Sea To Summit - The Outhouse

I am your typical weekend warrior. I work all week to play hard on the weekend. I used to do a lot of backpacking, but now

I am the fly fishing river warrior. The one thing that has not changed with the switch from backpacking to fly fishing / kayaking is restroom breaks. For guys most of the time it is easy, but there are those instances when guys and gals are looking for that tree to hunker down by.

Last month I received The Outhouse from Sea To Summit for review. Simply put, The Outhouse is waterproof dry bag for toilet paper. The Outhouse retails for about $14.95, which makes this very affordable, so you can throw away that old zip lock bag. The bag is made of rip-stop nylon with an interior material to prevent water coming through the bag. Attached to the top of the bag is a cord that allows the user to hang the bag near the “dumping” ground or around your neck.

Inside the bag there nylon tubing that has a hard insert that the toilet paper slides into that is similar to a home toilet paper dispenser which makes it easy to pull off the TP when needed. Plus this allows the bag to stay open while hanging and the TP will not fall out of the bag and roll away from the user, which could create an awkward moment for a fellow hiker. At the bottom of the bag, there is a closure similar to all dry bags; a nylon buckle and hard plastic piece to turn over and over to seal the bag.

I tested this product in shower to see how it would withstand a “rain shower”. I mistakenly used a double roll of TP, which made the bag hard to seal and after the shower, water was inside the bag and the TP was slightly wet. After realizing my mistake, I replaced the double roll with a single roll and The Outhouse perform exceptionally well in the “rain shower”. I tested the The Outhouse hanging while open and sealed tight. The Outhouse is now a permanent fixture in the boat bag.

The Outhouse would work great on multiple night backcountry trips where a “restroom” is established. You can leave The Outhouse in the elements and not have to worry about water ruining the precious paper.

3 comments April 9th, 2008