sanitation

G

Geoff in Philly

Joined
Mar 7, 2000
Messages
458
It's all well and good to have fire, cool kit, water purifiers etc, but common bacteria can spoil an extended trip faster than I can spell giardia. Just out of curiousity, what do you folks do about hand washing/ dish cleaning when in the field/bush. Most of my experience has been canoe oriented, so there is plenty of H20... I pack soap. When I backpack and know of no reliable water sites, I carry water, but hate the extra weight. What are your experiences?

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To clean my hands I bring some of that hand sanitizer gel that comes in a tube. For dishes I don't use them. I just eat MRE's.
 
Remember, fire sanitizes.

also, if you have a greasy pan, scoop in some ashes. Add a bit of water and scrub around. Set the mess back on the fire, heat, and then rinse. The ashes and the fat combine into crude soap!
 
A small (3 oz) bottle of rubbing alcohol and a coupe of small (3x3 inch) cloths. Pour alcohol on one, wipe nasty stuff off hands, and dry with the other. Alcohol is good for 3-4 days if you use it sparingly.
 
Alcohol will irritate and dry your hands. Use an antibacterial dish/hand soap. If you scrub for five min. each morning, it will actually leave an antibacterial coating on your hands. Walt
 
I'll second the good doctor's statement that alcohol irritates your hands. While washing with alcohol, fat from below your skin is transferred to the surface. So now you have a residue of your own body fat on the surface of your skin, while is just unleasant to think about, aside from drying your skin out.

--JB (who has washed his hand with carbeurator cleaner when nothing else was available)

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e_utopia@hotmail.com
 
You guys are right about alcohol making your skin dry. However, since I sunburn easily I have a lotion based sunblock that I have to apply every 3 hours, so this is not a problem.
 
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