How To Make An Outhouse Seat That Won’t Freeze Your Hind End

About 15 years ago my new bride and I struck out for the backcountry of Alaska to live our dream of working a wilderness trapline. The cabin we trapped out of was 24 miles from the nearest road and we learned about off-grid living that winter. We learned a lot of tricks from the old sourdoughs who were our mentors, and one of those tricks was how to make an outhouse seat that wouldn’t freeze your hind end when nature called and it was -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

There is nothing worse than a cold toilet seat, except maybe an outhouse seat in Alaska in the dead of winter! I was very surprised the first morning that I visited “the facilities” at camp. It was 20 below zero that day and the seat wasn’t cold at all, it was almost warm! Our outhouse seat was made out of Styrofoam insulation board, the kind that people use to insulate houses. Old Sam had hauled it back and laid it across the bench of the outhouse and cut a hole in it to match the hole on the bench. It was simple little fix, made from recycled material, and it made life in the bush much more comfortable!

So if you dread the morning trip to outhouse, you might want to install a simple “arctic grade seat”. It is super easy to do and the only tool you need is a knife or a saw for cutting the Styrofoam and measuring tape. You can glue it down so it won’t blow away on a windy day, or just fit it tight enough on the bench (pinched against the inside walls) that hold it’s self in. You will never regret making this simple improvement to your outhouse!