When don’t you need a trowel?

You won’t be digging a cat hole in slot canyons or above tree line because you pack out your own poop like in the trip I’ll be doing at the end of June. We’ll backpack Buckskin Gulch and the Paria Canyon out to Lee’s Ferry. On that trip it’s required to pack out all our poop (four days worth!) and I admit to dreading that part. I’d much rather dig a hole, but since I don’t get a choice, I’ll suck it up (not literally, gross you guys!) and carry my own poop out in these RESTOP 2 bags. Or maybe I’ll eat only rice and take so much Imodium that I won’t poop for at least a couple days.

Trowels are good Leave No Trace.

In most situations a digging tool is the only way to dig a proper 6-8 inch, Leave No Trace approved, cat hole. Many backpackers, especially online, say they can dig a good enough cat hole with the heel of their boot, or their trekking pole, or a stick they find nearby, but that’s not always true. Unless you have some ultra special technique or attachment on your trekking pole, you’re probably leaving a trace at least some of the time if you don’t carry a trowel.

Not all online advice is good.

As a new backpacker I read online not to take a trowel so I went without on the Appalachian Trail for the first few hundred miles and though occasionally the ground was soft enough to get deep enough, most of the time roots, dry soil, and rocks in the soil kept my holes too shallow. We should be teaching the newbies how to do it right, not how to skimp on important things like a proper cat hole. Come on, who really wants to see poop bombs and toilet paper flowers along any trail? Digging a proper hole will reduce those nasty moments.

Trowels are efficient and quick.

When you have to poop bad enough to finally stop hiking after you’ve been keeping your eyes open for a semi-private, appropriate spot 200 feet from water, the trail, and camp, it’s generally getting urgent. Who’s realistically going to wrestle with their trekking pole or search for another stick after the first two sticks already broke while in danger of imminently shitting their pants? Nobody who’s normal. We all know backpacking and the types of food we eat can bring on the runs, so nearly, or actually, shitting your pants is not an uncommon occurrence. Be a good backpacker and carry a trowel so you can dig deep enough quickly and bury your deposit properly.

But trowels weigh too much!

Most experienced backpackers don’t like the standard plastic trowel you can buy at any outdoor store for less than $3, but it’s the cheapest option. It weighs 2 ounces and is bulky. I carried one just like this for most of my AT thru-hike. I felt like a better person for digging deeper cat holes, but I didn’t like the trowel itself. It rode in the mesh pocket on the back of my pack and when I put down my pack the pointy end wore through the mesh and put holes in it. I could have tied or clipped it on the outside of my pack, I suppose, and probably should have.

https://www.coghlans.com/products/back-packers-trowel-8408

Titanium trowels.

This is a great option, and you can splurge on a fancy, relatively expensive, awesomely cool titanium trowel in the $35+ price range. They weigh as little as .4 ounces for the smallest trowel that’s 6 inches long and nearly one ounce for the biggest at 8.5 inches long. This website lists sizes, weights, and prices from a particular company. There are multiple companies making these, and you can even make your own if you are so inclined and have the tools and materials.

https://www.qiwiz.net/trowels.html

Tent stakes as trowels.

Another option to cutting weight, bulk, and not spending too much money while still carrying a trowel came from something I read online. A tent stake. I wish I would have noted where I saw the suggestion so I could give credit, because the MSR Blizzard tent stake worked great on my last two backpacking trips. I chose that one because it was the biggest, lightest tent stake we had at the outdoor store where I work. At 9.5 inches long it only weighs .8 ounces and has a much smaller profile compared to the plastic trowel. It’s reasonably priced at $4.95 and surprisingly weighs less than the largest titanium trowel while being stronger than titanium. It could be hung by any of the holes but I slid it down the side mesh pocket of my pack. The digging end wasn’t too pointy so it didn’t threaten the mesh.

Multiple uses for your trowel.

The Blizzard digs a good hole, and after loosening the dirt you can flip the stake and used the lip end to scoop dirt out of your new, plenty-deep-enough cat hole. You could wrap the handle with something like duct tape or vet wrap to get a better grip, but I found no need to do that. It’s a good goal to have multiple uses for your gear, so having a trowel that is actually a tent stake fits that goal. Lose a stake? No problem, I’ve got my trusty trowel here.

My hiking partner was so impressed with the tent stake idea that she bought one, too. On our trip we discovered a third use for the Blizzard tent stake. She lost her spoon after the third night and never found it. Our fourth and last night she didn’t know how to eat her dinner until she realized the tent stake was shaped a little like a spoon. “It’s only been in dirt,” she said, rinsed it off, and proceeded to eat her Ziploc bag meal with the scoop end of the Blizzard. Yes, we’re hiker trash and not ashamed to admit it. So there you go. My perfect multi-use (x3) backpacking trowel so far is the MSR Blizzard tent stake.

What do you use to dig cat holes? Share your ideas and suggestions in the comments.