Backcountry Potty Trowel —The Deuce® (a successful Kickstarter project)
Latest NEWS:
• New videos! Just below…Design, then How to make a poofect cathole
• New Deuce® #3 color - PURPLE
I think this may be the most comprehensive poop-hole video ever made.
Now available in three models: – .45 oz, .60 oz, and .97 oz---
They really help you doo-doo the right thing
#1 - .45 oz (less than the weight of 2 1/2 teaspoons of water) - for fanatical weight fanatics only: those who eagerly learn the ins and outs of their gear to get the most out if it. Regularly using our Advances Techniques (graphic below) is mandatory for this trowel. 2.5" wide by 6.5" long.
#2 - .60 oz (barely over ONE tablespoon of water - 1.1 to be exact) - for normal weight fanatics (most backpackers), our most popular trowel. A nice balance between crazy-lightweight and overall toughness. The #2 is an evolved version of the Deuce of Spades. Advanced Techniques recommended in difficult ground. 2.6" wide by 6.8" long.
#3 - .97 oz (less than 2 tablespoons of water) - A full-sized, beast of a trowel for users who regularly encounter difficult ground. Thicker material makes the #3 twice as strong as our #2 and more comfortable in the hand. 2.6" wide by 8" long.
Simple? Looks are deceiving. A ton of thought and experience has gone into every detail.
• First, save yourself a ton of time and use the Deuce® UPSIDE-DOWN to probe the top 3-4” for rocks or roots that might spoil your poop-hole location; probing like this is a fantastic and unique feature of the Deuce; it’s made to be used right-side-up as well as upside-down; further into the hole, use it upside-down to break up hard dirt and pry out rocks; it provides up to a 4x increase in digging power when used this way
• Made in the US and S. Korea of aerospace grade, US-produced 7075-T6 aluminum that meets MIL spec AMS4045 (the alloy alone does not guarantee high strength). It's the go-to aluminum for satellites and aircraft because high strength aluminum makes high strength products This grade of aluminum is available in only a handful of highly industrialized countries with technology and quality driven supply chains - it is not available in China - beware of knockoffs.
• Lifetime warranty - bend or break one and we'll replace it for just the cost of postage (no matter where you bought it)
• The Deuce® #2 is the ultralight trowel formerly known as The Deuce of Spades
• TUMBLED so all edges are smooth and deburred (This requires a strong material so it doesn't get smashed or beat up in the tumbler. If you see a product where everyone complains about its sharp edges - ding ding! Weak material.)
• Makes a single good extra tent stake but is even better for burying lots of sticks and rocks as deadman-type anchors
• digs down and carves unusually well because of its thinness
• large scoop makes mockery of tent stakes or trekking poles for digging
• cuts right through small roots
• elegant, minimalist design
• NOT DORKY
• a great gift - bet they haven't got this yet
• eco-friendly – it's designed to need no packaging and it's 100% recyclable
• nice colors: Fire!, Ice, Sky, Lime, Purple and many more
• it makes a very good boot- or shoe-horn
• handy for bear canister screws and the like
• yup, you can open a bottle of beer with it
• seriously perfect sandcastle sculpting tool
• you can fly with it in your carry-on
• at least one woman has used it as a standing-pee device - you go girl!
• #1 MSRP: $18.95, #2 MSRP: $19.95, #3 MSRP: $22.95
• Some made in the US
• formed in Denver, Colorado by Arrow Sheet Metal (ISO 9001 certified)
• anodized by Pioneer Metal Finishing in Tualatin Oregon
• engraved in Denver, Colorado by Sterling Edge
• Some made in Korea by our good friends at DAC (our fantastic tent pole supplier)
Use the Deuce's length to gauge hole depth. A full-depth poop-hole should be 6-8" deep (one Deuce deep).
TWO WAY DIGGING! Use it Upside Down in hard dirt - Yes, really
Technique & Introduction Video
Point six ounces – .6 ounces - that’s crazy light! What else weighs about that?
OK, it's crazy-light. What's the tradeoff?
The answer to that is very simple: some handle comfort. The Deuce® is light because it's thin. Because it's thin, the edges are less comfortable to hold. As I was designing The Deuce®, I played with different thicknesses, trying to find the best balance between strength, lightness and comfort. I believe I've succeeded in finding that just-right balance. The simple fact that a latrine trowel is carried for hours and hours and is used for just a few minutes a day makes it only logical that lightness and strength have the highest priority. With thousands of Deuces® sold, I can honestly say that I've gotten the balance right. The vast majority of users are blown away by how light and effective they are.
A Confession:
I, like my father and his father before him, was one of those “turn over a rock” types in the backcountry. My defense: I ONLY pooped in remote sites nowhere near trails or camps and NEVER left any outward trace of my activity. But I've changed my ways for several reasons:
One, it's getting really crowded out there and genuinely remote places are fewer and father between.
Two, I saw a study that shows pretty conclusively that putting a rock over buried poop is exactly the wrong thing to do because for prompt decomposition to happen, water needs to be able to percolate down to the poop from the surface. Poop under a rock is also likely to "bloom" TP and be there long enough to be discovered by another user. Gross.
Three, common consideration for trail maintenance crews. Heavily used trails – AT, PCT, CDT, John Muir Trail – are getting hammered with poop. And the maintenance crews are literally getting the shitty end of the, um, rock, time and time again. I mean, YUK! What a horrible thing for volunteers to have to deal with.
Four: digging a cathode that's ACTUALLY 6-8" deep is REALLY hard and seriously inconvenient without a trowel. As I think back, that was probably why I was rolling over rocks in the first place. Now that I've thought about it for a few years, (I didn't used to think about it at all, really), I've come to the sad realization that folks who don't use trowels are probably fooling themselves that they're digging deep enough holes. It's not that it's impossible to make a proper hole using sticks, tent stakes or trekking poles, it's that it takes a ridiculous amount of time and effort (in all but the softest soil). The experience of making a proper hole without a trowel is what drives people to want a trowel in the first place. Here's another take on this subject. The other thing a trowel can do for you is gauge how deep the hole is. Ours are from 6.5" to 8" long so it's really easy to tell when your hole is deep enough.
The Deuce® is my Leave No Trace contribution to the backcountry poop situation: it's a sweet little piece of ultralight gear. THE coolest, THE most designy, and THE most effective potty trowel in the world — one that you can be proud to whip out in mixed company — so carrying and using it will be easy, fast and even a little fun.
I feel like there needs to be a “Two Headed Deuce” dance video in here but darned if it doesn’t continue to elude me.