Toilet roll: to take or not to take

[Martin Moorman]

Good Evening Camino-ties, greetings from Halifax UK. My two boys and I set off on the Camino Frances 3 weeks tomorrow! We are buzzing!
Previously before Christmas members on this forum helpfully reassured me that we would do well to get lost, hostels did not need prebooking and we could have a reasonable expectation of successfully walking the CF in 30 days of walking. My next BIG question is:
Do we carry loo roll?
Unimportant in your world maybe, but vital in mine. In the Special Education world in which I work, planning for toilets is vital! Please can you advise?
Thanks
Martin

 

[cher99840]

Yes I carry TP. Not only for trail stops but also because the public establishments often don't have any by the time I get there.

 

[Davey Boyd]

Good Evening Camino-ties, greetings from Halifax UK. My two boys and I set off on the Camino Frances 3 weeks tomorrow! We are buzzing!
Previously before Christmas members on this forum helpfully reassured me that we would do well to get lost, hostels did not need prebooking and we could have a reasonable expectation of successfully walking the CF in 30 days of walking. My next BIG question is:
Do we carry loo roll?
Unimportant in your world maybe, but vital in mine. In the Special Education world in which I work, planning for toilets is vital! Please can you advise?
Thanks
Martin

Yes I always carry some. First, you never know when you get caught short. And it has been known for pilgrims to steal the toilet roll from cafes and albergues. Many mornings I have woken up to find all the toilet roll gone! If you do toilet in nature please please take your used toilet roll with you in a bag to dispose of properly!

Davey

 

[Martin Moorman]

Yes I always carry some. First, you never know when you get caught short. And it has been known for pilgrims to steal the toilet roll from cafes and albergues. Many mornings I have woken up to find all the toilet roll gone! If you do toilet in nature please please take your used toilet roll with you in a bag to dispose of properly!

Davey

That was my plan. Thanks Davey. Good advice thanks, as you never know

 

[jsalt]

Do we carry loo roll?

For goodness sake, what a question! You must always take a toilet roll. I have never ever needed it; I pack it at the beginning; I unpack it when I get home; but there may be, one day, a “just in case”.

TAKE IT!

Jill

 

[MTtoCamino]

Yep you can find many places that have run out or do not stock. When you get into some areas they have pay loos that require change but have no seat on the porcelain & no TP. So keep it with you if you leave your pack at the sleep site & go exploring or even out to the lighthouse at Finisterre.

 

[Tincatinker]

So, there you are. You got up much to early this morning and you had all sorts of stuff to deal with. Sorting out your sons; making sure everybody had washed their faces and cleaned their teeth and done the necessaries and hadn't left anything on, in or near their bunk. Then you checked out the weather outside and the chances of breakfast sometime before lunchtime and had anybody left anything on, in or near their bunk. And then you set out in, hopefully, the right direction and somewhere down the road you find that perfect (open) bar and you order that perfect cafe-con-leche and then you remember that you have needs too. And you head for the necessaries: and you discover that the low-life, scum-bag, un-pilgrim in front of you stole the loo-roll...

Yes. You carry loo-roll on the camino. If only to pass a few pages to a fellow peregrin@ in need

 

[KinkyOne]

Years ago when I was into climbing we used to call a roll of toilet paper "First Aid", such was the importance of it. Always carry some

 

[Mike Savage]

I always carry a pocket pack of Kleenex for that purpose. The plastic pack helps keep it dry and it easily fits in a pocket. Keep it with you at all times unless you are swimming or in the shower. Toilet paper has a way of disappearing in the albergues especially in the early morning hours.

 

[november_moon]

I carry pocket kleenex also.

 

[Kanga]

Pocket tissues. Then they are always in your pocket. Because it is when you least expect it that you find there is no loo paper. But never, ever, ever, leave tissues or toilet paper behind on the trail.

 

[whariwharangi]

A roll in a ziploc. Nothing more demoralizing than wet bog roll.

A ziploc marked 'used tp' ... so marked so you don't later put your snacks in it ... for the purpose of carrying used tp to the nearest toilet should needs be.

There is nothing that requires the roll retains its round. Squeeze it flat. This is actually beneficial should you need the roll whilst on a hillside.

 

[MTtoCamino]

Pocket tissues. Then they are always in your pocket. Because it is when you least expect it that you find there is no loo paper. But never, ever, ever, leave tissues or toilet paper behind on the trail.

Danger I burn mine but we don't want that topic going crazy. Forget the word burn.....

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Yes I carry TP. Not only for trail stops but also because the public establishments often don't have any by the time I get there.

