UKC

Whoever the Phantom Pisser is at The Works, may i congratulate you on last night's effort! You sprayed around the far urinal like a true champion, such that when i went in I nearly aquaplaned arse-over-t*t. My ruggedised trainers were no match for you.

Incredible work.

I was thinking I might go back to the works some time as it's been a while. Is The Phantom a regular?

This must be a contender for the most pointless thread ever on UKC. 

Aimless surely

Jk

Yeah. 

Just p***ing up the wall. 

Think I saw the guilty party ... he squelched out the building in a dark Sprayway jacket.

In an environment where footwear commonly worn to the 'restroom' will then be applied to something on which many people will then place their hands, your evident tolerance of poor hygiene is surprising.

Even if people change footwear to use the rest room, walking piss around the carpets is going to transfer to rock shoes.

I can't believe I'm replying, but had a rubbish day and feeling argumentative so... 

I'm not denying it's gross, but do you honestly thinking posting on the Internet about it is going to do anything? Do you genuinely belive its 1 gross person every time, who is fully aware they are doing it, and are then likely to read this and think "OK this has gone on long enough. I'm going to stop now" 

Having had the dubious pleasure of a phantom pooer leaving tidy parcels behind the bowl nothing would surprise me from climbers.

If the alternative you propose is to be quiet on the issue then 'yes', given how much urine is being walked around climbing walls and on to surfaces we all touch with our hands, and given these same climbing walls serve drinks, I think poor hygiene should be a significant topic of consideration.

What I came across last night was gross and genuinely made me reluctant to boulder knowing I'd be touching holds that.......🤢

I scrubbed my hands on leaving the wall and on entry to my own house.

Can you move this thread to Down The Pub Toilet.

I'm going to reframe the issue I'm raising; if you were a wildswimmer in UK rivers, or a surfer in UK seas, would you be motivated to protest the sewage that Water companies release untreated in to our waterways?

Indoor climbing hygiene is analogous.

I really don't think it is.

Hmmm. That's exactly what The Phantom would say. 🤔

Obviously repulsive and the phantom pisser should be stopped if possible, but is there any actual evidence to say that this is a realistic health hazard?

I was brought up to wash my hands after going to the restroom. There are stickers in restrooms advising the same. One supposes that this is predicated on it being a realistic health hazard.

I certainly balk at using a restroom door handle should someone exit before me without washing their hands.

I've never been particularly keen on the word 'restroom' as a euphemism for toilet.  But it's worse than usual in the case of the Works where the men's toilet is most definitely a toilet.  Nobody in their right mind would go in there for a rest, even during a cold snap when it's the only place in there that isn't sub-zero.

(BTW: The flaw with your water company analogy is that they're discharging sewerage into rivers for profit, not just for fun.)

I've definitely climbed indoors in the same shoes that I'm sure I've stood in sheep shit in. Sometimes I'll give them a going over with a toothbrush and some fairy liquid if they're particularly dirty but otherwise I'm sure squeaking your boots on your trouser leg to get the grit off or rubbing some spit into them and rubbing them with manky beer towels offers minimal protection from bacteria. 

When I worked at a wall we had someone from a group who had all got noro phone up and say it was because the holds were dirty and we should be regularly going around bleaching them!

I think trying to keep shoes and holds sanitary is a battle you'll never win. Better to wash or sanitise your hands before you eat your sandwich.

My 'angle' was specifically about spending leisure time in effluent.

From the responses above, it appears that any concern about this issue is not widespread. 

Indeed, and releasing sewage into rivers can and does cause long term damage to river and marine life, and to users of those waters.

Pissing against the wall at your local climbing centre is unpleasant and unnecessary, but it's not a large scale environmental concern causing real damage to the local flora and fauna.

Also, it could have just been a kid.  Kids make mistakes, it's ok. 

It's not either/or. Why not also encourage:

- Handwashing on exiting a restroom?

- Not wearing climbing shoes to the restroom ?

- Getting men to 'focus' on their aim a bit more?

I suppose signs on the doors about wearing climbing shoes wouldn't go amiss. You see similar in bowling alleys. Having visible signage allows people to more easily challenge certain behaviours. 

As for the other stuff, people know they're not supposed to piss on the floor and are meant to wash their hands after going to the loo. I see little point in a campaign for raising awareness of this any more than any other selfish things people do on the reg.   

I'm sure many of us have had an uncomfortable moment when stepping over an electric fence. Perhaps an enterprising engineer, could cover the toilet surround in tin foil and then attach it to some sort of tazer unit. I expect that 10kv down one's todger might improve peoples aim. I cant really see any downside, apart from the jump reflex, which could, on reflection, make the problem worse.

How do you know the pisser isn't profiting? 

