WHENEVER a leftfield product release lands in my Editor’s inbox, it comes my way with a single-word question: “Column?” I take this, tentatively, as a compliment.

This week’s example was Wild Wipe, a new female outdoor hygiene product designed for hiking, camping and festivals and launched onto the market by Dr Caitlin Dean, an entrepreneur and women’s health campaigner based in Lanlivery.

It’s a “wiping device” to liberate women from the ignominy of – anyone of a delicate disposition should look away now – incomplete drip-drying after a wild wee. Wild Wipe is described as “a squeegee for your vageegee”, wiping away the last dribble for a shake away from your person. It’s made from polypropylene, is antimicrobial and washable, and has been devised to fit in your backpack or back pocket with the aim of banishing damp knickers and soggy tissues to one’s dim and distant memory.

I’m an inveterate hiker, have been since childhood, and have emptied my bladder behind many a bush. I’ve also been caught out by empty paper dispensers in public conveniences. But I’ve never been entirely bothered by a lack of tissues in such circumstances, preferring like Taylor Swift to “shake it off” (that’s what she had in mind, right?).

I ran the idea by Daughter. “It’s hardly a first-world problem, is it?” she replied, witheringly. I pushed a little harder: has she never found herself caught short in the school loos? Her answer: “Some of our loos don’t have seats or even doors, let alone toilet paper.”

And yet, let’s face it, men have it easy – they can wee standing up, pretty much anywhere. No need to disrobe and squat. No chorus of “we know what you’re doing”.

On a litter pick in Truro, I found drinks bottles full of wee that had been chucked out of a vehicle window into a bush. I’m actually proud women can’t and therefore don’t do that.

So, on the grounds that one should never dismiss an idea out of hand without trying it first, I ordered a Wild Wipe and booked an interview with Dr Caitlin.

It turned out her invention followed many years of frustration with female biology and lack of facilities. “I’d been outdoorsy from my early 20s – bushcraft, wild camping,” she told me via WhatsApp from a holiday in Thailand.

“Squatting for a pee is fine, but I hated drip-drying. Once might be OK, but doing it multiple times over multiple days – say, during a four-day trek in Newfoundland – isn’t ideal. Quite apart from the smell, it can be uncomfortable and even corrosive to the skin.

“For years I used a Shewee [a reusable stand-to-pee device], but I thought a simple little scraper that worked like a squeegee would do the trick. I was amazed there was nothing like that on the market, and produced a home-made prototype from a sanded-down credit card. It worked, so I wanted to bring it to the world.”

Wild Wipe was launched a couple of weeks ago, and Caitlin hopes it will grow organically - the products are manufactured in the UK then packed and shipped from her kitchen table.

You don’t have to be the female equivalent of Bear Grylls to appreciate Wild Wipe. Caitlin signposts the places “where there should always be toilet roll for us, but frequently there isn't: schools, workplaces, train stations, pubs.

“I’ve been on four-hour train journeys with no loo roll, public toilets in which every single dispenser was empty. My mum went to a garden centre with a friend who said there was no loo roll – Mum told her, ‘You need one of these!’”

While her day job is running a property development company, Caitlin also has a PhD in medical research, specifically in hyperemesis gravidarum – extreme morning sickness – and is committed to campaigning on global women’s health issues.

Five per cent of Wild Wipe income will go towards women’s urinary health charities, with products available at near-cost pricing for NGOs, charities and community projects working with women and girls in low-resource environments.

“So many women around the world are displaced in migration camps and don’t have ready access to bathrooms or clean water,” says Caitlin. “Even in the UK, homeless women are disproportionately affected by UTIs due to hygiene issues like these. I wanted to provide a service to these people.”

The device and its case can be washed using warm water and soap. You can even put it in the dishwasher (just don’t tell anyone what it is). It’s currently available in forest green, ice blue and sunset orange,

Mine arrived during the interview. I tested it, and it works (enough said on that front). I’m sold on the cause for female pee parity, and am considering buying Daughter a Wild Wipe for her forthcoming school trip to Tanzania, in the hope that she’ll be converted too.