savingdogs
Queen Filksinger
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My animals seem to need to join me during private moments as well....your posts are too funny though! 
SHTF Hygiene
- Thread starter tortoise
- Start date
Farmfresh
City Biddy
Late to the party. Darned work schedule.
Another benefit of the three seater is that it spreads the "joy" around a bit allowing you to clean out the out house less! Remember the pit has to be deeper to keep the seat up out of the "leavings" pile or you have to reach in and physically knock down the tower after a bit of use.
Alum is not the same as what they use in regular deodorants. I use alum in my pickles to keep them crunchy! Anything you can eat (a spoonful of alum of course would be VERY difficult - too puckery) should be OK to smear on my armpits! I use the crystal and it works well for me, but I really "don't sweat much for a fat girl".
Another benefit of the three seater is that it spreads the "joy" around a bit allowing you to clean out the out house less! Remember the pit has to be deeper to keep the seat up out of the "leavings" pile or you have to reach in and physically knock down the tower after a bit of use.
Alum is not the same as what they use in regular deodorants. I use alum in my pickles to keep them crunchy! Anything you can eat (a spoonful of alum of course would be VERY difficult - too puckery) should be OK to smear on my armpits! I use the crystal and it works well for me, but I really "don't sweat much for a fat girl".
woodwzrd
Power Conserver
My parents own 20 acres of wooded property that is often used as a family gathering place. Because of township regulations my dad thought it best to build a movable outhouse rather than buy a porta potty or build a permanent outhouse.Shiloh Acres said:
Anyway, we decided to build a two holer for nastalgic porposes. We used all reclaimed barn lumber and built it in the driveway and trailered it out to "The 20". It has since been named the half moon lodge.
One time when we were camping there my oldest daughter went in to use the facilities and came flying out screaming. Come to find out there was a chipmunk in there doing his thing and ran across the deck where you sit right behind DD. Since then she will not use the Half Moon Lodge unless she has a "potty buddy". So for her it has become a communal event and a lasting source of entertaining memories for us.
- Thread starter
- #64
tortoise
Wild Hare
My family has an island up in Canada where we vacation. There's a 2-seater. Which is pretty handy when you have a toddler. (Or an elderly grandmother.)
A 3-seater? That's just creepy!
A 3-seater? That's just creepy!
Icu4dzs
Super Self-Sufficient
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OK Folks, I have to say this has been one of the funnier strings we have seen on SSF. I am still in tears laughing at some of the "Outhouse Stories" (we really should publish some of these cause they are so hysterical.
The variety of stories here brings back many of the memories (some not so good) of my time in Viet Nam with the Marines. I will predicate this by saying that much of "outhouse" technology has been improved quite a bit since then but in fact, from what I read here, many of you continue to experience the "Open pit" process.
The open pit was a relatively simple project. You dig a hole fairly deep, and build (or place a pre-built) structure...(half-moon lodge) is a great example. Obviously, some folks have taken to modernizing the structure..(carpets, electricity, pictures on the wall, etc) but the basic function of course remains constant and forever simple. One of you wrote about having to "level the pile" with your hand which I found absolutely hysterical, still evoking tears of laughter from me. Of course the judicious use of lime periodically gave the hopefully down-wind structure" a modicum of relief from its otherwise less than stellar fragrance in the right meteorological conditions.
While with the Marines, and for much of my military life, it was my express responsibility to maintain the health and vitality of our fighting forces stalwart members at all times. To that end, we had a number of principles, among which the "outhouse" held a primary importance, not to be neglected. While in Viet Nam the technique for "field hygiene" was the traditional "4-holer".
I reeled with laughter reading what apparently was written by a number of ladies considering the "communal approach" to a visit to the loo" and can only tell you that you haven't lived till you have had to share your "morning news" with your entire "fire team" hence the "4-holer" was always a rather communal experience.
Of course you may appreciate that after the initial indoctrination into the military (for a good example watch the first half hour of "Full Metal Jacket") ones' sense of PRIVACY is all but eternally decimated. After bootcamp, any thoughts of "Privacy" with respect to "the morning news" is essentially extinguished forever in the minds of young folks generally age 18-24".
So now you add the stress of war, the lack of luxuries such as running water and the isolation of a country most folks couldn't pronounce much less spell and you have the makings for some very unusual approaches to the use of "half-moon lodge".
Not to be outdone by anyone there was of course the wall paper which generally consisted of one of only two or three types of content. First, as many of you might well have guessed were the center-fold pages from any one of a number of "periodocals" generally sold in "plain brown wrappers" at the local pharmacy and sent to young men in far away places often by their friends but NEVER by their "girlfriends".
