Thread: Desert hygiene
View Single Post
  #10  
Old 10-19-2006, 10:32 PM
JeepKat JeepKat is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: California, USA
Posts: 1,122
Talking Girl Stuff

I'd leave those baby wipes for the babies (they taste really bad if you wash your face with them). If you are tent camping, bring a pot large enough to boil some water and bring some camp soap, wash cloth's and some towels. A nice sponge bath before bed every night is very pleasant. The shower is better but we don't bring it for every trip. The trailer always has extra water for washing hands, face and the occasional shampoo.

Don't be shy about using the shower. We use camp-soap as body soap and shampoo, so I bring a spray / leave in conditioner for my hair to comb out the tangles and keep my hair soft.

Another trick I learned is to bring wash cloths in zip-lock bags and use the melted ice from the ice chest or a bit from a water bottle to wash up on really warm days. This can be done on the trail at anytime.

For camp, be sure to bring some comfy Ugh Boots or the Costco brand sheepskins to lounge around in or your favorite slippers, above the ankle is better at keeping your feet clean. Just don't hold them next to the fire very long.

I found that it is almost impossible to get my shoes back on after the shower until my feet are completely dry. We have those wooden sauna things that we put on the floor of the shower so that you are not standing in water while taking one.

Dry skin, chapped lips, hands and hair is a big problem after the first day, be sure to account for that. Even people with oily hair go home with dry hair.

Gloves are a must, for the women two kinds are necessary, one kind for the trail (rock tossing requires a tougher brand) and another kind to wear around the camp and to and from the trails to keep your hands warm and to prevent chapping.

Something else to consider for the women, privacy is first and foremost on our minds (believe me, the bushes in the desert are just not big enough to offer the kind of privacy a woman needs). We have a Phillips Portable Environmental Toilet System (PETT) that we keep in our tent for our personal use. I buy the Wag Bags 100 at a time and they last a really long time. We have a stand alone portable toilet tent that we can bring if someone wants to use it (just the tent, toilet not included).

Ice and frozen bottles of water work better in the ice chest than the freeze packs, you can drink the water after it melts so you are not carrying thawed dead-weight around with you. Just put them in the freezer a few days before you need to use them.
Use different sizes, I mix small and large ones.

Everybody is welcome to use what is on the trailer, the stove, can opener, and kitchen stuff. I will also bring the camp oven if you need to warm something up. Ron likes "Apple Flops" warmed in the oven with butter on them.

Kat
Reply With Quote