Packing

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

As the title suggests, do you guys all pack? Why or why not?

Me?

I'm a part-time packer. As the temperature here has already climbed past 80 degrees in the daytime, I'm finding packing to be a bit sweaty. I like the feeling of packing and wish my biological equipment had the same "presence". However, my reality is that I get annoyed with something that's not attached floating around in there all day. I'm sad about what I lack, but the packer isn't a great substitute.

When do I pack?

If I'm going out in public, like to dinner or to the mall, I wear my STP. I carry the fellow in a harness or jock strap. Using public restrooms is just too nasty to do without an STP. This boy is a bit of a germ phobic. If I'm going on a short trip up to the store, I don't bring the STP along unless I already am wearing it. For me, getting dressed up includes packing.

When don't I pack?

At the gym. I sweat buckets. I am a maniac. My gym is really close to my house, so I don't use the locker room and usually don't need to use the restroom. I'm on my gym membership as male, so I'm not shy about the bathroom. I just don't like public bathrooms in general. However, if I need to use the bathroom and someone has a problem, my driver's license can back me up.

I also don't pack at school all the time. If I go in on weekends, which happens a good bit, I don't pack. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don't. It just depends.

All in all, I love my STP. It's a store bought model from DJ. If I'm going to pack, it's with that. I've got a non-STP packer, but I don't use it much. For me, standing to do my business means more to me than "bulk". Since I live as a celibate academic monk, other equipment uses don't get much consideration. Fortunately, even on T, I'm just not obsessed with that stuff.

So, that just about describes my packing habits. What about y'all? I'm finding that there are lots of individual differences in packing habits and motivations. Packing is something has become more important to me over time, so I may end up being a full-time packer at some point in the future. I'm just not right now.

[Guest Elizabeth K]

OHHHHH that kind of packing. I thought you meant like the gun I carry in my purse! You mean pocket pistols!

Nevermind

Lizzy

[Sally]

I wish that I had the option of packing or not - I would chose the not option.

But then that is coming from an MTF - so not surprising.

Love ta,

Sally

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

I wish that I had the option of packing or not - I would chose the not option.

But then that is coming from an MTF - so not surprising.

Love ta,

Sally

There is a MTF analogue of packing, just the opposite. Maybe it would be best if everyone just had detachable equipment.

Lizzy, sometimes I feel like packing a .45 in my shorts as well. I'm about to go to the gym and to the hardware store. I need to pack something that will kill wasps. Apparently regular Raid, the kind I spray on roaches, doesn't take them out fast enough. There is a nest of some kind of stinging insect INSIDE MY WALL. I can hear them buzzing. It's WAR!!!

[Guest DanM]

Well if I was to go anywhere not packing I would feel naked. I figure if I am going to transition it needs to be as full time as possible and yes that includes my packer. Like an American Express card I never leave home without it. LOL

[Guest MrAwesome]

Honestly, I don't have any kind of problem wearing my packer, I never take it out cept to shower, or to go to the bathroom sometimes. with my underwear the way they are, and the stretchy shorts to hold it in place, so for the most part I don't have to mess with it, and it's comfortable, I don't notice it moving around down there or anything... so yeah, I pack all day, all night, and I feel incomplete without it.

[Guest Liam]

I pack sometimes. But it's not an STP, it's just a regular packer. It tends to get sticky when I sweat, and that's kind of annoying. And, quite frankly, it's not all that important to me. Whereas I cannot leave my room without putting on my binder, packing feels kind of optional. It's nice sometimes, but sometimes I just don't care.

[Guest Pól_Eire]

I have an STP that I pack every day. Pretty much the only time I don't pack is when I'm sleeping alone and I remember to take it off. I live in a dorm and share a bathroom with about 10 people, so I've realized that easiest way to wash my STP is to wash it when I shower, so I usually just take it into the shower with me and stick it in a ziploc bag attached to the inside of my bathrobe when I'm done cleaning it.

I don't use the STP to STP all the time, mostly because I have the one from The Gear Guy, which I've found to be kind of hard to use consistently. Ainsley, how's the one from DJ working for you? How long did it take you to be able to use it easily?

I also don't leave my room without a binder except to shower.

-Pól

[Guest joe0117]

I pack every day. I use my STP all the time and like Dan, I never leave home without it. When I am home, I go back and forth between my STP and a ftm sexual prosthesis. I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend and I like to not have to stop to change gear. I wear just a packer to bed. Personally, I feel more complete. I also bind all the time. As ftms, we do require a lot of gear.

Joe

[Guest Irielle]

Ok guys, I have a couple dumb questions for you but bear with me.

I know when you say 'packer' you are talking about a substitution for a bio guy's equipment down there.