Second, there were the relatively large number and variety of stationary pages (often laced with any number of perfume types) detailing the sadness of the news that the current girlfriend had begun to have doubts as to the success of the current relationship and her regret at having to tell "John" that she has decided to forsake him (often for his best friend who didn't get drafted). Such public displays of grief were common and appropriately displayed in the "4 holer" in an effort to diminish the emotional distress it engendered. Many were edited by the recipient in terms that could best be described as "less than complimentary" transforming the young lady's reputation from saint-hood to something far less appealing.
Third, there were of course the usual photographs of a variety of "policy makers, politicians and political leaders" considered responsible for the plight of having to patronize the facility in question.
The care of these facilities however remained MY responsibility. Fortunately, the significant advancement in technology allowed for delegating the duties of maintenance to the Marines. The basic premise was quite simple. Rather than a deeply dug pit, requiring intermittent change of location of "Half-moon lodge" we had a more elegant system. Placed beneath the "seats" of our four holer, were the bottom 1/3 of 50 gallon steel barrels which functioned as the receiver of the contents and also provided a place to dispose of those contents.
The expected procedure for this was accomplished by REMOVING THE BARRELS from their place of residence to a "safe location", and simply adding some diesel fuel to them; after which the entire contents were set afire and stirred constantly to ensure complete destruction (the least pleasant of the steps) and burned to a fine ash which was then dumped into a relatively deep hole and buried to prevent any further contamination of the area.
Frankly, it was a pretty good system...but of course there was the ever present fear that one young marine would mistake the precise method of his orders to wit, "Burn the Sh*TTERS". Such an order was of course predicated on some level of supervision by a junior NCO who was instructed to ensure that the task was completed and then I would inspect the results before the barrels were placed back in their place of honor. Unfortunately, the concern was realized one particular afternoon when we saw a huge flame arising from the general location of the well beloved "four holer"...and yes, you guessed it, Private Snuffy Smith had been ordered to "Burn the Sh*TTERS" and took his orders quite literally.
Needless to say, the entire company was less than pleased with Private Smith but since he had followed orders without question, he was absolved of all but the general disdain of those whose "wall paper" contributions had been completely immolated.
And YES, both the corporal (his squad leader and I had "milk and cookies with the Lieutenant over the incident, calling into question the efficiency of our leadership skills regarding new members of the platoon.
Re-construction of the structure was delayed for a few days because of the difficulty obtaining materials suitable for such construction and life was a bit less than pleasant for the next two weeks until the replacement of "Half-Moon Lodge 2" was completed.
Sorry for the length of this story, but it certainly falls into the category of "fits in here" considering the other wonderful "Tails of Half-Moon Lodge".
Best to all
Trim
The variety of stories here brings back many of the memories (some not so good) of my time in Viet Nam with the Marines. I will predicate this by saying that much of "outhouse" technology has been improved quite a bit since then but in fact, from what I read here, many of you continue to experience the "Open pit" process.
The open pit was a relatively simple project. You dig a hole fairly deep, and build (or place a pre-built) structure...(half-moon lodge) is a great example. Obviously, some folks have taken to modernizing the structure..(carpets, electricity, pictures on the wall, etc) but the basic function of course remains constant and forever simple. One of you wrote about having to "level the pile" with your hand which I found absolutely hysterical, still evoking tears of laughter from me. Of course the judicious use of lime periodically gave the hopefully down-wind structure" a modicum of relief from its otherwise less than stellar fragrance in the right meteorological conditions.
While with the Marines, and for much of my military life, it was my express responsibility to maintain the health and vitality of our fighting forces stalwart members at all times. To that end, we had a number of principles, among which the "outhouse" held a primary importance, not to be neglected. While in Viet Nam the technique for "field hygiene" was the traditional "4-holer".
I reeled with laughter reading what apparently was written by a number of ladies considering the "communal approach" to a visit to the loo" and can only tell you that you haven't lived till you have had to share your "morning news" with your entire "fire team" hence the "4-holer" was always a rather communal experience.
Of course you may appreciate that after the initial indoctrination into the military (for a good example watch the first half hour of "Full Metal Jacket") ones' sense of PRIVACY is all but eternally decimated. After bootcamp, any thoughts of "Privacy" with respect to "the morning news" is essentially extinguished forever in the minds of young folks generally age 18-24".
So now you add the stress of war, the lack of luxuries such as running water and the isolation of a country most folks couldn't pronounce much less spell and you have the makings for some very unusual approaches to the use of "half-moon lodge".
Not to be outdone by anyone there was of course the wall paper which generally consisted of one of only two or three types of content. First, as many of you might well have guessed were the center-fold pages from any one of a number of "periodocals" generally sold in "plain brown wrappers" at the local pharmacy and sent to young men in far away places often by their friends but NEVER by their "girlfriends".
Second, there were the relatively large number and variety of stationary pages (often laced with any number of perfume types) detailing the sadness of the news that the current girlfriend had begun to have doubts as to the success of the current relationship and her regret at having to tell "John" that she has decided to forsake him (often for his best friend who didn't get drafted). Such public displays of grief were common and appropriately displayed in the "4 holer" in an effort to diminish the emotional distress it engendered. Many were edited by the recipient in terms that could best be described as "less than complimentary" transforming the young lady's reputation from saint-hood to something far less appealing.
