keeping clean
what is the best system for keeping the private areas as clean as possible on a 7 plus day trip?
thanks
eric
Bring a baby wipe (or two) for each day. To cut out the water weight, let them air dry before you go, and then slightly moisten each one as you're ready to use it.
Another alternative I've heard, but haven't tried, are cotton balls dipped in rubbing alcohol. Dual use as a firestarter I suppose.
GA←↕→ME: 1973 to 2014
Just take a little dr b's. Useful for everything.
Wipes and powder.
Dove has dry cloths that weigh almost nothing. When you want to use one, wet it and it lathers because there is soap in the wipes or better, wash cloths and there plenty durable and thick
"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands."
Isaiah 55:12
What kind of private areas? If you are referring to male, theres not much you need to do, at all. Like...nothing. Wash your butt now and then if you like, and merino boxers dont stink as bad.
Wipes, powder, and an occasional wet bandana.
This kinda depends on the weather. Lemon wipes as has been mentioned. Nothing beats a nice swim if the weather is good.
Wet wipes for every day. One for the body - face, arm pits, nether regions. One for the feet. During the more humid months I used a light weight pad and changed it out a couple times a day. Put it in your garbage and pack it out. Water and Baking soda on the pack when in town also keeps down the ripe odor that comes from contact with your sweaty back.
I am considering spending 3.5 oz. on a folding bucket and bottom half of a 1/2 gal milk jug. a small chamois.
A real bath instead of just a wet wipe. and can carry 2 gal of water back to camp for filtering, supper, etc.
But an oz here and another there can add up pretty fast.
uhh go downstream from the trail find the first pool jump in da hole....Sorry serious chemicals like chlorine have been eliminated. Some tadpoles and turtles might find you funny enough to be attractive...
I am not kidding here,,, reduce the salts or dried sweat and bacteria and use a touch of Ivory bar ( It Floats ) and even in muddy streams the smell will drop and you will feel better....yaa its cold... so what... When you get out - you dont stink, American Indians did this for thousands of years, because it works. You can imagine what they thought of us when we arrived a couple of hundred years ago.
Last edited by Wise Old Owl; 07-24-2014 at 23:21.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
You can drill small holes in a soda cap or spare platypus cap a voila you can now use your platypus as a shower. You can make a holder for it out of an onion bag.
A dedicated bandana and some water can get you washed up. I disagree that nothing needs to be done for that amount of time. Sweat buildup can leave salt in that area and that can lead to chafing. Unless its winter.
I carry a folding bucket anyway squeezebox, saves on water fetching anyway. Usually a shower can be had about every 4-5 days on the AT. Although I carry the drilled cap, I rarely use it for any anything but washing dishes.
"Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.
Drilled cap sounds good on the 1/2 gal Sawyer bag, might have to fill it more than once.
an on/off push cap might be good also. Shrinking the size of the hole with a bit of silicon if necessary,
And the 1 L water bottle with the spray cap filled from the bucket frequently should also be effective.
I'll probably keep the bucket.
Zpacks Lightload Towels. One color for the face and stuff, one color for the "other" stuff. $6 for 3. Remember to keep your soap and waste water away from camp and water sources.
"Your comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there."
First of all, DO NOT bathe in spring heads. At the very least, fill a bottle step away at least 10-20 feet before dumping it over your head/body. If it's a creek, stream, river-by all means, jump in. But deliberately, using the source of everyone's water as a sink or shower is inappropriate. I saw all manner of hikers doing it on the AT. Young/old, Experienced/inexperienced. Talk about overuse syndrome. If you're waking through a junkyard, what's the problem with throwing trash on the ground? ...if everyone else is doing it, why not? horrible attitudes. So please represent and let's turn this situation around. Be clean but be clean about it. I've moved away from using baby wipes as much due to the fact they've become a litter problem on the trail. I no longer recommend baby wipes to hikers for general cleanup. I recommend a bottle of water, with a squirt top/loose cap, wash your backside, carry soap/sanitizer.
In the least, a small plastic nail brush, river sand and or rocks to scrub your hands and arms if you don't believe in soap or hot water...wipe down everyday, it's part of good tick inspection. Every couple days it doesn't hurt to heat up some water, add some soap and actually take a hot bath standing by the fire (on my sitpad), rinse (duh). I don't even really stay in towns anymore. Just resupply and leave. hollr be safe and watch out for the Funk.
See ya when I get there.
Yeah takes about 2-3 liters. I think the hole on the push cap might be big, but I like your idea of the silicon. You might even be able to get a piece if screen siliconed over the hole like an aerator works in a faucet. I might try that myself.
As soulrebel notes, a little hot water is nice. It only takes about a liter to around 1 or 2 liters of cold. Not much fuel really or do it by the fire.
Most times its easier to just shower in town but for the weight of a cap and a camp towel one has the option. Works for lighter cleanup too. The cap is real handy for washing your pot out too.
As for camp towels I found this really cheap orange material over in the mop section of Walmart that is similar to the blue camp and auto shop towels. Maybe folks already knew about it but in case they didn't.
"Sleepy alligator in the noonday sun
Sleepin by the river just like he usually done
Call for his whisky
He can call for his tea
Call all he wanta but he can't call me..."
Robert Hunter & Ron McKernan
Whiteblaze.net User Agreement.
The best system for keeping clean is to take a bath.
On any trip as long as a 3-day weekend I bring a bandana, a Sea to Summit folding bucket, a car chamois from the dollar store (it will dry things even when it's soaked, just wring it out and keep going), and a little dropper botle of Dr Bronner's. If there's going to be a lot of clay about, add a three-foot square of Tyvek so I don't have to stand barefoot or sit bare-bottomed on sticky dirt. That suff also does for washing cooking gear (if I'm not doing the freezer bag thing for some reason) or clothes (if it looks as if the weather will allow). Polypro underwear almost always will dry overnight in my tent even in wet weather, or I can wear it dry, but socks can be a challenge. On trail, I can hang them on my pack, but I don't always travel on trail, and a bushwhack will turn anything hanging on the pack into trail confetti.
Plain soap like Dr Bronner's does degrade, but it breaks down a lot faster in soil than it does in water, so I'm pretty careful not to foul any water source with it.
I always know where I am. I'm right here.
I've taken a few paper towels folded them into quarters, wet lightly with just the smallest amount of soap and zipp-lock bag them, in another bag I do the same, but more water and no soap...and use this for the rinse cycle, lots cheaper than baby wipes, although baby wipes are pretty cheap these days, you can get a small travel size for a buck at wally worlds or the like. Couple of these is good for most 3-4 day trips I've done.
Thank's for the info
REI sells no rinse soap..a few drops in a gallon ziplock of water and a bandana or microfiber wash cloth will really make a difference. You only need to carry and ounce or so, not the whole bottle. (They have no rinse shampoo, too, but I think it is actually the same product in a different bottle)
http://www.rei.com/product/824348/no...body-wash-8-oz
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. -Kahlil Gibran
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