I live outside a small town called Athens,its 85 miles South east of Dallas..Thanks for sharing your power supply info as I’ve always wanted to hook up a similar system but not Quite as large as yours.I printed this so I can study your power grid set up,very interesting…The ”Colony is in a series of shows,it was one show a week for several weeks,but this is going to be re-runs so they may show all of them closer together..I’m not sure which show of the series they used the gasification generator..They might have a DVD collection by now that could be purchased..Google ”The Colony” and information should come up..I live on 15 acres in the deep woods on a hill in a homemade log cabin.Fireplace and airtight stove…I’ve been here since 1978..We have a power line and phone line.We raise chickens and have a garden & fruit trees130 ft self drilled well..Plenty of game&fish nearby..I’ve also buried a 40′ school bus that I have a airtight stove in it..The bus is on the side of a hill,buried up to the windows,with a drain underneath to drain any water from under it…This winter lower a window and shoot deer off my feeded below the hill from the bus..I also have a hog trap,.I want to hook up a set of solar cells and a battery bank for lights and other 12v tools..They have 12 appliances that will be useful..My land based phone line puts out 48 volts,i’m going to tap into it for a ”hopefuly ‘steady supply of free power..I also have a 3,000watt”Vector Invertor and a 700/1400watt Inverter-modified sine..I also have 3 -gasoline generators,the oldest i’m going to use it for my wood fume gasification project..We’ve got potassium iodine tabs and a gieger counter and a couple of gas masks,freeze dried food,non-generic seed bank,water purificartion etc.,I hope we don’t ever need them but Your right time is short,I saw a show this morning and a Christian economist predicted we have 2 to 5 years before we have an economic collapse because of the 13 Trillion Debt..My email if your interested in staying in contact is ..>sagary@netscape.com< God Bless
Ben from Texas and others: FYI; The Colony is available through DirectTV starting July 27 on the Discovery Channel, 7-8:00 PM Mountain Time. If you have a DVR you can record all the episodes pretty easily. Laugh if you will…I’m a spoiled city gal who’d like nothing better than to move out of the city. I’d love to know how to do some of the things you folks talk about. Just now I’m sitting here listening to Glenn Beck about how we need to become self-sufficient. Have a good evening.
“For needs must scrape the goose flesh with a lacerating cob that from a frost encrusted nail did dangle by a string. My father was a frugal man and wasted not a thing.”
From “The Passing of the Backhouse” attributed to James Whitcomb Riley
One word, plural: LEAVES
how about pages from the telephone book?
Stocking up on hygiene products might be a smart economic decision also. It will be easy to trade TP for a good price if supply runs out.
I have been reading comments about what to do about toileting and sanitary conditions. Last fall our area had a flood. 21 inches of rain in 24 hours! All water was shut off for a week. Fortunately I had thought about this problem before Y2K and had done some preparation ( dispite hee-haws from my family). Didn’t need it then; might need it now. Having had 3 cats at one time, I still had kitty litter left over. I bought several disposable aluminum roaster pans and extra kitty litter. Well, it finally came in handy. During the flood I put one of these pans in the toilet bowl and shaped it to fit. I put the seat down over it and added some litter to it, did my business ( solid only), scooped litter over it and poured it in a plastic bag. I threw it in the trash, but it could be poured into a large tin can . Dig a hole outside and bury it. For urine i used a large can like a chamber pot ( is anyone old enough to remember those??) and poured it outside after. Being female it took some juggling ( you guys have it easy). I live alone now with no others to care for, but it might work for a family. Also sand could be used instead of litter. Look forward to the letters each week. YIC.
I have used all of the above with the exception of the sponge on a stick*L*
But I want everyone to know that when I was little, I was in the upper crust of scocity, We had a 2 holer in the back yard!!!LOL
LOL! if you were “upper crust” we must have been hoity toity! we had a 3 holer which at times turned into quite the family affair… I am still trying to convince hubby of the benefits of outdoor facilities. he is a born & raised city boy & thinks my stories are hilarious.
funny thing is, the more we learn of “things being the way they are today” the more he is starting to realize, some of my ideas are not so hair-brained afterall.
