Isle Royale Forums

I know IR is a little different from some backpacking trips in that there tend to be outhouses at each stop. That said, I’ve been giving some thought to trying out a backcountry bidet instead of TP. Anyone able to give me thoughts on why this is/isn’t a reasonable idea? My biggest question really focuses on the cleanliness of it. Everything I read seems to suggest that the bidet gets you cleaner, but I just can’t get my mind around that. Seems like some kind of wiping would be necessary, right?

Anyways, I know it’s kind of a sensitive topic, but if any of you have experience, I’d appreciate the insight.

this was a ongoing topic for my Moosewatch team. We were in the field for 8 days, and each day's discussion got franker.*

I was the backcountry bidet advocate. In my system (and it is a system), the bidet doesn't completely replace toilet paper, just minimizes how much I need and --- this is the critical consideration --- how gross it is to pack out. Because I'm susceptible to adult-onset diaper rash, I'm aspire to very thorough cleanups, and incorporating the bidet makes that aspiration much easier to achieve.

There are bidets and there are bidets. I've had better luck with dedicated units that come with their own squeeze bottle (like this one: https://www.rei.com/product/188350/happ ... able-bidet) than with the kind that are basically perforated water bottle caps. A reinforcing consideration: I want my drinking water system and my bidet system to be strictly separate.

I still pack, and use, TP and wysiwipes**, for post-bidet touchups, if needed. It varies from event to event whether touchups are needed. I ration two squares of TP and one wysiwipe per event, and that's plenty. YMMV.

All that said, I don't deploy my bidet in outhouses, including at IR, essentially because I can't figure out how to contain/direct backsplash.

*day 7 exchange: Bidet skeptic, "What if it's like a marker down there?" Bidet advocate: "It depends on the marker---is it water soluble?"

**dehydrated paper towels; pure genius https://wysiwipe.com/index.html