Poll: Do You Know What A Kybo Is?

[Ry4Cy]

I have called it kybo my entire life and never plan to change. Didn't know there where people who didn't call it kybo.

 

[KneeGusto]

I have Kybo headbands from RAGBRAI VI and VII.

My favorite comment heard from a fellow rider whilst exiting a KYBO was (and still is):

"When did we have corn?"

 

[CintiClone]

Have always known it as a Kybo. Northeast, Illinois and Southwest upbringing. possibly Scouting, but both my parents who were from Illinois always called them Kybos. Scouts out in California referred to them as Kybos in the mid 70s.

 

[MeanDean]

I prefer Pee-Uh-Torium

Or Crap-a-teria. But it's pretty awful to actually have to use one for that...

When I was helping a buddy at outdoor events and one or the other had to go we'd say peeatorium. Or sometimes just, "I have to go stand in that little building for a minute."

 

[Bubbahotep]

It's a Jacuzzi for hawk fans?

 

[chuckd4735]

Grew up in Dubuque as always referred to them as porta-potties. I never heard the term kybo until I came to ISU. I still refer to them as porta-potties.

 

[2020cy]

Always have called them kybos for a long as I can remember. Maybe picked it up from my ISU days in the 80's.

 

[jcyclonee]

I've lived in Minnesota for over 25 years and still refer to them as Kybos occasionally. Mostly, I do it because it frustrates my wife when I use the term.

 

[intrepid27]

Too wierd. I conceived a baby in one in 1994.

Are you related to infamous Hawk fan Lois Feldman??

 

[SpokaneCY]

I have found that people that aren't from Iowa have know idea what this is.

They are called "port-o-lets" on the left coast. Never knew they had any other name than kybo...

 

[AgronAlum]

I cringe when I hear kybo for some reason. They're called porta-shitters.

 

[Cyclones_R_GR8]

Be careful what you ask for. This will be absolutely more than you want to know. This is after some idle web surfing off and on over several years and is more of an over view than an academic research project. Some bits and pieces may be considered apocryphal, but seem to ring true.

The term “kybo” seems to originate from summer camps, both in scouting or other private camps and more in the northeast referring to a brand of flour that came in cans that were repurposed to store the lye used to control odor in outhouses.

I first heard the term on Tagbrai (Third annual bike ride across Iowa, IIRC) I don’t know if the first RAGBRAI actually had an acronym.
Kaul and Karras in a column just sort of invited people to ride across the state with them and woke to find several hundred people waiting outside their motel. The second ride was SAGBRAI (Second Annual Great …) and the third one was TAGBRAI (Third annual ...). At that point, it was evidently an unsustainable naming convention and became RAGBRAI.

For that year and several years after, the porta-potties were actually branded “KYBO”. This should actually be a case study in a marketing course. They had “Kybo” branded tank tops and sweatbands. Even an unofficial and ad hoc Kybo queen was nominated. The war cry “Kybo” was yelled at the top of besotted lungs during all hours of the night. That no longer happens; you just hear doors slamming into the morning.

One of my sources suggested the word is endemic to two subcultures, those of summer camps of the northeast and RAGBRAI. Given the place the bike ride has in Iowa culture, I would accuse you of not being a true Iowan if you don’t know what the word means.

KYBO RECYCLING

 

[1100011CS]

RAGBRAI in the early 80s is when I first heard the term. I never use the word now but I use a lot of porta-potties at running races/events. There are never enough.

 

[Angie]

Is it kybo or kaebo?

I always thought kaibo.

 

[cyhiphopp]

I always thought kaibo.

I learned the term in Boy Scouts like many others here. And I learned it as KYBO.

Not sure if it's the official meaning, but I heard it was an acronym

K.Y.B.O.

Keep Your Bowels Open


So that's why I've always spelled it KYBO

 

[cyhiphopp]

Somewhat related Boy Scout story

When we went to Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron New Mexico we were introduced to a different kind of outdoor crapper.


This one was called the Pilot to Bombardier.

The "two seater" didn't always have that convenient seat back between the deposit stations either.

 

[2020cy]

Here's a trick I learned from the Amish, pad that seat with some Styrofoam and it doesn't get cold in the winter.

 

[jbindm]

I always thought kaibo.

Me too. I've never actually seen it spelled out.

Anyone else ever heard of them referred to as dukers?

 

[ISU_phoria]

I work in the commercial construction industry and have projects all over the US. I will say that I only know what a kybo is because of my time (Construction Engr) at Iowa State and associated internship while in school.

"Kybo" is to Iowa what "Duck Duck Gray Duck" is to Minnesota!

 

[xboxfever]

I call it a porter john.