Edit because strikethrough tags don't work

Second edit because it reminded me of this, very clearly NSFW: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troughman

Yes, may I reach out to everyone and implore them please, please not to propagate the use of this Americanism. Biners and lockers are just a bit annoying, but restroom is plain wrong.

Rather out of order to try shaming the venue publicly rather than simply alerting a member of staff so that it can be dealt with quickly. Of all the years enjoying the place i’ve never witnessed this myself. Think you ought to be ashamed of yourself tbh

I'm loving your drama! Very measured. FFS.

It's the men with poor hygiene that are the problem, not the venue.

“It's the men with poor hygiene that are the problem, not the venue.”

Yep. You got there eventually

That's a touch extreme. In some  urinals there used to be a 'fly' glazed onto the porcelain for 'Percy' to be pointed at. Life was so much nicer in the good old days.

Which doesn't absolve an establishment from the responsibility of maintaining standards. 

So..did you have a word with a staff member? Maybe you expect a permanent toilet attendant on busy evenings?

you seem new to life in planet earth

Why more so than peeing? When I poo I normally have no need to touch any possibly insanitary part of my anatomy, let alone get any poo on my fingers. The same is not true of peeing. I think this is maybe just knee jerk yuck factor. I think if you wash for one you should probably wash for the other.

If we’re talking about annoying Americanisms surely “reach out” is up there with the worst?!

Or was that the joke and it’s gone right over head, as usual!

The rule about using the term 'Reach out' is as per the attached photo:

What do you want them to do, hold people's knobs? If things got messy, tell them and I'm sure they'll clean it up. 

Urine itself is sterile, and if the front of your anatomy harbours the kind of bacteria your gut has, it's probably about to fall off. I feel hand washing after a piss is more social construct, as in not having other people indirectly touching your junk.

In theory you're right with the pooing because the paper should act as a barrier.
However, there's always the times when the paper tears, or you misjudge the task in hand and get a bit of overflow...

is it you?

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!

That really made me laugh, thanks for that! 

It was.

Too subtle for me that!

That one doesn't bother me in the slightest, funnily enough. 

But if anyone who just discovered that the men's bog is awash (again) is planning to 'reach out' to the staff about it, please do make sure you wash your hands first!

I think my particular dislike for that comes from unsolicited sales emails, literally every one I get has some kind of over familiar greeting from someone I’ve never met with that phrase in there somewhere…

Because fecal matter makes you ill, whereas a bit of wee doesn't. I wouldn't bank on nothing nasty making it through a few layers of toilet paper. There was a study done recently to see what happens when surgeons fart when in scrubs. A surprising amount of bacteria and actual poo particles made it through. 

Faecal News!!

I quite like having a little sit-down in there while taking a piss at work - a micro-rest, at least

What a lovely thought 🤣

I think it would help if men’s toilets didn’t have urinals. It’s hard to keep them clean at the best of times (though a new urinal / toilet which is cleaned regularly tends to encourage people to be more respectful). Of course some men piss all over toilet seats…

How does that work with anal sex?

I'd much rather use a urinal as opposed to a toilet as you don't have to touch anything.

A shower, generally! :-P

If you're not touching anything when you piss I think we may have found the culprit.

Agreed.

One overlooked aspect of my OP was that my trainers slipped in the urine. I only just saved myself from landing on my arse. This could have been quite nasty if not fatal, had I hit my head on either a urinal on the way down, or on the floor.

Given the danger, is it time to introduce the E grading system in to the UK's indoor climbing scene?

If so, could we now have a contender for Britain's SECOND E0?

May be that’s why some people wear their climbing shoes to the bog, better grip. 

Yes it could be a kid, or a someone with a disability, or maybe someone left their glasses behind. I’m not condoning it but I often find myself defending my 7yr old’s poor aim to my wife. 

Of all the concerns I've ever had climbing - or even on a climbing wall - worrying that the hold I'm about to grasp, was last used by someone who held his todger while having a wee, simply doesn't register. Not a flicker. 

Have i invented the 'wetpoint'? 🤔

(There's a further toilet gag around 'drytooling', but I'm still working on it)

Most people wash their hands. The main point raised in this thread is that if the floor is unsanitary and people go to the loo in their climbing shoes, some vestiges will end up on the holds. Not a big concern as you say and it’s down to the individual to wash hands before eating / leaving but it would be good if it wasn’t an issue.

One of many reasons why walls would be better if they didn’t allow under 18s… Not that this is ever going to happen, given the family pound.

Beta flush

Are you American?

If I need a rest, I sit or lie down, pretty much anywhere.

If I need a pee, I go specifically to the toilet.

The day I worry about minute traces of residual urine is the day I start wearing a mask and a hazmat suit at all times.

Or better flush. 

...and stop using cash, opening doors, using public transport or, in fact, leaving the house or touching anything in public ever again.