Don't trust biodegradable poop bags!

[afblangley]

I would have to experiment for a good while before I would trust vinegar not to weaken a plastic bag.

I dunno the answer, but it's an easy experiment. Get a plastic bag, put it in a jar, then pour vinegar in it. Let it sit until you're satisfied.

 

[CosmickGold]

. . . . it's an easy experiment. Get a plastic bag, put it in a jar, then pour vinegar in it. Let it sit until you're satisfied.

Not just "A" plastic bag but "THE" kind of plastic bag you will be using, due to different plastic bag manufacturers using different materials. It's just like the two metal grills I had placed in white vinegar together where one dissolved into the vinegar and the other remains unharmed to this day.

If I was doing your test, I would suspend the plastic bag into the bottle part way down, and then pour vinegar into the bag; hoping that days later, I still would not see any vinegar leaking through the bag.

 

[Dingfelder]

At that time, I was using biodegradable bags, and it did eat through those bags, so completely there was no trace of a bag left. That's why there was all the "mud" in the bottom of the bucket. Also, I had the bags sitting on two round cooking grills, their wires crisscrossed. One grill was about 75% dissolved into nothing, and the other grill held up just fine. They looked about the same, and I thought they were, but I now guess one was aluminum and the other stainless steel? Or possibly chrome plated? And probably the aluminum is what vanished. If you have the answer to that, let me know.

I have not tried regular plastic bags in that situation to know if they would be ruined by vinegar. If you have more information on any of the above (about plastic, or about vinegar affecting which metals), let me know. I'm still learning.

FYI: I likewise use vinegar in my pee bottle. So it never "stinks" and never grows "gunk"; it can be left sitting for weeks.

That's interesting to know, thanks. I'll try a little experiment with that. Because I find pee stinks by its nature, but usually not that much at first, but then becomes horrific if stored for more than a day or two. Heck, I remember almost having to throw up walking past certain homeless-favored relief areas. And it's not like my own set to ferment in a bottle for a few days was so great either.

 

[rruff]

Thanks for the tip. I had not heard of Doody Bags, and it's an interesting answer. I do have the Luggable Loo seat on a 5gal bucket. But if I were to use one of these bags each day, that would cost me
$16(box) / 6(bags) X 30.5(days) = $81.33(monthly).
$81 each month for it is just too expensive for me. (But that's just me.)

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Bio...wicXNhIjoiNS40MSIsInFzcCI6IjUuMDkifQ==&sr=8-5
80 bags for $25 doesn't seem terrible... biodegradable (45-180 days in the ground), but they have another line that degrades quicker.

 

[LargeMarge]

Put some newspaper on the floor and squat.

.
Exactly!
Nearly two decades full-time live-aboard in our ExpeditionVehicle, this's our method...
... perfected over a half-century of make-do camping in lesser rigs.
.
We learned this simple system by caravaning with older experienced travelers.
Unfortunately, the squat-over-newspaper-then-bag requires a conventional place to dump them.
No burying a plastic grocery produce bag or a zipper-top bag... they probably require years to pulverize.
.
But that begs the q:
* boondocking off-grid, could you just 'go' in a cat-hole, 'eliminating' the need for any 'baggage'?

 

[LargeMarge]

Why use newspaper (healthy adult stool is 75% water)?
Eliminate the extra steps; deposit directly into plastic bag (in a bucket).

.
a)
In theory -- and unwilling to test your direct-to-bag theory -- we think newspaper absorbs much of the fluid in an evac.
.
b)
We disagree with certain propaganda.
Those particular newspapers are our preferred targets for our daily constitutional.
And we look forward to those months preceding an election, we thoroughly enjoy 'visiting' certain campaign ads.
So, sue me.

 

[LargeMarge]

I can usually get about 3 days use out of one bag. But - that's just me.

I like the Doody bags rather than just ordinary shopping bags, because

1) they are heavy-duty
2) they are designed to seal the contents well

But if I had to, I would sure use shopping bags.

.
Off-topic:
jacqueg,
I appreciate your use of 'I' statements.
I think your Real-World experience is worth a hundred 'WorldWideWeb advice' theories.
.
I think sharing a camp-spot and a camp-fire with you would be interesting.
.
.
On-topic:
Based on our experience, plastic grocery bags are engineered -- barely -- for a single use.
I remember seeing blown corners and busted bottom seams in new unused bags.
Re-use for mostly-dry paper trash -- snot-rags, ear-juice swipes -- is the limit of my trust in them.
.
We prefer bags from the meat or produce section.
Those seem engineered to contain mushy fruits and oozing organs.