Cher, Is this the kind of new thread question you feel belongs elsewhere?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

For goodness sake, what a question! You must always take a toilet roll. I have never ever needed it; I pack it at the beginning; I unpack it when I get home; but there may be, one day, a “just in case”.

TAKE IT!

Jill

Wow, Jill, I wish I had your bladder!

 

[Deleted member 43985]

I've never had a car accident but I've always bought the insurance. Something about Murphy's Law comes to mind here too...

 

[nycwalking]

Baby wipes. Moist. Come in own plastic wrap. Always took them.
Buen camino.

 

[alexwalker]

I always carry one roll. I also carry a (small) pack of wet sanitary napkins for intimate washing. It is good to walk clean in the heat.

 

[C clearly]

You guys surely don't carry a whole roll, do you?! I carry a small amount - the end of a roll, squished flat so it is only about 1 cm thick.

 

[VNwalking]

I've never thought to carry one, and don't.
Alternate realities.
[Edit...and now I find myself wondering....should I? ]

 

[Barbara]

If you use Kleenex DON'T FLUSH IT. PLEASE. It really doesn't decompose well. Bin it instead.

 

[HeidiL]

Choose the softest paper you can find, though, because then it can also be used for your dripping nose when you pick up a cold on the way...

 

[Ralph Keith Redhead]

Good Evening Camino-ties, greetings from Halifax UK. My two boys and I set off on the Camino Frances 3 weeks tomorrow! We are buzzing!
Previously before Christmas members on this forum helpfully reassured me that we would do well to get lost, hostels did not need prebooking and we could have a reasonable expectation of successfully walking the CF in 30 days of walking. My next BIG question is:
Do we carry loo roll?
Unimportant in your world maybe, but vital in mine. In the Special Education world in which I work, planning for toilets is vital! Please can you advise?
Thanks
Martin

Hey-up Martin, oap this 'elps, yorwkshire lad ;-) I know where you're coming from with this one. I'm going against the grain here - I've never taken a roll (shock-horror!) I find them too cumbersome, get easily wet and in the way in the old pack, and easily forgotten somewhere. My recommendation is small packs of good tissues - I keep one or two packs tucked into in my trousers/shorts/jacket, a couple in the pack and one with my toiletries. I've never been caught-short, forgotten to take some to the loo or bathroom, and they're easy to replace in the local shops, and always there for a runny nose. But find your comfort zone! If you're in a group maybe mix-'n-match. Good luck! Buen Camino

 

[Tia Valeria]

Way back Andrex sold mini length paper in a plastic wrapped pull out roll. Went in a pocket easily. We carried them and also a pack of paper hankies. Part used rolls with the cardboard tube removed work well too. Has anyone seen the mini travel rolls lately?
Toilets in Spain don't cope with some paper - bins are often provided. If so do use them rather than blocking the plumbing. Wipes of any type should never be flushed.

 

[Deleted member 12253]

Good Evening Camino-ties, greetings from Halifax UK. My two boys and I set off on the Camino Frances 3 weeks tomorrow! We are buzzing!
Previously before Christmas members on this forum helpfully reassured me that we would do well to get lost, hostels did not need prebooking and we could have a reasonable expectation of successfully walking the CF in 30 days of walking. My next BIG question is:
Do we carry loo roll?
Unimportant in your world maybe, but vital in mine. In the Special Education world in which I work, planning for toilets is vital! Please can you advise?
Thanks
Martin

Bring a small rool, and small shovel to bury same. Plenty of shops in Spain

 

[t2andreo]

I have used a pocket package of tissues as a field expedient pressure bandage. When I made the mistake of attempting to step over a meter-high wire fence in 2014, while wearing my rucksack (it made me top-heavy), I fell over the fence onto my forehead.

It is a good thing nothing important was inhured...it was only my head, and it is said often that my brain is on the other end... But it did bleed rather profusely.

After rinsing with bottled water and determining the wound was an abrasion instead of a puncture wound, I pulled the fresh packet of tissues and one of the two handy dandy Buffs i carry regularly, from a rear pocket. I positioned the unwrapped tissues over the wound (the entire package), then put the Buff on to hold it in place. Presto...instant pressure bandage! I washed my hands and soldiered on for the remainder of the day.

Loo roll, toilet paper, TP, or whatever euphemism you use to describe this very necessary invention is something you can find a myriad of uses for daily. Beyond the obvious hygienic uses, you can use it as facial tissue (in lieu of packaged tissues) all day long, to clean eyeglasses, to dry hands after washing (which you should do at EVERY opportunity), and in an emergency, as a bandage (in lieu of gauze) or even as an emergency fire starter. I am certain there are other uses I am not thinking of at the moment.

