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GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel

$4.95

(11)

Item # 799009

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Follow proper Leave No Trace™ principles by using the GSI Cathole sanitation trowel on your backpacking trips.

Trowel is made from repurposed GSI polycarbonate food and beverage products that were pulled from the shelves over growing concerns about the chemical BPA
Serrated edges make for easy digging in hard soil
Leave No Trace™ guidelines are molded into the back of the trowel so you'll always remember to tread lightly
1% of sales support Leave No Trace™
Comes in assorted colors only; sorry, specific color requests cannot be accommodated

Imported.

Item 799009

View all GSI Outdoors products

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GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel Customer Reviews

REVIEW SNAPSHOT®

by PowerReviews

GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel

4.4

(based on 11 reviews)

100%

of respondents would recommend this to a friend.

Pros

Effective (9)
Lightweight (8)
Well built / quality (5)
Good instructions / manual (4)
Simple to use (4)

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry camping (4)
Camping (4)
Backpacking (3)

- Reviewer Profile:
- Casual do-it-yourselfer (3)
- Primary use:
- Personal (4)

Reviewed by 11 customers

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Displaying reviews 1-10

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Feb

2013

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Strong trowel

By Reitveld

from Kansas City, MO

About Me Casual Do-It-Yourselfer

See all my reviews

Pros

Lightweight
Strong

Cons

Best Uses

Camping
Hiking

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

Strong and works well

Comment on this review

Nov

2012

(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

the last shovel you'll ever buy

By carpediemkath

from Tucson, AZ

See all my reviews

Pros

Lightweight
Strong
Works Effectively

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

I may have used every trowel out there and this is the one I like best. It's much stronger than the old orange ones; I've abused mine for over a year now and it still hasn't cracked. I like the green color which is much less obvious than the orange, and I like that it's made from recycled material. It's simple and has no moving parts to malfunction or break; it has no itty bitty plastic parts that can get lost in the woods. Most importantly: it's inexpensive, lightweight and reliable.

Comment on this review

Sep

2012

3.0

It Works, Butt...

By Tom the Dude

from Heaven, Colorado

About Me Avid Do-It-Yourselfer

See all my reviews

Pros

Affordable
Lightweight

Cons

Breakable
Weak

Best Uses

Digging A Hole

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

This worked well for three weeks straight with no problems. My next trip I woke up the next morning and in a hurry went to dig a hole in some reasonably soft Rocky Mountain soil, rocky but loose, and the shovel broke. I'm sure I hit a rock which broke it but it seemed too easy still. It's not a bad shovel and will take care of you if you take care of it but I'd rather go with a collapsable metal shovel to avoid a repeat.

Comment on this review

Aug

2012

(2 of 3 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Even better cut in half!!

By JesseN

from Chatsworth, CA

About Me Casual Do-It-Yourselfer

See all my reviews

Pros

Lightweight
Strong
Works Effectively

Cons

Best Uses

Backpacking
LNT

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

This trowel is about as light as the come at 90 grams, but I still got heat from my fellow ultralight backpackers for carrying a trowel. That was until I took a hack saw and cut off the handle. It now weighs only 1.4 oz, which I'm willing to tolerate, especially since there's no telling when nature will call and sometimes I don't want to waste time looking for a decent rock to dig a cat hole. If anything, I'd say it works better without the handle. I even drilled a hole in the top for a loop of cord to hang it on my pack.

Comment on this review

Apr

2012

(1 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Simple and Effective Tool

By Michael Z

from Dallas, TX

About Me Avid Do-It-Yourselfer

See all my reviews

Pros

Lightweight
Strong
Works Effectively

Cons

Best Uses

Backpacking
Camping

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

I have used this tool while day hiking and backpacking. It works very well in soft soil. I really like the depth measurement molded right into the plastic. The serrated edges work well at cutting through small roots.

It does about as well as can be expected on hard and rocky soil. I'm pleased that it did not chip or break when trying to cut into rocky soil. It seems pretty durable based on these experiences.

Service and delivery comments:

I ordered it thinking it would be green since the picture was green and there were no color options. When it arrived, it was pink. Maybe it was red, but against the light it looked pink. I took it to my local REI and exchanged it for green. They, as always, exchanged it without a hassle. I just wish they would either send green or offer color choices as they do with many products.

Comment on this review

Feb

2012

(6 of 6 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Right Price, Durable

By The Happy Heathen

from Boulder, CO

About Me Casual Do-It-Yourselfer

See all my reviews

Pros

Lightweight
Works Effectively

Cons

Best Uses

Pooping

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

There are other shovels, they cost more and they weigh more.

Comment on this review

Feb

2012

(2 of 2 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

You can't break it

By zalsentzer

from North Carolina

About Me Professional

See all my reviews

Pros

Lightweight
Strong
Works Effectively

Cons

Best Uses

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

Won't break. Serrated edges dig through stubborn soil. Lightweight, and readily modified with a drill and/or dremmel if you want to trim off extra grams. This is a fantastic backcountry trowel, and you'd be hard pressed to find a more reliable and well-designed piece of equipment for under $5! In fact, this little digger is probably the best tool of its kind unless you spend 10x as much on a titanium, and even then its close... Great gear, thanks GSI!

Comment on this review

Jul

2011

(4 of 4 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

It digs holes!

By Been

from SoCal

About Me Casual/ Recreational

See all my reviews

Pros

Clear Instructions
Easy To Pack
Effective
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

Unlike the orange ones everybody is familiar with, people won't be able to spot you walking from camp with this in your pocket and know exactly what you're up to. It's also a little more rigid than those orange ones.

Comment on this review

May

2011

(3 of 3 customers found this review helpful)

4.0

Great Trowel!

By ShrubLover

from GA

About Me Casual/ Recreational

See all my reviews

Pros

Clear Instructions
Effective
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping
Campgrounds

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

This trowel beats the folding ones by not folding. Also it has a ruler and instructions that stay with the trowel. Love it for being recycled as well.

Comment on this review

Jun

2010

(12 of 13 customers found this review helpful)

5.0

Much better than orange trowel

By LeonardPDX

from Portland, OR

About Me Avid Adventurer

See all my reviews

Pros

Clear Instructions
Easy To Pack
Effective
Simple To Use

Cons

Best Uses

Backcountry Camping
Day Trips

Comments about GSI Outdoors Cathole Sanitation Trowel:

I am a Leave No Trace Master Educator. This is such a great improvement over the orange trowel. We would get many complaints about that one breaking, and difficulty in rocky soil, or many small roots. This one works so much better, and less than 5 bucks. We give it to all our LNT Trainers who take our course.