Gear Review: Pibella Stand to Pee Device

Do you need one? YES.

A few years ago I was backpacking the Tour Du Mont Blanc with my dad. It is stunning, and hence, quite a popular route. If you are lucky, maybe you will go 15 minutes without seeing a fellow hiker or mountain biker. Additionally, due to the whole circling Mont Blanc thing, most of it is at altitude and therefore quite exposed. Perhaps you can already see where this is leading.

My dad, being a cis dude, was able to take one step off the trail (I am not recommending this behavior) and do his thing in a matter of seconds, with nary a soul to see his nether regions for the entirety of the trip.

Oh, how furious this fact made me, as every day I bared my glowing white backside for half of Switzerland to see, after fruitless searching for a rock big enough to hide behind. I stopped taking off my pack in order to decrease the amount of time I was spending doing the whole wiz business. I was literally biding my time for a moment when no one was within sight, madly dashing off trail, squating and peeing with all of my might, and dashing back. Did people see my butt? Yes. Did I fall and roll downhill more than once with my pants not fully on due to the weight of my pack while I squatted? Yes. Was it humiliating? I mean, yes, as I am not really in the business of freely entertaining others with views of my tumbling fluorescent behind, thank you very much.

After this trip, I was 100% determined to never ever repeat that experience. I wanted to be able to pee, standing up, pack on, butt safely inside pants where it prefers to be.

Enter the Pibella.

My life is forever changed, folx. It’s been about five years now, and me and the OG Pibella are still going strong. My rear end has not seen the sun or a nettle sting in a long time and for that I am so grateful.

Pros of having an STP device (if you do not have one on your own body):

The aforementioned not-worrying-about-showing-your-butt-to-the-world thing. I don’t think there is anything wrong with butts, or showing them - it’s just nice to have the choice of when and how you do so.
Avoiding squatting-related dangers, including but not limited to: your butt touching a plant you wish it hadn’t touched, splashing on your person or clothes, or taking a tumble/roll under a heavy pack.
Not having to take off your pack
If it is cold, not having to completely disrobe. I particularly like this facet for skiing.
The ability to pee more quickly and in less covered places than you would be able to squat.
Being able to pee in the car on a road trip, if need be.
For me, and maybe for some other trans, nonbinary, GNC, intersex, etc, folx out there, it gives the option to use the men’s room more discreetly. Where I currently live is not a very diverse place, and I am generally, due to my hair and clothes, clocked as male. The stress of being chased out of the women’s room is real, peeps. So, sometimes I just use the men’s room to avoid the hassle. Have I seen and smelled things beyond what I would ever wish? Yes. But, pick your poison! In other news, can we please have more gender neutral bathrooms? Whose idea was it to make everyone pee and poop in one small room anyways? Nasty stuff!

Here are the top pros of the Pibella as a STP device:

Closed top: I have a friend who is a fan of the pStyle and I would be interested to give it a go, but the open topped nature of it seemed to me to be flirting with danger. I wanted something where the risk of an overflow was minimal.
Price: when I bought the pibella it was $11. The price has increased since then, but it is still affordable.
Weight and size: Because my main hobbies are backpacking, bikepacking, and cross-country skiing, lightweight, small and packable were all very important factors to me. The Pibella ticks all those boxes. It comes in a little zippy bag that both keeps it from getting dirty and stops you from getting wiz all in your bag.
Easy to use: I mean, fair warning, you either really have to know where everything is down there or practice at home several times before your adventures. I made the mistake of going full hog and it was not a good choice. Since then though, it has been many years of easy, quick, dry-panted use! It does seem to naturally fit where it is supposed to.
Easy to clean: You can safely boil or machine wash this.
There is another Pibella that you can also use lying down. It attaches into a bag so you can use it in a sleeping bag. This seems like a great thing, and also a very scary thing. I will have to try it out.
Discreet: It’s in it’s little nondescript bag which kind of looks like a little pencil case, and the thing itself just looks like a small tube. No one would guess what it is unless they have one, too.

Cons of the Pibella:

Gendering and weird website: Fair warning, this website looks like it was made in 1990 by the inventor of Jazzercise. The whole thing is very gendered and not really hip in any way to the modern age, so if you find that triggering - search elsewhere.
Ok, that is really my only con. However, it may be worth noting that the Pibella is not something you can store in your pants. Pocket sure, underpants, no. So, if it aligns more with your identity or just feels better to you to “pack” it, a different STP would be a better choice.

All in all I give this a 9/10. If you are looking for one tiny and cheap gear piece to save your pants and your dignity, then I highly recommend the Pibella.