I usually obtain mine in RENTED accommodation (hostal, hotel, etc.) where a resupply is in the room. Please NEVER take the last roll of paper from the toilet area in an albergue. Imaging the horror of the next person to come along and REALLY need it!

I hope this helps.

 

[Patch]

Always carry a toilet roll and a light weight plastic trowel to dispose of any stuff i.e. bury and do nor burn. An alternative is use a sealable plastic bag to carry it to a point where you can dispose of it in a sanitary manner . On some stretch's of the CF the local people are pretty annoyed by people just leaving their stuff for all to see. This really is a big deal for them!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Wadded some up and stuck it under my insole for an arch support. Two years later it's still there.

 

[alexwalker]

You guys surely don't carry a whole roll, do you?! I carry a small amount - the end of a roll, squished flat so it is only about 1 cm thick.

Very small. not likely I will use it, but just in case... I have only needed it once on a long strecth on the VdlP, But I always carry it though.

 

[DebR]

For goodness sake, what a question! You must always take a toilet roll. I have never ever needed it; I pack it at the beginning; I unpack it when I get home; but there may be, one day, a “just in case”.

TAKE IT!

Jill

I've never needed it either...guess I have "long distance tanks". I don't carry it for this reason, and I've never actually been in a situation where it's missing or run out either. Sounds like I've just been very lucky...

 

[Martin Moorman]

For goodness sake, what a question! You must always take a toilet roll. I have never ever needed it; I pack it at the beginning; I unpack it when I get home; but there may be, one day, a “just in case”.

TAKE IT!

Jill

Don't worry Jill. It's on the spare bed along with the other essentials! Dock leaves don't appeal!

 

[Martin Moorman]

So, there you are. You got up much to early this morning and you had all sorts of stuff to deal with. Sorting out your sons; making sure everybody had washed their faces and cleaned their teeth and done the necessaries and hadn't left anything on, in or near their bunk. Then you checked out the weather outside and the chances of breakfast sometime before lunchtime and had anybody left anything on, in or near their bunk. And then you set out in, hopefully, the right direction and somewhere down the road you find that perfect (open) bar and you order that perfect cafe-con-leche and then you remember that you have needs too. And you head for the necessaries: and you discover that the low-life, scum-bag, un-pilgrim in front of you stole the loo-roll...

Yes. You carry loo-roll on the camino. If only to pass a few pages to a fellow peregrin@ in need

Thanks for the advice . That reply certainly made me smile. It deserved a double like actually! I will be happy to be the Perfect Pilgrim and pledge not to be a nicker of bog roll, but rather a joyful giver!

 

[Martin Moorman]

I've never thought to carry one, and don't.
Alternate realities.
[Edit...and now I find myself wondering....should I? ]

I'll tip you off after our Camino

 

[Martin Moorman]

Hey-up Martin, oap this 'elps, yorwkshire lad ;-) I know where you're coming from with this one. I'm going against the grain here - I've never taken a roll (shock-horror!) I find them too cumbersome, get easily wet and in the way in the old pack, and easily forgotten somewhere. My recommendation is small packs of good tissues - I keep one or two packs tucked into in my trousers/shorts/jacket, a couple in the pack and one with my toiletries. I've never been caught-short, forgotten to take some to the loo or bathroom, and they're easy to replace in the local shops, and always there for a runny nose. But find your comfort zone! If you're in a group maybe mix-'n-match. Good luck! Buen Camino

Nice one Ralph. I have managed to avoid the Yorkshire lilt, though 'Arry and Jaaaaaaaake from 'Alifax are pretty proud to be from Yaaaaarskshire.....and thus talk like it!

 

[C clearly]

with the cardboard tube removed

For the information of everyone, I just weighed a cardboard tube, and found that it weighs all of 5 g.

 

[Saint Mike II]

A great question with great answers. We did get off the track a little - about what to do with the waste & paper! For me I have a small fold-up trowel so I can, if necessary, dig a 200mm hole to bury the waste and paper. So far I have been lucky & not needed to use it. Best wishes for a great Camino for you & your boys!

 

[Tia Valeria]

For the information of everyone, I just weighed a cardboard tube, and found that it weighs all of 5 g.

Useful info for those concerned. It wasn't the weight, for us, it was the fact that without the tube it flattened and went in the pack or pocket better. Also the reason for carrying a half used roll (or 2) - better than a whole roll. Still love our little mini packs best - we still have a couple left because we bought a whole lot a year or two ago.

 

[Hiawatha]

Should you take toilet paper? A question easily answered by another , Have you ever wiped your bum with leaves and grass ?
There are flat toilet paper packets with interleaved tissue that take up very little space . The paper is a little harsh , but effective none the less .
Available from commercial cleaning suppliers .

