Mike Cecot-Scherer has designed more things in the outdoor industry than you can shake a well-designed poop trowel at. He’s been an in-house and freelance designer of tents for decades at some of the biggest outdoor brands in the world. He also runs his own side business at The Tent Lab, designing and selling stuff that doesn’t directly compete with his paying clients.
One of those things is The Deuce, a clever, light, and strong poop trowel.
Cecot-Scherer is both a big believer in Leave No Trace principles, and a design and physics expert who puts a ton of thought into stuff he designs. The Deuce, besides being light and strong, is specifically meant to make digging catholes easier and more effective. The handle is fashioned to be used almost like a saw to penetrate soil, then cut it out. Then, flipped in the hand, the blade of the trowel scoops below the outline cut into the soil and, presto, big chunk of soil is removed. This is the same technique you might use to dig a big hole in compact ground: break up the soil in the pattern of hole you wanna dig, then scoop out the broken up chunks. Brilliant.
The Deuce comes in three sizes, #1, #2, and #3, in corresponding order from smallest to biggest. Cecot-Scherer says the #2 is their most popular, weighing it at just over half an ounce.
He makes some very informative videos showing how the trowel was designed and this one, below, maybe the best “how to dig a cathole” video ever made. Oscar-worthy.
The Deeper You Dig, The Deeper You Get
bravo
Awesome
“#2 is their most popular”…teehee!
This tool requires care and technique to use properly, or you risk bending it and deforming the soft metal. This won’t encourage or enable folks who don’t care to clean up after themselves, to care about their messes; it won’t make the act of pooping outdoors more convenient, rather it will add more complexity to a practice that some folks are already avoiding.
Aluminum is softer than the rocky materials he is encountering in his example. Mineral soil is going to chew up the working portions of this device and than you’ll have a saw….but, you can sharpen it. Great.
And then, it will get bent while prying and you can toss it in the recycle bin and buy another. Seems like it’s solving something….I guess.
i like those lightweight, basic cheap orange plastic shovels. dig the hole, stick the shovel in the ground next to it and use the handle as a vertical TP holder. all is good.
I’ve had a Deuce for a number of years, but never used the top of the handle properly. I actually put some duct tape on the top edge to be able to dig with the wide side more easily, thanks for the correction! Hasn’t bent or broken by the way after use in OR, CA, AK, WY. Also, it’s not about making pooping outdoors more convenient, it’s about LNT and not contaminating the local water and the local wildlife. Which came first to the wilderness, Giardia or backpackers? Backpackers!
I’ve owned and used “the deuce of spades” (now called #2) for years now and I had to put some duct tape on top of the handle; digging hard ground was cutting into my hand, and the tape made it easier to dig with. Also, since a small group of folks will actually read this comment, here’s a trick from someone who has lived in the woods extensively – you know when your butt gets itchy from sweat and dirt after days on the trail? Put some Burt’s Bees lip balm on some TP apply it right on the bullseye. This works so well, I proactively dab a little balm on there before hitting the trail for extended periods. It saved me from a lot of trail misery on a 2-week backcountry trip in WY this past Fall.
Happy pooping!
Got a video for that? 😉