Question on taking a real shower/bath on the trail

[krshome]

Ok I have been backpacking for many years and have tried many different ways of keeping clean on the trail. I was wondering what others are doing and using to bathe. I'm not looking for the baby wipe, wipe down or dipping in the creek but more of a soap and water cleaning away from the water source. What are you using for a water containers and how are you using them? What kind of wash rag are you using for wiping down with? Do you do you laundry at the same time with the same water? Thanks all :)

[QiWiz]

I also like to stay clean on trail. I bring a collapsible Sea to Summit bucket (see http://www.rei.com/zoom/ii/d8773db7-f96d-4d49-ac92-2dcc699ef9b1.jpg/440), a pack towel, and a small squeeze bottle of camp suds. I fill this at my water source and head off into the woods carrying with me my "camp/sleep clothes" until I'm out of sight of others. Then I take off hiking clothes and start with getting head/hair clean and proceed downward from there. I can get almost as clean with a mostly full bucket as I can at home, and still have enough water left over to wash out my hiking clothes (shirt, boxers, socks) which I then hang up on a light clothesline in camp. The next day I again wear the same hiking shirt, but switch to a second boxers and socks while the previous day's are finishing to dry on the outside of my pack as I hike.

[Another Kevin]

QiWiz described exactly my routine, except that I try to keep the water in the bucket clean for rinsing with, so the soapy rag goes in my cookpot, and the boxers and socks get soaped up in the pot and rinsed in the bucket. I use peppermint Dr Bronner's as camp suds.

In wet conditions, I carry another pair of socks and change and wash my socks at my lunch break. Yeah, in wet conditions, I can't ever get either pair dry, but clean wet socks are better than gritty, muddy wet socks.

Fine art illustrating the final stage of the process. (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cOaQ-UkxGMk/U-8TdXmSBEI/AAAAAAAA6J8/1oPN5SrJnCU/s1600/1939%2BSultry%2BNight%2B23.2%2Bx%2B28.8%2Bcm%2B(im age).jpg) (Artist is Grant Wood, the same man who painted American Gothic. Image is NSFW in some workplaces.)

[BirdBrain]

I also use a sea to summit bucket. I use unscented Dr Bronners and my bandana for the wash cloth. I have a Walmart absorber towel that I use to dry off with. It is a multiuse item and gets cleaned and used a ton. I normally get so filthy that between me and my clothes it takes several trips to the water source. I still stink though no matter how much I try to stay clean.

[Bronk]

I've lived off grid for nearly 10 years and I shower every day with a 2 gallon bucket. I usually boil between 2 and 3 quarts of water to mix with a gallon to a gallon and a half of cold water and it usually comes out warm to hot depending upon how cold the water is to start with. Like others have mentioned, I keep the water in the bucket clean so it can be used to rinse. Splash some water on your face and head, under your pits and in your crotch and then soap up. When you're ready to rinse I've found it best to pour some water directly under each armpit and across your chest before squatting down and dumping the rest of the bucket over your head. This ensures that you are thoroughly rinsed on both the front and back. With a collapsible bucket you can do this just about anywhere you can access water.

[Tipi Walter]

I've lived off grid for nearly 10 years and I shower every day with a 2 gallon bucket. I usually boil between 2 and 3 quarts of water to mix with a gallon to a gallon and a half of cold water and it usually comes out warm to hot depending upon how cold the water is to start with. Like others have mentioned, I keep the water in the bucket clean so it can be used to rinse. Splash some water on your face and head, under your pits and in your crotch and then soap up. When you're ready to rinse I've found it best to pour some water directly under each armpit and across your chest before squatting down and dumping the rest of the bucket over your head. This ensures that you are thoroughly rinsed on both the front and back. With a collapsible bucket you can do this just about anywhere you can access water.

Like Bronk I too lived in primitive conditions for decades (including my wilderness backpacking trips) and have come up with suitable bathing options (although one winter at the Tipi I went 76 days without a bath).

** Build an outdoor fire and heat up several gallons of water in a pot. Cool with cold water. If available pour water into hanging solar shower and stand underneath. Use one gallon to get wet and suds up with Bronners. Use the last 2 or 3 gallons for rinsing.

** Build a sweatlodge and cover with tarps and heat up a couple dozen rocks in an outdoor fire and do a sweat. This is the best technique in the winter to get squeaky clean. Have a bucket of cold water outside the sweatlodge for rinsing. See below pic---

** When backpacking you have several options: Take a rag or sponge bath with cold water and wipe down your body. Obvious.

Jump into a creek and thoroughly wash. Suds up with Bronners away from the creek and rinse with cold creek water from your cooking pot as a scooper. When it's really cold alot can be accomplished by washing just your hair, scalp and face. Also wash out your underwear (have two pair) because on Day 10 or a 20 day trip a pair of clean underwear will make you feel 20 years old for about 25 minutes.

https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/BooneYears/Tipi-Life/i-sBB6LNr/0/L/Scan21-L.jpg
Sweatlodge frame in foreground of pic. Cover with blankets/tarps and do a sauna.

