There are a couple mountain engineering tricks I want to pass on to you. First thing, to poop in the woods, you need a "Cheek Spreader". A Cheek Spreader is two parallel branches, 3 inches apart, about 4-5 feet long. You prop one end of the parallel branches on a rock or a log, with the other end on the dirt. The branches should be around 35 degree angle. Not you sit on the branches facing the dirt end and poop between them. It is called a Cheek Spreader, because when you sit on the branches, you weight causes your cheeks to spread out. Second, when using newspaper, magazines, phone book, etc. as toilet paper, wad up the paper into a small tight ball. This causes the fibers in the paper to stretch, and that will soften the paper.

This is the kinda stuff that needs covered more often

Great topic that 95% of "professionals" avoid. Well done. Keep up the good work and keep the videos coming!

White ash after burning hard woods is another good cleaner. I've crapped outside for 40 years in all different terrains and weather conditions so I think I'm personally well versed in the art lol.

Take a mouthfull of your clean water before you use the ash on your hands. You can then spit the water (slowly) on your hands for rinsing and keep your tools clean. Works for soap as well. You dont have to worry about getting yourself sick with your own germs. Its a good trick for when your living in a truck and dont want to get your living space dirty.

There is a product called Wysi wipes, that are compressed biodegradable paperish sheets (9x9) they are the size of about a nicke/ quarter and with a few drops of water or saliva on the disc it starts opening up and in a couple seconds you just unfold it and it's ready to go! it has some ridges on it and will not tear easily if you pull on it. It comes with a water proof container to hold about 12 at a time that can be carried in your pocket. They are also strong enough to be used as a wash cloth if you don't have one. Could also use one with some hand sanitizer to clean your hands after you are done. You can get them on Amazon for like 100 for $ 8.00. They are AWESOME

This is something everyone does daily, yet few talk about it. Unless you're Charmin. Great information once again. In a survival situation, we must be willing to discuss the uncomfortable or taboo topics.

In the Boy Scouts (in 1970!) we would lash a stout branch between 2 close-growing trees for our "poop perch". Taught cleanliness AND lashing strength!

I'm a midwest boy too, but where I live now (overseas) there's tons of sphagnum moss, which is nature's most amazing TP.

Thank you for this Video. I am a Forrest Ranger here in Germany. At all places we step in chocolate mines of visitors..

It is strange to me that most survival/bug out bags don't include adequate supplies for this expected bodily function. Even when they do, it's often regular TP, which is worthless if you have to poop in the rain. Wet wipes or Scott brand paper shop towels are needed for civilized survival. (Obviously bring extra Ziplocs to pack the paper out of the woods) Excellent video! I hope your channel grows huge. You deserve a big following.

Another “Awesome video”. Thanks For using professional language throughout your video to describe a subject, that others prefer to use slang to describe, as you said, a bodily function we all do. Which in my opinion, when stated professionally, as you did, makes the subject matter easier to ...digest. :-)

With the U.S. on "life support", most of us will be using this technique soon. I appreciate the story about the journalist with the worms. It was disgusting, but very much informative and educational. Thanks!

Just a side note we would always carry a pair of nail clippers on is to keep nails short so as to be able to clean better and for the occasional hang nail.

Much Needed instruction!!! No one ever mentions this. Thank you!!

If you are number 1 in the number 2 business does that make you an entremanure? Poop jokes aren't my favorite but they're definitely a solid number 2.

Good points very important part of field hygiene.

There was a great book written years ago by a woman who was an guide on the Colorado river who wrote an excellent book called “How to Sh*t in the Woods”, complete with a chapter of hilarious stories and an appendix of 2-1/2 pages of all known phrases using the word. I had heard all phrases but one. Well worth the read!

Well done man, first KZfaqr I've seen fully address is 👍🏽.

Makes you long for the days of the old Sears and Roebuck catalog.

In all the videos I have watched on survival and bushcraft this was the first one to cover this topic. Thanks!

