Comments on: For outdoorsy gals: an FUD nonreview

By: Gail Storey

Gail Storey — Wed, 19 May 2010 17:47:19 +0000

Fabulous post, and great comments! I used the Freshette to bicycle cross-country from Maine to San Diego, as well as to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, and find it super-easy to go modestly by roadside or trail just by slipping it up under a bike-short or hiking-short leg. Also find it easy to pull down the waistband of tights as long as behind a tree. ;-D I lost my first Freshette hiking the Appalachian Trail, and was truly distraught, so now keep a spare. I’ve used the Whiz too, nice for drip-dry. I hear ya on the occasional misfire backwards, but most of the time it works great. The angle matters, so maybe that’s why it’s harder to use for rock climbing?

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 19 May 2010 02:09:21 +0000

I wrote to Patagonia as well. If anyone else would like to help convince them to bring back Bombay Fly pants, here is the link to contact Patagonia. Thanks for the suggestions, I think I'm going to hand-altar my pants to just make things so much simpler. I mean, who wants to risk using a FUD and dribbling pee down her legs, OR expose her nice warm insulated butt to the freezing/windy/snowy elements not to mention male climbing mates, OR mess around with unbuckling harnesses, taking off top layers (for bib and suspender pants), and all that crud? C'mon clothing manufacturers, we need a better option! You've got paying customers here, now give us something worth buying!

By: Annie

Annie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:25:31 +0000

I’ve been using a Freshette for ice climbing and rock climbing. Luckily I have Patagonia Mix Mistress ice climbing pants with a bombay fly (full fly from the front the the back waist band) With those marvelous pants I wear Patagonia’s long underwear, also designed with a crotch that opens fully front to back. I understand from a guide at Chicks with picks that slitting her older long underwear right along the same seam, front to back made no difference in how warm she felt nor did she feel drafts, so you have that option. When rock climbing I do not have a bombay fly and since I’m wearing just one layer it is easy to open the conventional fly or with elastic waist band of my usual pants, just shove the fabric down/aside and the Freshette fits fine.

I suggest that all you women do what I did and pressure your favorite recreational clothing manufacturer to make bombay flies on their outdoor wear, particularly the pants designed for cold weather adventures. When I wrote to Patagonia because I simply couldn’t believe they would discontinue the Mix Mistress they said there simply wasn’t a demand for the bombay crotch. Furthermore they specified that Euro women definitely were not interested, which made it hard for them to continue to produce this style! If enough of us ask for it, they’ll bring it back.

Meanwhile, another option that several Chicks with Picks guides have seamstresses put full crotch zips in their outer wear and find that quite workable.

By: Chicks Climbing

Chicks Climbing — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:05:12 +0000

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By: Lindsey Lindsey — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:23:37 +0000 I love Freshette– give it another try. Really. Remove that pesky clear tube-y thing– you probably won’t need it. Stick that bad boy on and hold it up against you tight. I go out on the tractor on our farm all the time, etc, and sometimes in the cold don’t feel like baring my tail even though there probably wouldn’t be anyone looking (and if they did, hey it’s the country and chicks out here gotta go like anyone else, so who cares). Anyhoo, I SWEAR by both this one and the Whiz (sold by the UK but they ship to US and it’s inexpensive). The Whiz is durable and firm silicone and drips dry- no need to worry about it being leaky in your purse or backpack- and as you know the Freshette is super-awesome because it’s like a hard shell and won’t buckle if you hold it a little tighter by accident. I have the Go-Girl as well, it’s cool but not as much for tighter or semi-public going when you are a novice because it is very flexible and (imo) way bigger than it needs to be. I hope Go-Girl makes a hard-shell version in the future but I love what these companies are doing: making something kinda taboo into a normally accepted practice. Gets the chicks out there on the blue-collar road jobs, outdoor sports, and outta the potty lines (I personally think long lines in the ladies’ are due to 1. little kids in there with momma, 2. older ladies who have arthritis but feel they have to wear support hose under their pants with belts anyway, 3. that friggin time of the month, and 4. changing clothes (wtf, I’d rather them do it by the sink than make me wait in line). So yeah, I’m passionate about the right of women to take care of their needs as easily and quickly as men, whether they wanna stand up or prefer to squat. It sounds like with your hobbies it might be a good idea to give the funnel another ‘go’. Ahahaha I’m on fire….