[Another Kevin]

Oh some more thoughts.

I carry a piece of Tyvek that can serve as a footprint if I'm pitching my tent on an abrasive surface like sandstone. More often than not, the Tyvek serves as a doormat in the tent vestibule, a dry place to sit, or a bath mat - or, Heaven forbid, to keep my stuff off the dirty floor of a shelter.. It's nice to be able to rinse off without immediately finding myself standing in a mudhole, and have a clean space to sit while I'm washing my feet.

Oh, and if the bugs are bad, or it's chilly in the evenings, or I might be making a dry camp, I might bathe in the heat of the day instead of in camp. It just means getting a little farther off the trail.

I try to get as much soap as possible off the pits and bits with a bandana before resorting to pouring water, to save as much of the bucket as possible for rinsing my hair and beard.

I'm with BirdBrain that washing clothes takes at least one more trip to the water source, and I might even need another bucketful before my hair feels rinsed.

I don't bother with boiling up a large volume of water. I might take some of the chill off the bucket with a Grease Pot full of boiling water, if I think I can spare the fuel. But a Grease Pot is the only vessel I have for boiling water in.

[BirdBrain]

I don't heat my water. I like to swim a lot too. That works the best. An hour in a lake leaves me about as clean as I can get.

[krshome]

I'm now looking at the sea to summit Ultra-sil folding bucket to give a try. I'm wondering if the sea to summit kitchen sink would work better being that it has a nice big opening?? Any feed back on trying that??

[BirdBrain]

I am not sure how the kitchen one works. I like the handle on the bucket. There are times that the water source is not convenient. It is nice in those times to lug a bucket full and hang it on the side of a tree for later.

[squeezebox]

Every time I tried to use the sea to Summit bucket it fell over. Suggestions??

[BirdBrain]

Every time I tried to use the sea to Summit bucket it fell over. Suggestions??

Don't set it down unless it is on a reasonably level surface or naturally depressed. Even then, watch the handle and sides. The bucket can easily collapse inward and then spill out one side. I try to hang it where I can and be really careful when I can't.

[TwoSpirits]

Just a thought on making a sweat lodge: Take care in selecting the rocks you are going to heat in your fire. Rocks that have even small fissures where water can hide will explode like a small bomb once they heat up and the steam inside blows out. And nobody wants that.

Sent from...wait, where am I?

[CarlZ993]

I use a 3-L capacity Backpackers Pantry Pack Bowl (just over an oz) & some Dr. Bronner's soap. I fill up the bowl & take it away from the water source. Use some No-Rinse Shampoo on my hair first. Then, I'll add some soap in the bowl & do a quick sponge bath - face first. When it's time to clean the buttocks area, I switch to a different colored bandana & pour (rather than dip) the water over the second bandana & finish up cleaning.

After finishing the sponge bath, I'll use some alcohol gel on my hands & I'm done.

I got a compliment in one of the huts in the Whites: "You don't smell bad for a thru-hiker." :)

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/76983474854955401/

[squeezebox]

Birdbrain - I am naturally depressed.

[krshome]

Ok being that the sea to summit buckets seems to be a little tippy i'm wondering if the Ultra-sil model is worse. Does anyone have any experience with the ultra-sil model? I have also seen that the bucket can be folded downward for strength to make it more like a kitchen sink but only gives you half the water holding capacity. If that works with the Ultra-sil Ill be set.

[BirdBrain]

Birdbrain - I am naturally depressed.

Well the... I guess you know where to place the bucket. ;)

[QiWiz]

hang it from a tree branch or propped stick.

[perrymk]

When I was a puppy my bicycle water bottle had two lids. One regular and one with holes like a salt shaker. It made a handy shower for a short rinse after taekwondo class. I'm thinking when I thru in 2020 to bring along and extra lid with holes drilled for my gatorade water bottle. First use the water bag method others have described, then use the bottle for efficient rinsing.

[Just Tom]

I've found that with collapsible buckets you just need to tie a cord around the trunk of any tree (branches or not) five feet up and then with the other end tie the handle and synch it up so it stands while the bucket is still on the ground. Provides just enough support to help it stand up.

[krshome]

I've found that with collapsible buckets you just need to tie a cord around the trunk of any tree (branches or not) five feet up and then with the other end tie the handle and synch it up so it stands while the bucket is still on the ground. Provides just enough support to help it stand up.
Do you mean something like this? http://www.dutchwaregear.com/big-carl-pack-hanger.html

[Just Tom]

I just use a small length of cord and a couple of knots, but a gadget would work too.

