Glastonbury: Did you find the Peequal female urinals?

[Daisydoesnt]

If you went to Glastonbury this year, did you find the Peequal female urinals? There were some near the Pyramid stage although there might have been others. Not smelly, hardly ever a queue, quick to use, oh and did I mention not smelly? They are nothing to do with me (this is not an ad) but having been dreading the thought of the disgusting Glasto loos they were a complete and utter game changer. They will be at other festivals this summer so look out for them!!

Women's urinal inventors

@Daisydoesnt People either get it or they don't. Well done for not losing your shit and swearing at everyone by now 😂🤣

How do you ever escape from the crush of the crowds at a performance to even find a toilet or female urinal in time?

Acts are on for different lengths of time - Diana Ross was only on stage for an hour, Elbow were on for 90mins I think? But in between there’s usually a good hour gap or longer, so you just go then. And to be honest unless you’re right up the front there’s loads of room (except for the really big acts - Billie Eilish was rammed). Think enough room to sit on the floor, on blankets, some people have camping chairs (I kid you not). You can work your way out and back in again if you need to, or go before it starts.

The coverage you see on the bbc is a bit misleading because the crowd cameras are right at the front. For the pyramid stage the audience are probably spread out over twenty acres, but the camera just shows busy crowds over the first 20 feet.

@MargotMoon I’m not even usually very patient!

This is peak mumsnet.

OP references a new invention which provides a quicker, lower carbon way for some people to pee at a festival - should they want to, rather than using the existing offering of long drop or composting toilets.

Mumsnet response? Obsessively concerned about perverts and wheelchair access. Declares that the inventors should be ashamed of themselves.

I think they look great.

So you’d just make a mental note of where your mates are and go for a wee! Unless you’re right at the very very front there’s loads of space to walk out to the loo 😊

So you’d just make a mental note of where your mates are and go for a wee! Unless you’re right at the very very front there’s loads of space to walk out to the loo

Or maybe pass your mates your big bendy flag, make it easier to find them again?

I did wonder how people watching Paul McCartney were getting on with his hours long set.

I'm still team sofa though-thoroughly enjoyed watching it all from there.

Well, they're not for me, cuz I can't but I think they're a great idea!

As for the whatabouters..

Camera over the top - assuming someone has managed to get into a managed toilet area, evade the people managing it, and got out a phone, they'll be able to film a wobbly shot of the top of someones head, from that angle you'll see absolutely fuck all unless the person in there does a hand stand which, even at Glastonbury, I doubt they'll be doing.

No door - again, you have to go up a couple of steps and turn left to see anything, time enough to shout 'oi piss off' - its a managed area, these are designed for managed areas. It isn't going to happen except by accident in which case the accidental intruder will piss off before seeing a thing.

Can't squat, won't squat - fine, they're not for you, use of the options that is.

But for the people they ARE for.. they're great, they take the pressure off the other options, they involve less lorry trips, they're a great ADDITIONAL option and if I were able to use one, I would.

@WiddlinDiddlin yes exactly

The thing is, 80% of the loos at Glastonbury are the green blocks of long drops - they are open at the top and bottom. They are unisex. They are all over the place, next to the camping, by walkways, near the stages. There are people milling about, queuing. If someone wanted to take a photo they do it there, although there are literally hundreds of thousands of people walking about so it’s hardly a perverts paradise.

The female urinals: the blocks were in a separate area behind canvas walls. Even when you are in that area, you cannot be seen whilst you are going, you are tucked round behind a screen. When you are stood up (pulling clothes up and down) the top of your head can be seen so they can see there’s someone in the cubicle.

Its a festival, they’re pretty rudimentary. It’s not like a trip to a spa.

I wouldn’t like to remove my pants/trousers in an open cubicle. Why on Earth dot they have doors?

No good for me, I always think I need a wee and end up pooing. I agree with pp- surely adding a few quid to the ticket price and having plenty of attendants cleaning toilets constantly would be better.

I go to a one day festival every year, and pay an extra £25 or so for access to the better loos. They have attendants there directing the queue and cleaning constantly. It’s a absolute game changer if you have bowel urgency issues or heavy periods.

I like the sound of them if I were ever at a festival never going to happen. Bladder issues mean I have to pee all the time, so anything quick and simple sounds good. My only concern is privacy, but OP’s explanation makes sense. For those worried about pee on their trousers, I recommend grabbing the top of the trousers and pulling it forward as you squat.

These are so great and such a game changer. I realise they are not for everyone as some have mobility issues but I'm so glad these exist. Not like I sit down on regular toilets at a festival, I'm squatting there too.