Today is my first day here on this site, and have already found so much useful info! THANKS everybody!
what about tissue paper-it is very thin and i think inexpensive. It wouldn’t take a lot of space to store either. You cold carry many many sheets in a pack, and if you are storing away at a homestead then you could probably stack a thousand sheets and have it only equal the size of a really thick phone book. Perhaps it could be added to compost after (I don’t know about the make-up of tissue paper in particular ie chemicals or any plastic particles) or it could be used to start a fire and burned. just an idea. I haven’t a clue about the cost.
We try to find toothpaste that is free of fluoride whenever possible but you won’t find them in all stores that carry toothpaste. Tom’s is a good brand that has at least a couple of flavors of toothpaste without fluoride.
Dr. William Campbell Douglass recommends using a paste of baking soda & water to brush teeth. He also mentioned something else—I think he mixes hydrogen peroxide with the soda—just be sure not to swallow. Won’t have the taste of Tom’s (which is what I buy too), but it’s all cheap and better than nothing in an emergency.
A lot of folks use oil of oregano to brush teeth.
The stick with a sponge is a similar idea to what I had three years ago. I burst the L1 Vertebrae in my back. I didn’t want to ask my wife for that kind of help with going number 2, so taped t.p. to the end of the towel rack. I couldn’t reach it without the stick. With a bucket of disinfectant the sponge would be my choice.
The ash from burning wood can be used to keep the odor down in the outhouse. The ash also can be used to make lye soap. Another problem with outhouses is pest, flies, wasp, scorpions, poisonous spiders & snakes. Anyone have any suggestions for dealing with these.
Funny story.
When I was about 4 years old a water line came to the valley that we lived in. Everyone that could afford it wanted to convert to indoor plumbing. My dad was a local builder/remodel, suddenly he had more work than he could keep up with. Of course, my mom was constantly after my dad to install a toilet in our house. My dad could never resist a chance to make money so our toilet was continually put at the bottom of the list.
One day while my brother and I were playing in the yard. My dad went to the outhouse to take care of business. Suddenly loud screams and curses were heard coming from the john. Dad stumbled out with his pants around his ankles. He was furiously trying pull them the rest of the way off, but his shoes were blocking his efforts. We ran over to try to find out why our father had developed a sudden urge for nudity. The mystery was solved when a snake slithered out of his pants. I don’t who laughed more my mother who came outside to see what the commotion was about or us kids. The next day without another word from my mom, he start work on our snake free indoor toilet.
Teapartymom,your idea is interesting about the wood ash to cut order in an out house a pvc vent in the cornor of the outhouse will also draw fumes up and away,The problem about the insects in the outhouse can be solved with a metal pan that has smoldering wood in it lower it into the hole and hang it there till the smoke runs all the insects out,once a week should do the job,then when the wood ash is cold dump them in,as for snakes spray diesel around your outhouse after each rain this will keep snakes away.
Hi Ben,
Thanks, great information. This will make roughing it a lot better.
Your story brought a belly laugh, just what I needed. I’ve heard about the wood ashes, but the bit about the smouldering wood is also excellent. Thanks for sharing.
The whole fluoride issue is one steeped in deception. It involves waste from the atomic bomb program (details of which I’m sketchy on), and currently most cities that use it employ something like hydrofluosilicic acid, which is a byproduct of industry (fertilizer making and aluminum industries), NOT the sodium F or stannous F that toothpaste ads used to hawk. I can tell you from personal experience, F in water does NOT prevent tooth loss—I was in the 2nd US city to have it, and I’ve always had lousy teeth—and not from want of care. The F in water does harm to other parts of the body, and a new report shows that it can cause bone cancer in teen-aged boys. Check out the Fluoride Action Network http://fluoridealert.org/ . Look for their latest report FAN Bulletin 2025: The Anatomy of Deception in Florida. Part 1 that just came out 2 days ago. It does NOT prevent cavities; studies have shown that better nutrition and better hygiene are responsible for the reduction in decay that is attributed by the ADA to the rat poison.