Third, there were of course the usual photographs of a variety of "policy makers, politicians and political leaders" considered responsible for the plight of having to patronize the facility in question.
The care of these facilities however remained MY responsibility. Fortunately, the significant advancement in technology allowed for delegating the duties of maintenance to the Marines. The basic premise was quite simple. Rather than a deeply dug pit, requiring intermittent change of location of "Half-moon lodge" we had a more elegant system. Placed beneath the "seats" of our four holer, were the bottom 1/3 of 50 gallon steel barrels which functioned as the receiver of the contents and also provided a place to dispose of those contents.
The expected procedure for this was accomplished by REMOVING THE BARRELS from their place of residence to a "safe location", and simply adding some diesel fuel to them; after which the entire contents were set afire and stirred constantly to ensure complete destruction (the least pleasant of the steps) and burned to a fine ash which was then dumped into a relatively deep hole and buried to prevent any further contamination of the area.
Frankly, it was a pretty good system...but of course there was the ever present fear that one young marine would mistake the precise method of his orders to wit, "Burn the Sh*TTERS". Such an order was of course predicated on some level of supervision by a junior NCO who was instructed to ensure that the task was completed and then I would inspect the results before the barrels were placed back in their place of honor. Unfortunately, the concern was realized one particular afternoon when we saw a huge flame arising from the general location of the well beloved "four holer"...and yes, you guessed it, Private Snuffy Smith had been ordered to "Burn the Sh*TTERS" and took his orders quite literally.
Needless to say, the entire company was less than pleased with Private Smith but since he had followed orders without question, he was absolved of all but the general disdain of those whose "wall paper" contributions had been completely immolated.
And YES, both the corporal (his squad leader and I had "milk and cookies with the Lieutenant over the incident, calling into question the efficiency of our leadership skills regarding new members of the platoon.Re-construction of the structure was delayed for a few days because of the difficulty obtaining materials suitable for such construction and life was a bit less than pleasant for the next two weeks until the replacement of "Half-Moon Lodge 2" was completed.
Sorry for the length of this story, but it certainly falls into the category of "fits in here" considering the other wonderful "Tails of Half-Moon Lodge".
Best to all
Trim
urban dreamer
I wanna farm
Good Lord I have tears in my eyes! When the SHTF, what ARE we gonna do about baking soda? And salt for those of us living in land? Vinegar and sugar are easy to produce, but it's not like I have a salt mine or a "baking soda tree" in my backyard (wouldn't that be nice though?)
When the SHTF, what ARE we gonna do about baking soda? And salt for those of us living in land? Vinegar and sugar are easy to produce, but it's not like I have a salt mine or a "baking soda tree" in my backyard (wouldn't that be nice though?)
freemotion
Food Guru
Wow, Trim, that story gives SHTF new meaning....As for baking soda, forget it. Learn fermenting techniques for cooking, and you can clean with vinegar.
Salt? Read my salt thread. It would be a huge problem in many parts of this country, but a trip to the ocean once a year could resolve that. Or every few years if traded with other families. Salt would be a valuable commodity, as it is necessary to life. Aren't there mines in Utah? Redmond salt?
urban dreamer
I wanna farm
And that would be....?freemotion said:
As for baking soda, forget it. Learn fermenting techniques for cooking, and you can clean with vinegar.
Salt? Read my salt thread. It would be a huge problem in many parts of this country, but a trip to the ocean once a year could resolve that. Or every few years if traded with other families. Salt would be a valuable commodity, as it is necessary to life. Aren't there mines in Utah? Redmond salt?
Also, I know Baking Soda is not nessesary, but it dose make some really good breads!
Icu4dzs
Super Self-Sufficient
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Yup, sure does. Shoulda seen the look on the faces of the lieutenant when he realized that rank had no priviledge with respect to the four holer...made him even more upset.freemotion said:
BUT...that isn't my only Tails of the Half-moon lodge story.
There are several, some better but mostly related to the issues of really cold nights and long walks to the loo in the dark. Of course going at that time of night did not always mean you would be alone out in the woods like that.
Frequently, the heat generated by the decomposing "waste" would invite a variety of creatures to keep warm as well. You can only partially imagine my consternation at looking down into the loo after hearing a particularly ominous rattling sound
coming from within...Does the word "fast" mean anything when it comes to leaving? Well it does to me!O well, glad we can have some fun with the issues that concern us. As I said, field hygiene, be it home or actually in the field always is one of the most important aspects of human life that gives us the opportunity to share...both funny and tragic.
Best
Trim
Wildsky
Femivore
Shouldn't it be the FULL moon lodge?