 

[jacqueg]

But that begs the q:
* boondocking off-grid, could you just 'go' in a cat-hole, 'eliminating' the need for any 'baggage'?

Depends on exactly where you are. In a heavily used area, I wouldn't. Not really interested in inadvertently digging up someone else's leavings.

But I've sure done it plenty of times in lightly used areas.

 

[jacqueg]

.
Off-topic:

I think sharing a camp-spot and a camp-fire with you would be interesting.
.

Could be arranged - you're frequently at Lost Valley or maybe Aprovecho, no?

DM me.

 

[LargeMarge]

... a harmless mud that ran all the way across the floor.

...I simply swept the mud out the side door...

.
This was another essential for our ExpeditionVehicle... no sill, no jamb, no obstacles to getting stuff outside.
Anything on the floor is easily swept out through the flat-floor door-way.
.
Thank you for the reminder!

 

[rruff]

I think your Real-World experience is worth a hundred 'WorldWideWeb advice' theories.
.
But that begs the q:
* boondocking off-grid, could you just 'go' in a cat-hole, 'eliminating' the need for any 'baggage'?

In 13 years of fulltime vagabonding.... I've pooped in a bag, in bucket, on a newspaper, or anyway else in my rig exactly zero times. Always squatting over a hole in the ground... preferably with a fine view.

I tended to avoid places with inclement weather... and people. I do recall a rainy week with an intestinal flu which was quite exhausting, cold, damp, and messy. But apparently it wasn't bad enough that I broke down and got a bucket...

 

[LargeMarge]

Depends on exactly where you are. In a heavily used area, I wouldn't. Not really interested in inadvertently digging up someone else's leavings...

.
Cripes.
What was I thinking.
After you mention it, the potential for digging up somebody else's leavings is obvious.
That perfect spot, the breeze just so, a lovely view, solitude...
... and, of course, somebody else liked the idea a few days prior.
Makes sense.
.
For 'Number Two', I think we will stick to squatting in the rig with our 'newspaper and produce-bag' system.
.
'Number One' goes in a laundry detergent jug with the 'puck' knocked out of it, leaving an easy-aim fist-size opening.

 

[CosmickGold]

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Bio...wicXNhIjoiNS40MSIsInFzcCI6IjUuMDkifQ==&sr=8-5
80 bags for $25 doesn't seem terrible... biodegradable (45-180 days in the ground), but they have another line that degrades quicker.

WOW! These look like the answer I'd been looking for. Thank you much! I'm ordering a pack right away.

The ones I had been using which -- over time -- became as weak and easily torn as Kleenex tissue, were these:

As you can see, they are simply "food scrap" bags. I had only searched for "biodegradable bags". They cost $0.15 each.

But these -- the ones you showed me -- are meant for poop. They are much thicker, much larger, and much stronger. They cost $0.27 each.

I'm purchasing them today!
Again, thank you very much! You have been very helpful.

 

[lonerwolf52]

Wal Mart.

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Bio...wicXNhIjoiNS40MSIsInFzcCI6IjUuMDkifQ==&sr=8-5
80 bags for $25 doesn't seem terrible... biodegradable (45-180 days in the ground), but they have another line that degrades quicker.

Nuff said!

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

80 bags for $25 doesn't seem terrible... biodegradable (45-180 days in the ground), but they have another line that degrades quicker.

Plus the cost of Prime. That's still over $100/year for poop bags. How long before a 'composting' toilet is paid for?

 

[CosmickGold]

https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Bio...wicXNhIjoiNS40MSIsInFzcCI6IjUuMDkifQ==&sr=8-5
80 bags for $25 doesn't seem terrible... biodegradable (45-180 days in the ground), but they have another line that degrades quicker.

Wal Mart.

Nuff said!

Thanks, rruff & LonerWolf. Faster degrading would be great for bags in the ground, but I have a reason to want the slower decomposing version. Those original green bags (I showed above) had started decomposing on the roll before I even pooped in them! *gasp!* They tore as easily as toilet paper. So now I want to be sure they last long enough to get used and then make it into the ground, still in one piece.

 

[BelgianPup]

I went to the website link above, and some of the comments said they leak.