Short for "urine barrel". A steel 55-gallon drum used in
Antarctica in
environmentally sensitive areas.
The camp manager removes the bung and inserts a funnel. Stones that are large enough that they can't pass through the funnel are placed in the cone to keep it from blowing away in the katabatic winds. A rock large enough for standing upon is placed at the barrel base.
The user should first remove the funnel and use the bamboo pole which is lashed to the barrel to test the urine level. The maximum level is noted by a pencil mark on the pole. A nail is stuck through the pole to prevent it from falling into what could be 50-gallons of urine, and thus become irretrievable by anyone easily nauseated by barrels of pee.
If the barrel is too full it must be sealed and a new barrel swung into place. The user must hold his water while the replacement is readied by the procedure described above. Barrels are determined to be too full if they exceed the maximum helicopter lift criteria. Barrels that are too full must be prepared for transport by siphoning excess urine to an alternate container. One way to get on the bad side of a camp manager is to require her to have to siphon excess urine.
Once an acceptable barrel is obtained, the user stands on the rock, aims his penis toward the funnel and releases the stream. Females are provided with a plastic device known by ice people as a who-hah, she-wee, or she-nis. This is an anatomically correct funnel that allows the user to mimic the convenience of a penis for the purpose of U-barrel utilization, thus avoiding what would otherwise be the uncomfortable necessity of exposing her lower body to sub-freezing winds.