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I've never needed it either...guess I have "long distance tanks". I don't carry it for this reason, and I've never actually been in a situation where it's missing or run out either. Sounds like I've just been very lucky...

Yes you have been!

 

[Tincatinker]

A further reason to always carry a loo roll... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-39218707

 

[Bradypus]

Have you ever wiped your bum with leaves and grass ?

I have done but it wouldn't be my first choice. Often not a lot available anyway. Luckily in Spain we don't have the leafy hazards from your neck of the woods
http://www.australiangeographic.com...06/gympie-gympie-once-stung,-never-forgotten/

 

[VNwalking]

Luckily in Spain we don't have the leafy hazards from your neck of the woods

It's hardly Gympie Gympie but I know someone who had an 'interesting' time of it between Triacastella and Samos...wandering behind a tree and squatting in a nice lush patch of nettles. (She came from a place where there were none...)

 

[KariC]

Yes I always carry some. First, you never know when you get caught short. And it has been known for pilgrims to steal the toilet roll from cafes and albergues. Many mornings I have woken up to find all the toilet roll gone! If you do toilet in nature please please take your used toilet roll with you in a bag to dispose of properly!

Davey

I carried light weight dog poop bags with me for that very purpose! Yes, both TP and something to carry the used TP in.

 

[Texas Walker]

Good Evening Camino-ties, greetings from Halifax UK. My two boys and I set off on the Camino Frances 3 weeks tomorrow! We are buzzing!
Previously before Christmas members on this forum helpfully reassured me that we would do well to get lost, hostels did not need prebooking and we could have a reasonable expectation of successfully walking the CF in 30 days of walking. My next BIG question is:
Do we carry loo roll?
Unimportant in your world maybe, but vital in mine. In the Special Education world in which I work, planning for toilets is vital! Please can you advise?
Thanks
Martin

Camper's toilet paper. The package at Wal-Mart includes 3 rolls (solid, not cored) and a lovely plastic clamshell. If you bought "Charmin to Go" back when it was available, you may still have that clamshell. The clamshell fits into the belly bag with room for the regular-sized water bottle as well...nose of bottle sticks out but that's okay. (I put my credencial and my PP in a separate zippered pocket on the same device. That way nothing important gets left behind, as the pouch is on me when I enter the bathroom or the albergue or anywhere else in fact. Like the Marine Museum in Madrid, where you have to show ID to enter as it's in a government building.) If you look at the place you shop for camping supplies you should find it.
Buen camino to all of you.

 

[MCFearnley]

For all my expeditions/camping including the Camino I have a roll of TP in my pack. It starts as a whole roll from which I have removed the core (easier to squish) placed in a freezer ZipLock back (why freezer? because it is sturdier). What I don't use gets packed for the next trip. Eventually the roll gets smaller through use. It is good insurance in the event that wherever you stop you will always have something to wipe your bum and can also be used to wipe the nose. No need to purchase specialty camping toilet paper.

 

[Tigger]

For the information of everyone, I just weighed a cardboard tube, and found that it weighs all of 5 g.

...butt think of all that air!


(reference to a poster on here who insisted that if you rolled your clothes to exclude air that they would end up 'lighter'!)

 

[Shston Girlfd]

Good Evening Camino-ties, greetings from Halifax UK. My two boys and I set off on the Camino Frances 3 weeks tomorrow! We are buzzing!
Previously before Christmas members on this forum helpfully reassured me that we would do well to get lost, hostels did not need prebooking and we could have a reasonable expectation of successfully walking the CF in 30 days of walking. My next BIG question is:
Do we carry loo roll?
Unimportant in your world maybe, but vital in mine. In the Special Education world in which I work, planning for toilets is vital! Please can you advise?
Thanks
Martin

I carry a couple of packages of those 'kleenex' for your purse - have for many years because when you need it you need it and it isn't always available.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

...butt think of all that air!


(reference to a poster on here who insisted that if you rolled your clothes to exclude air that they would end up 'lighter'!)

Hey, a 40 liter pack can contain up to 49 grams of air!

 

[C clearly]

...butt think of all that air!

That pun was intentional, wasn't it?

 

[Kanga]

@C clearly as it was @Tigger, it definitely would have been intended. She's a bit naughty, always has been.

 

[Tony Dickin]

For goodness sake, what a question! You must always take a toilet roll. I have never ever needed it; I pack it at the beginning; I unpack it when I get home; but there may be, one day, a “just in case”.

TAKE IT!