Surely if men can manage to use a urinal without shitting themselves so can we.

@5zeds the lack of doors has been addressed in the thread and you don't necessarily have to remove trousers if you're squatting.

To be honest I just cleaned up the toilet with wet wipes/hand sanitiser and sat the kids on it.

My Daughter is great at squatting down as she always needs to go and the most inappropriate time so has had to have a lot of wild wees in her time!

@Singinghollybob thanks can you give a time for the “addressed no doors” post because honestly doors on your toilet stall is not a “precious” stance. As far as squatting in trousers goes it isn’t that straightforward and sounds massively impractical in shoes designed for mud. Most humans calf bones would position their urine emerging roughly above their ankle bones which is where your trousers/gusset are in a squat.
Ive spent decades in countries where western toilets are not the norm. I have never been anywhere where the toilets are open and there’s group peeing.

Ive spent decades in countries where western toilets are not the norm. I have never been anywhere where the toilets are open and there’s group peeing

It wasn't group peeing. You had your own cubicle. It's a urinal, like men have urinals and I guess the idea is to give women the option to have a quick pee like men have the option, rather than having to queue up for the ordinary loos.

If you don't go to festivals then honestly don't sweat about it, my post was only addressed to female festival-goers like me who often need to pee and can't be bothered to queue for a stinking horrible sit down toilet. I'd never tried a female urinal before but would use one again. I had trousers & walking boots on all four days and didn't get wee on my legs, trousers or boots. Neither did my friends. We're all in our fifties so hardly flexible or super-dextrous. You just pull your trousers down and forward, it certainly wasn't awkward.

The best photo I can find is the following, although they've changed the design I think - it's on more of a spiral and the screen was more curved. You face forward, bum to the back. If you imagine this from a horizontal plane hopefully you can visualise how you can't see in even when people walk to the next cubicle, because of the angled screens.

Why not put a door on and then you aren’t peeing in a cubicle open to communal space?
mens urinals aren’t arranged like this. They are usually in a line either into a long trough, or individual wall hung facilities.
I’d be interested in the dimensions because it looks like you could fit 8 normal toilets in the same footprint.

As for getting wee on your trousers - have you never had a wild wee? You know, gone behind a bus when put walking or wild camping? Or pulled into a lay-by because there are no toilets nearby?

Yes and it's ended in disaster every time!! I don't want to go anywhere there isn't a lock .

The space was small. I’d say you could fit more like 1 or maybe 11/2 portaloos in the space for three urinals. A pp listened to the interview with the founders on women’s hour and the idea for not having doors is about minimising touch points, it makes everything quicker, it stops you lingering- you’re literally in and out. That’s why the queue moved so quickly.

and it’s interesting you mention mend urinals because they don’t even have cubicles!

Why not put a door on - part of the idea is that they reduce how much 'touching of stuff' there is.

No door = no touching a door, fiddling with locks etc.

Without doors they're also longer lasting, moulded plastic, no moving parts to break, easier to stack so you fit more on one lorry, less maintenance. Lots of reasons for no door.

Here's the other type I've seen around the internet, the lapee.. and a pic of a blokes doorless public urinal..

You dont take your pants off to squat pee. Jesus christ.

Also they are staffed by female attendants. No one can see in due to the architectural shape.

They are an easy, quick to use female equivalent of an open male urinal pod. They aren't and don't need to be anything else.

OP they are brilliant. And PERFECT for festivals. Not many people go to festivals to stay clean and for ultimate privacy for fucks sake.

@FudgeSundae Me, can’t do it, if I try to squat it goes anywhere but the right direction.

On Saturday's edition (today's) Radio 4 Woman's Hour there is an interview with the women creators of those loos. They explain how it works and what research they have made before the implementation of the patent.

I think the OP is getting a hard time and I’m not sure why.

I saw something about these loos and they look amazing. I’d use these.

the long drops have no privacy. I’d get constipated before using one of those. Plus the stench.

The chemical portaloos aren’t at Glastonbury now. They are long drops or compost loos. Head and feet on display.

these loos seem a quick clean easy way to wee. In more privacy than other loos allow.

there isn’t running water in a field so a flush loo and a sink are not possible. You don’t wash when at a festival. The loos are rank. These loos are a fabulous design and I hope they are really successful.

Not sure I'd cope. Last week we stopped off at some rather unpleasant toilets on a long drive. I didn't want to sit on the seat so I hovered. Quite a lot of wee went down my leg and on the floor. I'd have been better off sitting on the seat! I used to be able to hover wee successfully, but it seems the menopause has buggered up my aim/given me crosshairs 😣😂