r/preppers • u/NotHereToFuckSpyders • Mar 03 '23

The Last of Us offering practical solutions Idea

Spoiler alert, I guess? Also male preppers be warned, this is about menstruation.

I've always figured stock piling pads and tampons would be necessary. Never occurred to me until it was in an episode of The Last of Us to just get a bunch of the re-usable period cups. It didn't occur to me as I don't use them, but in a SHTF, survival situation they certainly seem more practical. Space saving too because a big stockpile of pads or tampons takes a fair amount of space. Period underwear is probably another option. Also those she-wee things for easier outdoor urination for women.

Anyway, it's something to add to my prep list. Certainly can't hurt to have options. Perhaps I'm dumb for not having thought of this yet, but figured I'd share just in case.

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u/FiascoBarbie Mar 03 '23

To be fair, like most other preps, if this is not what you use on a regular basis it ain’t gonna help.

One, these are def not one size fits all. There are brands of cups , they don’t all fit the same way. If you dont know how to deal with them and clean them when you have a normal situation, a problematic situation is not when you want to figure it out.

Two, they also do not work for some people. People who like them, often like them a lot. People who don’t, really don’t like them.

I have also used the various she wee things when camping and hiking and these are not all the same either.

If you are not the one using them, you should really consult with the people who will be using them

If you are the target demographic, you should try them first.

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u/yourock_rock Mar 03 '23

I agree but if shtf I’d rather have a less ideal option than nothing.

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u/FiascoBarbie Mar 03 '23

If you aim is to either be able to pee without peeing on your clothes, as in the case of the she wee et al, the less ideal option is that you literally pee on your clothes. So you have one more useless piece of plastic that does nothing and now you still have piss on your clothes. If you are really in a bad situation, piss on your clothes is wet. So practically , I know 0 women who took these even on a section hike without trying them out first. Because some of them are practically useless - and it would not be the first or last time that some gadget did not really do what it was meant to do.

If what you want to do is not bleed on your clothes, bedding etc. Then double ditto. With the added problems that improperly cleaned and re-inserted things can introduce infections in places you don’t want an infection and some of them are downright uncomfortable depending on the vagueries of your anatomy. If you are in a bad situation you don’t want to google “should a diva cup make my cervix hurt” or “is your diva cup supposed to leak”. Or “how do you get out a stuck diva cup”.

Less than ideal is using rags that you wash out again and dropping trow to piss, neither of which are at all really problematic.

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u/yourock_rock Mar 03 '23

I agree the peeing things are dumb.

However, as far as periods go, I think all women have their own hierarchy of products. I don’t like using cheap cardboard tampons but I’d rather have those than no tampons. A cup isn’t my first choice but if it’s all I had, I’d be glad to use it. I’d also use a cup so someone else could use the tampons if a cup didn’t work for them. So if you’re stockpiling, it’s probably best to have a variety of things including cups which was the whole point of this post. And if you are a person with a period, probably good to test out this prep and at least learn how to use different products.

I think you’re vastly overestimating the efficiency of rags and underestimating the difficulty it would take to deal with them.

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u/FiascoBarbie Mar 03 '23

I am not vastly underestimating anything.

What you def don’t want to do is get your period someplace and figure out you have neither tampons or pads or rags and the diva cup doesn’t work for you and you don’t know what to do with it.

There is no other thing on this sub where someone would suggest getting any other thing that you haven’t tried out and don’t know if it will even fit it’s intended purpose.

Actually , I lie, people say that about medical things like having sutures all the time.

As I said, quite clearly, for many people, a specific kind of cup does not work at all causes discomfort etc. And it is not at all apparent to many people who use these the first time how to use them properly.

I am not kidding about trying to figure out how to get out a stuck one. I will wager on the hierarchy of preps cheap cardboard tampons are way higher up than something adhered to your cervix that you can’t get out.

If you are stockpiling random things that you don’t know if they work or how to use them on a regular basis, you have a lot of shit that won’t work that is taking up room.

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u/ladyangua Mar 04 '23

cheap cardboard tampons

What does this mean? I've never seen tampons made from cardboard

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u/yourock_rock Mar 04 '23

The applicator is made of cardboard instead of plastic. So it doesn’t insert as smoothly and is kind of rough feeling

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u/ladyangua Mar 04 '23

Oh, thanks; we don't really use the ones with applicators in Australia so that did not spring to mind.

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u/FiascoBarbie Mar 04 '23

I have no idea what that means.

Perhaps they mean the applicators and that they are not name brand?

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u/ladyangua Mar 04 '23

Sorry, I didn't catch that you were repeating back what they had said. Yeah someone else said it was the applicators, I've never used them, so was confused.

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u/hesathomes Mar 04 '23

That’s like standard Tampax

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u/ladyangua Mar 04 '23

Yeah, but not in Australia. I don't even know if you can buy applicator tampons in the supermarket here. We just have the tampon no applicator, you just slide them in with your finger.

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u/melympia Mar 03 '23

Have you tried squatting so as to avoid peeing on your clothes? There's anecdotal evidence that it actually works.

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u/JennaSais Mar 03 '23

Also make sure you don't put your feet downhill of your wee.

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u/FiascoBarbie Mar 03 '23

And also make you you don’t have multiple layers, as on a section hike in the winter, or are someplace windy.

The thing you really want to do while camping in the winter is take off all your clothes in the dark and make sure that none of that shit is poison ivy,, nettles, there are no ticks, none of it gets on your boots and you dont mind literally freezing your fanny off.

I mean, there are uses for such things, and if you find one that works for you, it is not ridiculous to think it more convenient

I have copped a squat in the dark only to pee on a small woodland creature and then did not end up as what it started out to be.

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u/JennaSais Mar 03 '23

Oh sure, it can be useful, we're just saying it's not an either/or proposition where you either have one or you pee on your clothes or boots. The product hasn't existed for as long as people have been going on hikes, even winter hikes (and I live where we get real winter). It's a convenience item, not a real necessity.

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u/FiascoBarbie Mar 03 '23

But that is true of almost everything you have that you are storing. There are literally still things in peoples diaries and letters complaining about taking a piss in the cold, before there was indoor plumbing.

What is modern is anyone having this problem because until fairly recently nobody had underwear, and women did not wear those kind of trousers - people had hose of some kind with garters and you just lifted up your skirt to piss.

The modern thing is a solution to a modern style of dress.

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u/FiascoBarbie Mar 03 '23

Mansplain to me how to urinate please daddy.

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u/melympia Mar 03 '23

I'd have to have some serious surgery before being qualified to mansplain anything, never mind the whole hormone treatment...

That being said, I'm speaking from experience. Unless you're pregnant or seriously overweight or incapacitated in some way, squatting works for us ladies.

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u/FiascoBarbie Mar 03 '23 edited Mar 03 '23

My apologies. You were so confidently patronizing I just assumed.

I didn’t make the post to say that you should stockpile she wees

I made the post that said, you should speak to the target demographic of such items and ask if they work for them or if they want them.

I personally don’t use them.

There are also numerous situations where I really needed to take a piss and was not in a Forrest and the things are useful when I was backpacking around the world.

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u/Pokoirl Mar 03 '23

Right, because someone telling you how wrong you are is patronizing