Jill

Me too Jill. In fact the roll is probably 10 years old but has become an old friend I carry on every trek. Crazy I know but it has come in handy for others from time to time.

Happy trails

 

[Tigger]

Hey, a 40 liter pack can contain up to 49 grams of air!

NOT if you suck it out with a vacuum attachment before you leave home! This is clinically proven by worldwide airport authorities!!!

 

[Tigger]

Me too Jill. In fact the roll is probably 10 years old but has become an old friend I carry on every trek. Crazy I know but it has come in handy for others from time to time.

Happy trails

Should I pack a ten year old roll of TP, it would be at the bottom of my pack and the butt of many jokes. Maybe it would be better in my 'fannypack'? (bumbag for the non Americans)

 

[Tigger]

@C clearly as it was @Tigger, it definitely would have been intended. She's a bit naughty, always has been.

Tiggers don't like haycorns and prefer the term 'whimsical' to 'naughty'!

'Naughty' is SO Enid Blyton!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

Two things you'll notice right across Spain along the Camino . . . yellow arrows/shells to mark the way and little piles of toilet paper behind nearly every bush, tree and secluded spot.
Yes take it with you but also think about taking some dog poop bags or ziploc and dispose of you waste carefully.
Show some respect for your host nation and try not to use it as an open toilet please!

 

[Jeff Crawley]

So, there you are. You got up much to early this morning and you had all sorts of stuff to deal with. Sorting out your sons; making sure everybody had washed their faces and cleaned their teeth and done the necessaries and hadn't left anything on, in or near their bunk. Then you checked out the weather outside and the chances of breakfast sometime before lunchtime and had anybody left anything on, in or near their bunk. And then you set out in, hopefully, the right direction and somewhere down the road you find that perfect (open) bar and you order that perfect cafe-con-leche and then you remember that you have needs too. And you head for the necessaries: and you discover that the low-life, scum-bag, un-pilgrim in front of you stole the loo-roll...

Yes. You carry loo-roll on the camino. If only to pass a few pages to a fellow peregrin@ in need

Ah! the infamous "furtum peregrinus".
While working at Rabanal I went upstairs with a fresh pack of 12 rolls of toilet paper to check on the state of supply.
Somebody collapse downstairs with heat stroke do I dropped rolls and ran off to sort things out.
When I got back upstairs every roll had been stolen . . . as you say very un-pilgrim!

 

[Sixwheeler]

Yes. But why not take flat pack look paper, still availability in UK and takes up less room?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

My two boys and I set off on the Camino Frances 3 weeks tomorrow!
...
Do we carry loo roll?

Yes. Each of you should carry one of these. Then you all know who is not carrying their paper out.

 

[Scottlovelace87]

Wow! Glad we got that figured out.

 

[notion900]

@Martin Moorman as a thrifty yorkshire man you'll be glad to know that t'poundshop sells bumper bales of
tissue packs

 

[SYates]

Just in case nobody has mentioned it before: Also carry a ziplock bag to carry used toilet paper out/off the Camino to the next bin.

Buen Camino, SY

 

[Lmsundaze]

Good Evening Camino-ties, greetings from Halifax UK. My two boys and I set off on the Camino Frances 3 weeks tomorrow! We are buzzing!
Previously before Christmas members on this forum helpfully reassured me that we would do well to get lost, hostels did not need prebooking and we could have a reasonable expectation of successfully walking the CF in 30 days of walking. My next BIG question is:
Do we carry loo roll?
Unimportant in your world maybe, but vital in mine. In the Special Education world in which I work, planning for toilets is vital! Please can you advise?
Thanks
Martin

Take it! I haven't read all the other replies, but when you are walking and waiting anxiously for the next coffee stop to use the servicios, and you walk into the bathroom and the toilet paper is gone.... you will be so happy you brought some.

 

[mspath]

Following the gist of Imsundaze's
perceptive comment be sure that the tp is either in your pocket or money bag and not packed in your backpack left outside. Be prepared!

 

[Lmsundaze]

Following the gist of Imsundaze's
perceptive comment be sure that the tp is either in your pocket or money bag and not packed in your backpack left outside. Be prepared!

Another great thing about those big pockets on the Macabi skirt.

 

[Tigger]

Yes. Each of you should carry one of these. Then you all know who is not carrying their paper out.
View attachment 32466

I think the purple would be the worst, owing to the amount of purple people eating rampant on the Camino. Perhaps I am being a little one eyed on this, however!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

I think the purple would be the worst, owing to the amount of purple people eating rampant on the Camino. Perhaps I am being a little one eyed on this, however!

But think where the yellow leads you.

 

[Barbara]

Deuteronomy 23:13