I am guessing here that STP means 'stand to pee'? So that must be different than a packer? So you have two different items - the packer is something you wear for the same reason I wear breast forms. The STP is something you wear so you can pee while standing?

Is there something that combines both of these into one item?

Also, I remember Mr Awesome telling us a funny story about how his packer slid around inside his shorts one day. I would think you could rig up some kind of a belt/harness thingy to keep everything in place. How annoying to have that moving around in your shorts. Mine bugs me enough and it's attached!

[Guest Jackson]

OHHHHH that kind of packing. I thought you meant like the gun I carry in my purse! You mean pocket pistols!

Nevermind

Lizzy

Lizzie, I am more than willing to talk about this kind of packing any day of the week.

In terms of this kind of packer, I do all the time. I only have the non-STP; however, this will be changing right quick. I really need to get the STP one now that the season has officially started and I lived through the storms through Chicago the last couple days. The only time when I don't pack is to sleep. I don't have a significant other currently and I'm sure my dog doesn't care if I wear it or not to bed.

[Guest Pól_Eire]

Ok guys, I have a couple dumb questions for you but bear with me.

I know when you say 'packer' you are talking about a substitution for a bio guy's equipment down there.

I am guessing here that STP means 'stand to pee'? So that must be different than a packer? So you have two different items - the packer is something you wear for the same reason I wear breast forms. The STP is something you wear so you can pee while standing?

Is there something that combines both of these into one item?

Also, I remember Mr Awesome telling us a funny story about how his packer slid around inside his shorts one day. I would think you could rig up some kind of a belt/harness thingy to keep everything in place. How annoying to have that moving around in your shorts. Mine bugs me enough and it's attached!

Irielle,

1. Yes. STP=stand to pee. It's a packer that's equipped with a receptacle connected to a tube (generally latex) going through the shaft of the packer. Some people prefer a regular packer because a) they're a lot cheaper and they're easier to clean. If you have an STP, you usually don't also have a regular packer that you wear regularly.

2. You can buy a belt with a harnessing rig thing for like $10 online that works pretty well, or you can wear boxer briefs or plain briefs (although that always seemed kind of dodgy to me). It'd be annoying if the belt broke, but otherwise, having it "moving around in your shorts" is kind of the point.

-Pól

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

If I had a girlfriend, I would definitely pack all the time. I want a girlfriend!! For me, I've been working at home a lot, so I don't go anywhere. If I go out for the day, it's never without my STP. I really don't feel like a dude without it. Sitting down to pee really gets me sad. It's also awesome to be able to go outside. I remember how I used to be so jealous when dudes would do that.

OMG, before I had chest surgery I wouldn't take off my sports bra/binder, except to shower. I had horrible dysphoria with upper half stuff. If I felt any "motion" up top, it freaked me right out. It'd ruin my day. I used to have all kinds of weird posture things that dealt with the chesticles. For example, when I rode in the car and someone else was driving, I'd almost always have my arms kind of pulled in to hold the chesticles still. It's amazing how quickly you forget about those things after surgery. Man... I remember crying about them in the shower. Ick. *shivers* Chesticles freak me out.

Maybe my bottom dysphoria is less bad because my top dysphoria was so horrible. I was not lucky in the chest department. Pre-surgery I was a DD or bigger. I refused to process my bra size. Usually I had my mom buy them...either that or I'd get sports bras that didn't have a cup size really (like the Frog Bra).

Pól, I really like my STP from DJ. His shipping was pretty fast (especially when compared to Mango). Also, the tube is wide, so you don't have to worry about it backing up on you. I know there are some who don't like the wide tube because of the lack of realism. Personally, I think there is nothing LESS realistic than peeing on yourself in a place a bioguy wouldn't have pee coming out. Maybe that's just me. Here's another little unsolicited tip! People complain that you can't get enough distance on the stream with the wide tube packer. Not so! I can get more distance out of mine by angling it down a little so that the tube is pinched just a bit. It's an art form!

[Guest Irielle]

Irielle,

1. Yes. STP=stand to pee. It's a packer that's equipped with a receptacle connected to a tube (generally latex) going through the shaft of the packer. Some people prefer a regular packer because a) they're a lot cheaper and they're easier to clean. If you have an STP, you usually don't also have a regular packer that you wear regularly.

Thanks, Pol. So it sounds like STPs are always packers but not all packers are STPs.

2. You can buy a belt with a harnessing rig thing for like $10 online that works pretty well, or you can wear boxer briefs or plain briefs (although that always seemed kind of dodgy to me). It'd be annoying if the belt broke, but otherwise, having it "moving around in your shorts" is kind of the point.