Ahhh..... The grunt life, love it, miss it, but will always have that knowledge to survive. Outstanding video brother👍😎🇺🇸

Mr,Andrew hygiene in the field is critical!! Without a trace. Keep up the awesome work 👌

Thanks. Didn't realize charcoal ash could be used as "soap" or that I could drink it to treat diarrhea.

In my long term SHTF kits, I have two facecloths that I have designated as "wiping cloths".

You need a better microphone. Your videos are generally solid. Good job

Thank you for covering what most bushcraft sites refuse to cover. This seems to be taboo for most channels. You rock brother!

in prepared kits compressed towels or biodegradable wet wipes are my number 1 morale and comfort item, being able to knock the stink off in general or wipe proper even in the backwoods is a morale boost worth the weight.

Glad to see someone is able to talk about such a taboo subject that we all need to understand. Great emphasis on safety with what you have to work with.

Thank you, for broaching the topic of psychological disgust. It killing many people, is true in many contexts, relating to survival.

From a homeopathic point of view, charcoal has many medicinal uses!!! Great stuff to have on hand.. Andrew, you are definitely covering all the bases... Thanks-I appreciate you...

Charcoal has so many uses, to the potential survivor. Can treat certain internal poisons, upset stomach, clean teeth, help purify water..The list goes on :) .

As well as TP some sani-wipes / baby wipes (unscented) should be carried. Tear in halve, use 1 part to final wipe down under, the other to clean hands. Dispose in cathole and cover / conceal.

Dang don’t hear about this stuff that often! Really great info! So many ppl needed to hear & learn this. Def don’t terd up stream! Love the comment ‘Your coffee will taste better in the morning’ funny ‘shit’!

I dig my pit near a log about 2 ft deep if I am there for a few day's always bring my bio-wipes and cover with ash then dirt. I will also remember the hand trick never thought of if, and remember to ask a friend to give me a hand if they do that's a true friend ALWAYS ENJOY THE VIDS👍👍

Too few people talk about this. Much respect 🙌

I like to find a small log on the ground and if my hole beside it. Then I use the log itself as the seat, just slide your tush over the other side of the log and drop it in. Its a little more comfortable.

If you have a reliable water source you can rinse, dry and reuse cloth wipes.

I really appreciate learning these techniques from you. When I go to a hotel or motel, I ask housekeeping folks for the small bars of soap that many of them put into the bathrooms or in a drawer of a drawer chest. I generally get about six bars of those sma ll soaps. If necessary, I ask the manager if I can buy a quantity from them. Either way I usually walk out with a few bars. When I get home, I slip each bar into an individual small zip lock bag. I promptly put one zip lock bag with a small soap bar into my front right pocket as everyday carry. I carry more of them in my pack and I slip one into my first aid supplies that goes with me hiking, camping, survival testing, canoeing, etc. Everything is adjusted to my length of exposure to the boonies. The zip lock assures water resistance and if for some reason the small bar breaks it stays inside the ziplock instead of crumbling in my pocket. For me there is no excuse for not having a small bar in my picket at all times. It is great to immediately wash arms or parts of the body that get exposed to poison Ivy and such. It is great for washing injuries before bandaging or wrapping with gauze and elastic, etc. If you can find ivory soap, a small piece on a fish hook can catch catfish or some other fish, even turtles and terrapins. Make sure you can ma ke a hole in the piece of soap for the hook. It has quite a few uses and can act as a temporary lubricant for uses requiring less friction. The soap is the best thing for the old wakkum after a poop and a premoistened cloth or paper will go a long way in doing final cleaning of said wakkum. Your use of activated char wood or charcoal is great, if no soap is on hand. Using your technique and in the final cleaning of ash off the hands that premoistened paper, cloth, leaf or whatever and a touch of s oa p on those items will help remove the ash. I usually have a minimum of four bars in the field and an extra one or two for a friend to keep for his purposes in the field, after all soap is a personal item. Heck, you could even brush your teeth with soap and a toothbrush or a shredded end stick. It's not so bad and will give at least a minimal amount of hygiene to your teeth. Try it with white ash from a fire. Oh well, I could talk your ears off on the subject but this is at least a contribution tl your comment section. Thank you so very much for your hard work and your service to our wonderful country. From a deactivated old school Marine. A friend always ! God bless you and the ones you love, brother ! PS, These little bars will last a long time !

