Caves and Compression Tights: Sarah’s Stand-to-Pee Story

Sarah uses a pStyle pee funnel in no less than FIVE areas of her life! She’s a caver; she does field work for a conservation nonprofit; she does search-and-rescue; she takes road trips; and due to lipedema in her legs, she wears compression tights that are tricky to pull up and down. She shared some of her adventures and her thoughts on the pStyle with me.

What’s your story, and why the pStyle?

So, caving, especially in the west, the caves are a lot more sensitive and there’s not very much water in them. The ecosystem is delicate and you HAVE to remove your waste. You always have to have some way to pee into a bottle. Cavers have known about pee funnels for ages, we just hated them. People would carry kitchen funnels! But it’s a field that’s historically been dominated by people who can biologically stand to pee.

I did some dissertation research that was focused on caves, and I was going caving every weekend. I went through a whole bunch of different pee funnels at that time. I tried the GoGirl, because that was all the rage at the time, and the SheWee, and there was a third one I can’t remember. They were all the kinds that were enclosed with the tube instead of the open scoop style. They weren’t great. 

In 2012, I was scoping some sites for a potential post-doc, and I was in the jungle, and I didn’t want to leave my tent at night. I brought the GoGirl. And I will tell you what: I peed all over myself and my sleeping pad multiple times on that trip because I could not get it to work properly! It was around then that I started looking for additional pee funnels.

Then by 2013 I found the pStyle.

So it was mostly through caving that I started using a pStyle, but then I was like, “I don’t want to leave my tent in the jungle at night, so I’m gonna use it here!” And progressively I realized it had a lot of benefits in a lot of different contexts.

I moved back to Arizona, rejoined the search-and-rescue team that I’d been on before, and I was like, “This is great, I don’t have to take my pack off!” I started doing rope rescue, cave rescue, and I was like, “Fantastic! I don’t have to take my harness off.” And even some people with the biological equipment to pee standing up have to take off their harnesses to pee. So big benefit for me there. 

And I have to wear compression tights, full-length, waist-high compression tights for lipedema, a connective tissue disorder that causes swelling. If I’m at home it’s not a big deal, but pulling those tights up—if you have a hang nail, you can just rip the tights. If I’m at home I can use gloves. But if I’m out and about, a pee funnel is so much easier! You don’t have to pull them down and pull them all the way back up.

What was it like when you first learned to use the pStyle?

So I think I probably practiced first, because it’s always good to practice. But I think around 2013, for my mountain rescue team, we were recertifying snow and ice rescue. It was an all-day thing. I remember walking away from the group and being like, okay, let me think. I’m wearing long underwear, a fleece onesie, other fleece pants, and then my rain pants over that. So I’ve got four layers on and I really have to pee! And the fleece onesie was in the middle, it was custom made for me, it had a slot you could open. And if I wanted to take off that fleece suit, I would have to take off two layers on top, pull off the fleece suit--and I was like, I hope this pStyle works for this!

And it did! Because of the stiff plastic, it worked through all those layers of clothing. I went off, I peed, and I came right back. I didn’t get cold, and I didn’t have to open all my pants and shirts and everything. So that was one of my first pStyle-specific memories, where I was like, this thing is the best!

How did having a stand-to-pee device impact your life?

Privacy. That was the big thing. Being able to pee anywhere. Like a lot of time I do field work in caves, and you might be just around the corner from your caving group. And I live in the desert. There’s not a lot of cover! So I’m just able to turn my back and pee, instead of hiking over the hill and down into the next drainage so I’m private from people.

Was there ever a time when you were SUPER glad to have your pStyle?

I’m still mostly a sit-to-pee person at home, but if I’m having trouble with my compression tights—like they’re a tighter weave—I’ll just use a pStyle. But honestly I’m not very good at peeing into a toilet. I need to get some pointers. I try to pee off to the side so it splashes in the right direction, but I don’t know how dudes do it! [Laughs] I always feel like I get splashback!

In Southern Arizona, we do have a lot of people focused on rainwater capture and water recycling, so I have been thinking about an outdoor toilet that has a urine diverter. You can sit or stand, but there’s no water in the bowl, so standing is probably easier without that splashback. And then it diverts it out to the landscape. I’ve been wanting to install one, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. I would probably use a pee funnel there so I don’t have to worry about people walking by my yard in the alley.

Have people ever been surprised, or reacted strongly, when you used it? Have you told friends?

I always wonder about this when I pull over by the side of the road! [Laughs] I’m a very obviously curvy person, and if I’m peeing by the side of the road standing up, I’m always wondering about the cars driving by, what they’re thinking! 

But for the most part, people are actually really excited. They’re like, “Oh wow, that was a quick pee break! Did you not have to take off your harness?” I’m just like: “Let me tell you about the pStyle.” And now a bunch of people on my search-and-rescue team actually use the pStyle too.  

I’m kind of new to the disability community, and I see people post online, “Oh, I can’t take my compression tights off because I had surgery, how do I pee?” And I like to suggest, “Here’s the pStyle!” It may not work for everyone, but pulling down compression tights is hard! You pull them down halfway through the day and they don’t come all the way back up. And it’s a $13 device that can save you ripping a $100 pair of compression tights.

What would you say to people who are afraid to try the pStyle?

Just try it where there’s low consequences. Try it in the shower. 

Literally the first time a person is with me outdoors, and I just go down the trail with my backpack still on and pee, they’re just like, I’m sold! [Laughs] They’re over it, whatever the concern was.

Based on your experiences, what hurdles do you see to getting pee funnels to be more widely accepted?

The fact that it doesn’t collapse is the only drawback. I’m not really a purse carrier, or I just have a little purse with me. I would use it more, out and about, if I could fit it well in my little purse. So that’s maybe one barrier to more people adopting them.

Bonus Question: What is your favorite color for a pStyle?

For a long time I was mostly a clear person, because I was worried about dyes and anything extra down in my nethers. [pStyle no longer carries clear pStyles] But now I’m into the recycled ocean plastic one. That dark green one.  

Anything else you want to share?

I love the cases! What I do at the end of the trip is just chuck the case—with the pStyle in it—in the washing machine! That wears the case down a little faster though. But if I’m gone on a multiday trip, or in a place where I can’t flick the funnel to clean it (like a cave), I don’t even bother wiping the pStyle down. I just put it back in the case, and I make sure I’m not touching the pStyle to anything. It just touches me and then the bag. And then I wash it all!

It’s the flexibility not to have to worry or plan where you’re going to pee. Just pee wherever. It’s so integrated into my life now that I rarely pee without it. I have a special place for it in my caving gear and in my tent. I’m so grateful for it!

Thank you Sarah!  Here’s a link to information on caving (caves.org) and search-and-rescue (mra.org).  You can get a pStyle here. For my evaluation of the pStyle, check out What’s the Best Pee Funnel? Have a stand-to-pee story you want to share? gostandingup@gmail.com