I would like to add that fluoride damages the thyroid and also creates apathy (which you can see is running rampant in the USA). Hitler fluoridated the water so as to create apathy and leave him free to work his agenda and not have to battle outraged people.
Also fluoride actually lowers IQ’s in children. It’s def. not for your teeth but it is part of “their” evil plan as ALL of this has been planned all along
The only way to remove fluoride (and chlorine and all sorts of other junk) from your water is to use a reverse osmosis filter.
I got a portable one at freedrinkingwater dot com. Those Brita pitchers don’t do jack! And boiling water only concentrates it! For those who don’t know: fluoride is a poison that is cumulative in your system. It builds up and stays that is. Hope this will help. I am glad to know there are so many good folks with sense left in the world!
….Peace people!
New here today — reading all the comments is taking me back to my youth in the country having come from country folks with history of farming, animal husbandry, feeding and slopping the farm animals, foaling, calving, hatching, cleaning the hutches, nests, stalls, et cetera, food drying from the attic rafters – no less, smokehouse curing, starting seedlings from the garden to the canning jars, preserving and keeping foods in the cool cellar until Spring, quilting from old summer clothes we’d outgrown or old wool suits, coats, we’d purchased from Goodwill, depending on the type of quilt we needed for the time of year, making our own patterns for clothes and making our everyday clothes from floursacks and our church clothes from good drygoods on the old footpump Singer sewing machine, the coal/wood potbelly stove – one for the whole house – hard times to be sure, lots of hard work. Swore I would never go back to it when I left from high school to college to become a registered nurse, and unfortunately, I haven’t. I married a completely citified young man many years ago and we’ve had two sons who are citified as well. I miss those arts I learned from mostly my half blood Cherokee Grandmother as I can only impart a few to my sons and grandchildren. Foxfire series is close to describing some of the arts but unless they live and breathe it, they’ll never fully grasp it.
Hey Ben: It sounds like we share the same views on the Lord and the economy. We’re in the process of digging out a root cellar to protect our food bank and family. Up here we have to have it all buried due to the temperatures. In the winter we see temps at -40 below, so we need to protect our supplies with ground insulation where the temperature averages +55 under ground. You might think +55 is cold, but we can tolerate it with a couple of layers of shirts, and life is good. We have to allow for moisture, humidity, and drainage too for year around use. We have a few tons of nitrongen packed buckets of various foods, and do fresh fish when we can like hallibut, fresh salmon, smoked salmon (frozen and canned), and smoked moose and caribou meat when we get it in August or September. We also have to plant and raise our garden differently than you do due to the temperatures. This summer, we’ve had temps in May as high as 67, but in the month of June we saw one day of sunshine with daytime temps averaging 58 and unusually high amounts of rain with little sun. Night time around 50 degrees. We have raised beds in our garden surrounded by a 9 foot moose fence (solar electric protected) so they don’t crash our fence and eat the veggies. The garden also turns into a good moose bait stand in the fall too. My wife states: You probably already have your soil amended and your garden growing, and you are making sure your seeds will grow and will produce where you are with the soil/climate conditions. Also that you’ve learned to save your seeds from your garden while you still have the chance to make up for the learning curve on what works and what doesn’t. She said It would be a shame to discover that you are not ready after all, because the seeds you’ve selected don’t produce well, in your particular environment and soil conditions. Of course once you’re in production, you have identified the missing tools for growing and harvesting and preserving the seeds and a sustainable food supply, and you’re comfortable with eating what you can produce even if you do it now on a small scale. My wife says: the book “One Second After”, by William Forstchn, while although it is based on fiction, the book introduces ideas she/we never thought of that are prudent to address. On another note; There is a DVD on “The Colony” for $20 that covers the first season, so we’re going to check that out to get a closer look at the metro-survivalists. We country folk do things differently, and one of those things we have to do is to protect our place from people like them that come looking for supplies and a warm place to stay during terrible times. I have a family of 20 to feed, and if you aren’t part of it, and haven’t contributed to it during the 15 years of preparation, you’re probabaly not going to get a warm welcome at the gate. Know what I mean?
