I was at least five days into Tess' trip report before I finally figured out what the hell the 'kybo' was she was rating on each campsite. 

It's clearly supposed to be called a thunderbox. 

Boom box or boomer!!  Or as my young daughter would call it..."creepy, disgusting forest toilet"

That Boombox leader is pure evil...why would he do that!!!!  Yeeesh...spiders.  The largest spider I've ever seen in the wild was in Algonquin Park...Sec Lake to be exact.  That thing was almost the size of my palm and it looked far from friendly.  Found it in my vestibule and it scurried away somewhere around or beneath my tent before I could figure out what to do with it.  Needless to say it haunted my dreams and every waking moment I was around my tent for the rest of that trip.

We call it the Thunderbox, treasure chest, Thunder throne. Sometimes we call it the shitter. If when we arrive it's mounded up the phrase "shitters full" often gets used.

The slam of the lid, so the whole site can hear is a must upon completion of a deposit within our group. There are some sites with enclosed thunderboxes mainly ranger cabins, but these are must stops for us paddling through.

" At the end of the trail
      Where old friends meet
  There's a shack kinda frail
      with a two holed seat "

Last edited by CptCanadaSid3Cups (3/10/2022 10:29 am)

Evan Briden wrote:

 I am a double slam the lid before even sitting down kind of guy. Occasionally that first knock will get some spiders moving, and that second knock is just for piece of mind. At this point it has just become second nature. 

I concur! I'll always remember an after-dark visit to a thunderbox on Louisa. I arose from the throne and turned around while I was hitching-up my pants with my flashlight in my mouth. The flashlight's beam shone over the box's seat to reveal a none-too-small rodent peering up over the edge. After my yell sent it running, I checked out the inside of the box. There was wooden cross-piece inside against the front wall immediately below the "family treasures". The little fiend could have been sitting there during my entire visit .. well within striking distance! So yes Evan, a couple of knocks are good peace of mind!

 

I've always been pretty stealthy about raising and lowering the lid so it doesn't make a huge noise, but I do like the idea of banging the lid in advance to give spiders a moment to evacuate.

Although, one of our cats....he picks his spot in the litter box, scatters the litter around, then runs through the house like he's escaping the scene of the crime.  I could see that as an exit strategy from a thunderbox....to disassociate.