How to Shit in the Woods

There is a gap in outdoor survival literature. Every book covers water purification, fire-starting, and bear encounters. None of them cover what happens when you’re three miles from the nearest toilet and breakfast has caught up with you.

Kathleen Meyer wrote this book in 1989 because she was tired of pretending the gap didn’t exist. It has sold over a million copies.

The title is, famously, exactly what the book is about. There is no metaphor. There is no self-help subtext. It is a practical, methodical guide to wilderness sanitation, covering everything from cat holes to river crossings to high-altitude considerations.

It is also genuinely well-written. Meyer treats her subject with the seriousness it deserves, which turns out to be a great deal of seriousness. The environmental stakes are real. The logistics are real. The humor is dry and earned.

The book is in its fourth edition. Every year, new hikers buy it, look at the cover, laugh, and then bring it on every camping trip for the rest of their lives.