The best lesson I learned during my first army winter bivouack was to wash my genital area every day. That way you prevent unpleasant rashes and odours.

Great video that NOBODY ever talks about

Best one on the subject hands down! No wonder you’re my favorite here ✅ While we’re at it, one can also use its beforehand collected urine (it’s sterile right after getting out of our body, unless we suffer from some real bad infection) to wash his/her hands after wiping number 2. Then finishing it with water to clean off the remaining urine.

Note to self, 'Add charcoal to kit'. Amazing.

I watched a tv show years ago where they send 1st world families to live in 3rd world. In remote area in Africa they used river stones as TP. Love all your vids that I’ve seen so far. I’ve liked and subscribed. Cheers from Australia 🇦🇺.

Good coverage on a topic that is often looked over. You should have told folks.. make sure you get a solid etool or gardening trowel for just such occasions

There you go again .Going where no instructior has gone before Thanks for the info bro. Nice to see you wondered out of the flatlands and into God's country. Take care and remember, you're not just a grunt. You the man!

Outstanding! Finally, someone with the guts to talk about dropping deuces in the wild, and not getting snake bit or crotch rot. Oooahh ranger, well done.

Probably one of the most concise , well done videos I have ever seen , regarding this issue. The best instructors are the ones who teach all the lessons, not just the fun shit !!! RLTW Guy Speight

Good information about using the charcoal. Thanks for sharing and covering a topic needed by everyone.

Dont know how you kept a straight face. But a very important topic

Heather Mercer’s story is detailed in her book -Prisoners of Hope. there are also several interviews with her on KZfaq.

Thanks for talking about a sensetive subject ! It's needed more than ppl. Think !!!

I always carry adult handy wipes, they are santitary & biodegradable, so they are safe for the environment. In summer I jump into a creek and wash off.

One of the other uses, for a survival bandana (seriously). Just, please, wash that thing, when it's over ;) . Also, solid waste can "stored" in paper bags, with biodegradable laminate. Used them to line catholes, and burn later. This might be another use for the Dakota fire hole. Also, scat can be used as a smelly emergency fuel source.

Thank you for covering this subject! It seems no else wants to. Really learning a lot from your channel!!

I am so glad you covered this much needed topic!

Good subject matter for those who never done it

I ate root vegetables that I found had been fertilized with human waste. I asked a trained medic he asked if I was alergic to sulfa drugs. After taking the medication I poopedoout gobs and gobs of worms. Frightful but cured me.

Don't be that guy. hahaha. Great info thanks for sharing. I may have laughed more than I should have at times.

Might wanna look into "Dry Bath". It's useful, when water is scarce.

I just asked you a question about this in another video before I seen this one, sorry! Great video on an important subject!

Awesome video. I think another topic no one mentions is fitness. I think a video on Ranger Fitness and what you do to stay battle ready would be Awesome too. Keep up the good work. Outstanding.

Very informative. Always wondered how to do it. Thanks

I was 11B back in '90-'97 and many of us were the owners of t-shirts that had the bottom halves cut off because they were used in the field. It is excellent that you are providing an instructional on this. Women have their sidebar conversations about hygiene, but for some reason men are just expected to know this information.

Great practical information for avoiding illness!

Pigs and hogs use clay mud as a coolant and cleaner when they wallow. I imagine that this can also be used for hand washing as the drying and flaking has a mild sanitary benefit of trapping bacteria in the clay being why pigs are surprisingly clean skinned. Should probably mix some with a substantial amount of charcoal so that when washing, the parts missed in rinsing can flake when dried to preserve water and prevent over rinsing.