Howdy Tango and Stitchluvr.,,,Tango Stitchluvr just said that the Colony now has been moved up to Tonight July the 27th on the History Channel 7-8pm mountain time..,I guess It depends on where you live,I’m glad you’v got the information on the Colony DVD because I think I’ll order it also..Sounds like you’ve been preparing for awhile and prepared well at that with 20 in the household..When I was younger I wanted to move to Alaska but insteady settled near where I was raised here in Texas..I’d go underground for the insulating earth,like a cave or in the side of a hill or mountain if I was up North..I know what you mean Tango about not welcoming strangers into the fold because in the future it will take several people to ”hold down and protect what you’ve worked so hard to keep…I’ll have to admit Tango your a different breed of people to survive and thrive in that cold climate ,my hats off to you friend,keep your powder dry,God Bless…STITCHLUVR ,I’m not laughing because your a city girl,I used to live in Houston Texas for several years till I could save enough money to buy a piece of Heaven here in the hills of east Texas..Set your goals in life,and work toward that goal when you’ve done it set other goals..Thats how we’ve managed to get where we’re at..Hard work and saving but most of all believing in Jesus and good friends will take you where you want to go in life..
Has everyone read “The Patriot” by James Rawles? Inspiring and frightening at the same time. Good read, lots of survival ideas.
Hi Everyone!
I was just introduced to this website and I’d have to say I’ve never thought about these “predictaments” before. I’d also have to say the TP article was a very unusual thing to “get to know” a site! That’s how I came up with “HeeHaw”; ’cause that’s what I did, I laughed so hard! But as I continued to read I realized that if I ever did run out of TP I’m am better equipped to handle it now. (No puns intended)!
I knew this had to be written by a man (before I even looked for the name) because one of the first things he mentioned was a Sports magazine! HeeHaw y’all! : D
check this out—-Never buy toilet paper again
This is cleaner so you never have to do the smear and wipe again. I am putting this in at our office and home. I will give people a choice which they would rather use. I know I wold pick the water sprayer every time
one is $50 and one is $5
http://www.amazon.com/Saria-bidet-spray-converts-toilet/dp/B000E4OVC0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1280418532&sr=8-3-spell
http://www.amazon.com/EZ-Flo-Sink-Spray-Head-Hose/dp/B000RMT7E6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1280418308&sr=1-1
After reading all the ideas and solutions, the ones I like the best are the lo-tech ones, namely, the sponge-on-a-stick, and the plain and simple spray water bottle. Water is essentially all that a bidet is about, and with a spray water bottle, you could even add a drop of liquid soap for a little extra cleaning (and clean smelling too).
Though it might not hurt to lay in a supply of tp to use as a barter item, lol
After living and working in the Middle East, I can tell you PLAIN WATER WORKS BUT… DON’T JUST USE PLAIN WATER… allow me to explain.
Install a spray hose next to your toilet (use something like the kitchen sink spray gun and hose). If you can manage to find the right connectors, connecting to the tank filler line will work best. Your water supply needs to be clean, but doesn’t have to be completely potable…just suitable for hygiene (collected rain water). You’ll want your outfit to have decent water pressure. With the hose, you do not need to install any other major hardware and you have the use of the toilet bowl to collect the gray water for eventual disposal
Once you are able to rinse the region, ADD SOAP TO THE MIX. Liquid soaps work best (no bar to drop into the dirty water), but bar soap is fine too. (Homemade soap is easier to manufacture than homemade toilet paper should you face the end of the world as we know it). Rinse well first. Then apply a generous amount soap to a designated face cloth (or you may use the left hand if desperate) and scrub. Rinse again. Once complete, you are able to dry off with a hand or bath towel. As usual, wash hands when done.
You will actually find this system far more hygienic than standard TP in the long run.
The “Sea CurrenT” proposed by KO is IDEAL for USA users that chose this solution…
Soap is still highly recommended
Have a supply of good sponges. After using wash out with rainwater or whatever.
If you happen to be fortunate enough to next to a river or good creek you can use smooth stones!