[handlebar]

Instead of a bucket, I dip a 1 gallon ziploc freezer bag to collect about 1-1/2 L of H2O; carry it well away from the trail and water source; roll down the sides a bit and place in a small depression inn the ground or between a couple rocks to keep it from tipping; then wash up with a bandana using a slight bit of soap only on the pits and bits. I find that just rinsing the salt off my skin is very nice. I try to keep the water in the ziploc relatively soap free and use whatever is left to rinse off as well as to rinse out socks and boxer briefs.

Where re water is scarce, as inn the desert, even a half liter is enough to rinse off the salt.

[Canadian_Hiker]

If I am around a good place to swim I hope in with short or underwear on then head for the woods off the trail and soap up the important areas [emoji5]️ then rinse off with the water in my sea to summit bucket. As others have mentioned it sometimes take another trip back to the water to fill up the bucket again to finish the rinse. If I am away from a good water hole I use baby wipes and a small bit of water and a wash cloth to clean up some! I have never had to many days go bay without a place to jump in the water!


Canadian_Hiker
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Vegan Packer]

Fast forward to 14:58 to 16:17, and you will see the Sea to Summit Kitchen Sink sitting there with water in it (not completely full, but enough), and I discuss bathing in the field. You will also see the Tyvek sheet that I use for several things, one of which being to stand and sit on while bathing, so that I don't get stand in the mud or have it splash back up onto me while I am bathing in the field. At 24:40-24:45, you see me just laying out on the Tyvek sheet. At 36:44, I have the same Tyvek sheet used to make a front porch at my tent's entrance. It weighs next to nothing, and I use it all the time. You'll see me using that same sheet in a bunch of different ways throughout the video. Highly recommended, both the Kitchen Sink and the Tyvek! :)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWtlSbaAY7o

[scooterdogma]

I take a gallon milk jug and cut it in half to make a 1/2 gallon bowl. Light, free and doesn't collapse. When stuffing in my pack, I place the "bowl" around the bottom of my feed bag. Packs up tight and doesn't take up any room. Handy for scooping water too!

[Busky2]

This year I had the pleasure of hiking with a guy trail name Day Hiker, this is the guy you want to find and talk to. He was on the trail for months and looked at all times like he was just dropped off from a magazine shoot. I would swear he had to have a magic solar iron and washer dryer hidden in the woods next to a walk ins welcome day spa. His name said it all NO ONE would ever think he was out for more than a hour long stroll. I don't know if he is on WB but that guy would know all the secrets of successful trail hygiene.

[Wet Foot]

Shower? :)

[squeezebox]

A 1/2 gal milk jug works well also, the right size for TP and misc.

[Grinch]

I used a Nalgene bottle shower that I made. I used the hose and shower nozzle from a solar shower. I then drilled a hole Nalgene lid slightly smaller than hose then made an anti siphon valve in lid with a little rubber valve also from a Nalgene lid that has the side flip straw. I will try to post pic of lids later if this setup interests you. I take showers on trail morn and Eve. Without valve the water doesn't flow well

[Different Socks]

I used a water bag with shower attachment when I was on my long hikes. Unfortunately, the bag I used isn't sold any more so I'll have to get a different one. Was laughed at for using one on every trail, but sooner or later I would be asked if they could use it also.

[Dogwood]

No need to make cleaning up complicated. If you're planning on showering/bathing on the AT it's likely you'll be doing so near a large water source - rive, lake, campground w/ water, etc . Fill up whatever water carrying receptacle you have. For me, no need for carrying a separate showering/bathing water receptacle. My 2.4 L Cascade Designs Platypus works fine. Jump in water, rinse, wipe down with bandanna, walk away from water source, soap up if you have soap, rinse with water from Platypus by dumping it over your head. Wipe down again.




Sometimes, I will launder a shirt or running shorts while also bathing often while wearing the clothing.




FWIW, sweating out near a fire(don't like this idea as it usually entails a BIG fire!, like what Tipi had access to though!), taking a smoke bath with your sleeping bag, poncho, or jacket over your head, cleaning up with desert or beach sand(I clean my cookware with CLEAN fine sand or small pebbles regularly too), freshening up with plants(lots of good ones that are in abundance, Bracken and Hay Scented ferns, dry pine needles, native abundant larger coarse leaved Viburnums(they are often mistaken for hydrangeas), Umbrella or Big Leaf Magnolias, etc all make acceptable and pleasantly scented wipe cloths), and knowing which plants in an area are high in saponins that create a soapy detergent like lather - buffaloberry(Shepherdia spp., use the fruit!), soapwort(Saponaria officinalis), several yuccas(Yucca spp.. a few grow on the east coast, can use the roots but I have used the flowers as well, I eat the flowers too), Campion(Silene spp), soapberry(Sapadinus spp.), English Ivy(Hedera helix), Basswood(Tilia spp ), yarrow(Achillea miillefolium, has antimicrobial properties which is why it was used for dressing wounds), etc. Have also used CLEAN(absent of human garbage!) fire ashes to scrub down and then rinsing and wiping down with water.



http://www.pfaf.org/user/cmspage.aspx?pageid=49
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/soaps.shtml