Oops, my bad. I shouldn't have said 'moving around in your shorts' because you are right, that IS the point. I should have said 'sliding around in your shorts until it's upside down and over by your hip'.

-Pól

[Guest hayden_jude]

I just started packing about a month ago. I'm not sure if I'm exactly doing it right, but it definitely feels better than when I'm not packing. I am the complete opposite of StrandedOutThere, my bottom dysphoria is WAY worse than my top, but the top still really bothers me.

I currently only pack when I am alone in the house, but that's because I'm still technically living as a female in the eyes of the "outside world", at least for a little while longer. So it really depends day-to-day.

[Guest Martin]

I've never had a packer, though I do own two different STPs. Both annoy me, and I almost never use them (and haven't used them at all in years). The first one is a TravelMate. When it works, it works really well and leaves no mess. However, sometimes it leaks - which is why I never use it anymore. It's BAD when that happens in public. I also couldn't use it when someone else could be watching because it's blue. Then I got a a Whiz. It's no more realistic as it's purple. It never leaks, however, it leaves that area wet. That's gross, so I don't use it. The other thing is that the splashing from using a STP grosses me out, too. Never the less, I'm quite excited to have a urethral lengthening. I'm not sure I'm always going to stand, but it will be nice to at least have the option. It'll also be nice to have the pee coming out of the right hole.

As I mentioned earlier, I've never had a packer of any sorts. I used to carry the TravelMate in my pocket where ever I went, but I never put anything in my underwear. Doing so would have made me more dysphoric. It creeps me out enough that there are areas of my chest I cannot feel - I don't need a penis with no nerves. Also, putting something there would have symbolically implied that my T-enhanced penis wasn't the real thing. I didn't want to do that to myself.

If I was having sex, I'd seriously consider getting some kind of prosthesis. But I'm not, so I'm saving my money. I'll cross that bridge when and if I come to it.

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

Martin, it sounds like you and I have some similar feelings on packing. The whole "not feeling real" thing with packing is part of what bothers me. It's like I'd rather have nothing rather than wrong feeling stuff.

With STP, I initially felt like you do about it. I never used the TravelMate or Whiz. I thought the pStyle from http://www.kristascups.com/ looked decent, but I prefer the look of STP packers.

Okay, I also find splashing and wetness icky. If you knew what a germphobic neat freak I am, you would be very surprised that I like using an STP. Here's what I've learned. The smaller the receptacle, the neater it is. No. I am not kidding. It's true. The thing is that using a medicine spoon sized receptacle takes a lot more practice and finesse. Also, I am not sure that it works well with everyone's anatomy. I'm only familiar with my own.

Moving on... Male or female, regardless of your factory equipment, everyone goes through a hole of one kind or another. If you can get something that funnels your liquid business right from the source, there is less mess. The thing with the STP packers is that you have to be very good to be able to use them consistently. I practiced for months before taking mine out on the road. I found that, assuming you position it just right, it actually makes LESS mess than sitting down and going with what nature gave you. This is something I have thought about a lot. It's true. There is less to clean up when I go with the STP, which is why I use it as much as I do. Even though I say that I don't pack when I'm at home, I use it EVERY time I pee. It's just that I keep my STP equipment in the bathroom instead of in my pants. Weird. Yes. I know.

A while back I found out that guys don't use any toilet paper when they go #1. I was shocked! Why don't they need to wipe? Man... that just added to my dysphoria in a weird, weird way. I noticed my male roommates bought toilet paper once for about every 3 to 4 times I bought it. My monthly visitor used to cause me to need more, but even without it, I still used more paper. A lot more. With the STP, as long as I use it right, I go through toilet paper at about the same rate as my male roommate. Don't ask me why this is important to me, but it is. I am very detail oriented. If I were ever in a stealth roommate situation, I wouldn't want to be using up a lot of toilet paper. People notice!

Am I a freak? ...maybe don't answer that.

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

By the way, with respect to my argument about not needing to use toilet paper. There was a period of time when I would actually wipe to check how neat I'd been. I seriously didn't need to wipe. This may be TMI, but I think it is worth mentioning. Being FTM poses a lot of "technical issues". We do require a lot of "assistive technology".

[Guest bronx]

Well when I first started this journey more than 10 yrs ago, I would pack every day and then I made my own stp and found that I couldn't do both. So I made a dicission and using the bathroom was more important to me. That was in the 90's, so much has advanced in that department since then. I still carry my STP in my back pocket and I use it all the time except when I'm at home. (sometimes) I don't pack at all anymore. I've been thinking about it more though and I suppose when I get around to getting one I will. It dosen't bother me as I've never been questioned about it at all.

