Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hygiene in the bush?

How do you guys handle not getting too ripe while on extended hunts? I've been on a few, and when you wake up and your water bottle is frozen and your in a little tent, it's hard to summon the motivation to wash up in a freezing cold creek. There aint enough meat on my little guy, and I don't want him freezing solid, breaking off, and floating down the creek!

After two days I'm craving a shower, and after several more, I can't stand the smell of myself. I had no idea feet could smell so damn bad. I've tried baby wipes, which seems to only delay the inevitable. Seems like only soap and water really works.

Is this inevitable, or have any of you found a system or routine that works while out there a couple of weeks? I'm interested in all opinions (not just gunwriters), but thought JB might have some good advice given his time in the field.

Anyone besides me wondering about this one...

Dober

Baby wipes will do for a few days, but soap and water become necessary eventually. If the weather's cold I just make sure there's some metal container in camp that can be filled with water and heated up.

When I'm camping in below-freezing weather I'm often in a wall tent with wood stove. It's easy to heat a panful of water on top of the stove. If the weather's a little warmer one of the solar showers is a good deal. These can be filled with warm water even if the sun's not out.

Yep, I'm thinkin' we'll just wait and let JB "handle" this one........






Ingwe


Oops...too late!

Last Season Alaska - 25 days in the bush, 3 Dall Sheep hunts.
1 Shower after 20 days.

I pretty much stayed upwind of myself those last couple of days.

Baby wipes help keep the peace with the tent sharing client.

Tramp bath.

i brush my teeth daily and change socks every couple days.

That is why I never back pack.I always stay in a bigger tent that I can stand up in.I don't like to stink and won't tolerate others that do.
Warmer hunts, I setup a shower tent. I fixed up a 5 gal gardens prayer with spray nozzle you see in kitchens, and take a shower every other day or so.Colder weather,I heat water and sponge bath from a basin

Wet Ones work pretty well for me for a week or so. Then applying dry powders such as Gold Bond for the feet and crotch, and stick deodorant and baby powder under arms help.

When in a wall tent as JB mentioned, just stip down and give yourself a sponge bath with warm water and soap--- makes you feel just like new again. Of course some modesty by doing this while others are out is usually appreciated.
JMHO
Tim

Baby wipes and gold bond powder, feet and crotch. Got me thru the first 16 days of the war in '03.

I went to a gun show last week and some of the people there smelled a lot riper than anyone I ever hunted with even after 10 days in elk camp.

Dude,

I live out of a backpack for months at a time while overseas. Just wash your nasty butt, brush your teeth, change your socks and underwear. Crotch and foot rot is no joke. You will stay healthier in the field longer and perform better.

Hot or cold, suck it up and pull a little preventative maintenance.

Cheers

I'll run this gauntlet.

If I need a soap and water scrub bad enough in a back pack type hunt, I use a pop top drinking water bottle filled with warm water as the key to my system. In cold weather, I uncover only the portion I am scrubbing at the momment. Wet and soap a cloth, scrub and rinse off with squirts from the squeeze bottle of warm water where possible. Rinse the soapy cloth and use it to rinse off as neccessary. Then towel dry and reclothe that part of the bod again before proceeding to the next section.

In a snowstorm in Idaho once I washed remarkably well and completely with one liter of water. It is amazing how little water it takes if you put it right where most needed.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

There are some things, though, that call for backpacks.
Not that I have not wished for a mule at times.

Gotta agree with the foot/crotch maintenance.
Can be 'interesting' to do in very cold conditions, but I feel sooo much better after I clean up!!

Baby wipes..the unscented kind. If they freeze up put them in the bottom of your sleeping bag at nite. A small pack of them in your pack makes for a pretty good "wipe" and keeps things from getting totaly out of control. Of course sometimes it's just good to get really rank!

LC

On a summer hunt, I make a hot water shower.

In winter, I make ... motel reservations.

Three to 5 gallons of water heated on the wood stove.

Yeah foot powder on both feet and crotch is a key to my system as well, I left it off. Baby wipes, even unscented tend to make things worse over time, giving you a really disasterous odor. I use scentlock clothes when I'm around other peeople as a courtesy, I have no delusions that it helps the hunting...