Well done. This is an essential yet often overlooked survival consideration. People should also consider what they would do if there was a local catastrophe (hurricane, tornado, flood, terrorist attack, etc.) that disrupts the municipal water or sewage treatment infrastructure.

ok I understand the leave no trace if your hiding or in an area where other people camp thats fine but in remote areas where the bear, cow, wolf, fox, your dogs and everyone else has crapped on the the ground I wouldnt worry about it, somewhere out of the way is fine.

This is great info, I've never heard of using charcoal for a sort of soap but it makes sense considering other uses of charcoal.

Very good information people need to know when on survival mode in the wilderness, one thing most people don’t prepare, thanks

Another excellent video. Didn't know about using ashes like that

Excellent topic everyone can relate to.... Different terrain=different strategies... Sanitation is key... Untreated parasites will kill you... Been there done that,,, no more...

First time I shat in the woods, I knocked over a stick as I squatted down and put a hole in my arse! 🤣 I was so mad at myself.

That concern has been on my mind a time or two, thanks for sharing hat info!

Easy to understand and to the point. Love your videos

Truly valuable instruction. Thanks for posting.

Great video on an overlooked but very important topic. Slick tip with the charcoal. On a side note, me and the guys I hunt with just dug our new latrine this past weekend. Good times. Nate

Hahahaha that thumb nail pic made me laugh so hard 🤣. But this is a great video! seriously and people need the real world videos like this. I bring a tiny little container of Dawn dish soap with me so I can clean cloth/clothing or my hands or whatever. it's not very much just a few drops you can wash your hands up and things. Dawn regular or 4x platinum goes a super long ways for cleaning stuff up.

Great tips...ty

Anecdotal advice from my grandfather: be wary of using leaves at all. One time, he wound up having to use a leaf and wound up with some fairly nasty warts where the sun don't shine.

Andrew I was waiting for you to cover how to use the MRE tp. Btw if tree's are available I use the lean up against the tree method digging a cat hole at the base. A empty ammo wooden crate also can be used.

Great tips 👍🏼

Good info!! Thanks for the video!

Cool tips! Thank you 👍

Thanks for sharing, most Bush crafters avoid this topic. Absolutely important information.

Great tip...I was intrigued with the info on charcoal.....and thanks for secifying chsrcoal from a fire...it gather from that note that if you had actived charcoal from say a water filtration kit it would not be as effective because it is not as easy to crush or have the chemical compounds that you need....always wondered how you did your business in the field....thanks for the hygienic tips! lol

Can't believe that no one mentioned mullein leaves as the go to natural t.p

Great video. Lots of good info in the comments.

MUCH appreciated. Never seen this kind of info before. Thank you.

"and not die" is kinda important.

No one ever explains how to use the 3 seashells!

Impressive restraint with the language. I was a little worried, I think my retired SF father suffered severe internal injuries trying to regulate and suppress his language tendencies around his children.

If you're in danger of dying after pooping in the woods, you have problems that hygiene instruction can't fix.

Very helpful video! Few actually give you the important details on how not to be gross lol

Olive oil. It was so valuable for a reason. After you bathe, oil all your holes. Eliminates necessity for cleaning them.

Important topic. I have never heard that "psychological disgust kills" and would like to know a little more about that.

I hope you're being paid by KZfaq...your 11:41 video was interrupted 4 times with ads. Two in each interruption! You handled this topic well and had great info. Thanks!

I recommend ivy for wipes. It's handy, grows to and past head hieght....ok, bad idea. BTW, if you've never cut your drawers off to clean up, you ain't from what we call country...

thanks, one can use charcoal to clean your teeth and mouth out to improve oral hygiene too

Believe it or not; smooth, round rocks work quite well as TP.