I still wear a binder because I haven't had top surgery yet. I had two open heart surgeries last year and I still haven't been cleared from my cardiologist to go ahead with it. It bumbs me out but I know that the day is comming. I wear my binder all the time, except when I'm sleeping or in the shower. My wife doesn't even pay attention to the things up there and neither do I, but it was a choice I had to make at the time and I chose to live and have my vaule replaced.

So as I continue this road that I'm on I have reallly found what being a man means for me and have learned to love myself knowing that I'm still a work in process both in the phisical as well as the mental and emotional. Patients is the key. and no matter what is thrown my way I will be a man about it all the way through.

[Guest Irielle]

A while back I found out that guys don't use any toilet paper when they go #1. I was shocked! Why don't they need to wipe? Man... that just added to my dysphoria in a weird, weird way. I noticed my male roommates bought toilet paper once for about every 3 to 4 times I bought it. My monthly visitor used to cause me to need more, but even without it, I still used more paper. A lot more. With the STP, as long as I use it right, I go through toilet paper at about the same rate as my male roommate. Don't ask me why this is important to me, but it is. I am very detail oriented. If I were ever in a stealth roommate situation, I wouldn't want to be using up a lot of toilet paper. People notice!

Stranded, a lot of us bioguys do wipe when we go #1. There's a saying that goes "no matter how much you shake and dance the last drops always go down your pants". There is nothing worse then putting yourself away and then realizing you've dripped.

You can't do it standing at a urinal unless you have your own paper because there's never any TP at the urinals but I always use a stall (I SO hate urinals) and sit anyway and I use paper. I know other bioguys that do the same and I bet there are a lot that do it but don't admit it

[Guest leo]

iv not packed yet

but then again i can only dress male once a week probs y iv been so depressed

but i pretty much always bind when not at work

[Guest Zack L]

I love packing, it makes me feel much more confident and less skittish, however due to my own stupidity/need to pack while sleeping and my parent's lack of moral support I'm packerless right now. And hating it. Nothing worse than taking a step forward only to be shoved back. >_< Stranded, you mention that DJ's has a wider tube -- thank you. >_< I've been trying to figure out if his would work for a while, and from what you say it sounds like it will. Now that I know I'll be ordering one as soon as I can figure out a viable way to do so. =3 And a separate packer for sleeping, to avoid further castration. >_>

When I'm able though, I'm going to be packing almost 24/7. Does anyone else have issues with skin irritation down there? I started getting horrendous dandruff and dryness because of the baking soda that keeps it dry. I've been considering making a little bag for the testicles and such to sit in with a hole cut through for the STP part. And then maybe sew it onto m harness...I'll have to check that out more once I'm able. =P

[Guest Martin]

Zack, I've heard of using corn starch instead - maybe that would help?

StrandedOutThere, it's good to know that the mess doesn't always happen. Maybe if it's attached equipment rather than an STP, I'll even have the patience - and confidence - to learn.

I never knew about the toilet paper. A new reason to STP - going green

[Guest Pól_Eire]

Zack, Martin, I use cornstarch, which I'm very happy with. One thing you can do is use the cornstarch on your packer and then wipe off all the excess with a bit of tissue. Minimize the amount of powder going into your shorts like.

-Pól

[Guest StrandedOutThere]

Zack, you should definitely switch over to corn starch. You can get unscented powder (sometimes it is with the baby stuff) that is corn starch based, not talc. I assume you know not to use talc powder. It's supposed to be bad for some reason or another. Also, I use a jock to pack with. It works well. Now I need to get it modded for my STP. I am an underwear 1337 haxor.

Stranded, a lot of us bioguys do wipe when we go #1. There's a saying that goes "no matter how much you shake and dance the last drops always go down your pants". There is nothing worse then putting yourself away and then realizing you've dripped.

You can't do it standing at a urinal unless you have your own paper because there's never any TP at the urinals but I always use a stall (I SO hate urinals) and sit anyway and I use paper. I know other bioguys that do the same and I bet there are a lot that do it but don't admit it

Irielle, you are awesome. Thanks for letting me in or the 411.

I just assumed that no one with the right equipment used TP for #1. The absence of TP at urinals only supported my theory. Now I know why other dudes must use stalls, because I definitely am not the only one. At first I was shy because I thought people would think I was odd for making a b-line for a stall when I was only going #1.

Martin, STP is ecologically friendly! Here's my new motto... "Go green when you go yellow. STP!"

If you don't mind me asking, when are you having bottom surgery and who are you going to? I don't know if you've said before. For me, bottom surgery is quite a ways off (3 or 4 years minimum). Still, it's never too early to start the research!