From: Bob Vernon (bob.vernon@sbcglobal.net)
Date: Tue Jan 07 2003 - 22:05:10 CST
OK, let's say you use Desitin to stave off "hiker's rash." My recollection
of Desitin from my early parenting days is that there is a definite smell
and that the stuff is about as difficult to remove as pine tar (I'm sure
that's where the flushable alcohol wipes come in handy). Does not the use of
such petroleum-based products turn you into a smellable in areas where one
certainly doesn't want any ursine snooping? And what's the experienced
hiker's view on talcum powders (Gold Bond, etc.)?
BeaverBob
Eagle '69
Philmont Crew '67
Trekking Philmont this summer
> From: "Dr. Bob Klein" <drbob@troop111.org>
> Reply-To: philmont@troop47.com
> Date: Tue, 07 Jan 2003 20:03:18 -0500
> To: Multiple recipients of list philmont <philmont@troop47.com>
> Subject: [Philmont]: A Scout is Clean
>
> From the FWIW Category:
>
> - Although not reliable, it is easily possible to collect rainwater off
> your Crew tarp for "bandanna baths". This past summer, we were a 717
> Crew, and had rain on more than half our days (Drought? - What
> Drought?). Though I don't recommend it, I also stood out unprotected in
> 3 rainstorms for free (and QUITE invigorating) "mountain showers". I
> note that none of my fellow trekkers followed my example, however....
>
> - Laying dirty clothes out on rocks, or pinning them to your packs if
> hiking, when it's about to rain also gets you a free rinsing (always
> keep at least one dry set, however, in case Mother Nature has more than
> a brief "rinse" cycle in mind).
>
> - If you arrive at a camp where the staff invites you to dump your
> iodized or filtered canteen water in favor of their purified well water,
> DON'T DUMP IT, use it to clean yourself or your clothes. And no,
> Polar-Pure'd water will not hurt either you or your clothes - in fact,
> the anti-bacterial action of the iodine can only help.
>
> - Note that if you're in an environmentally sensitive area, there is no
> real need to use soap to rinse either yourself or your clothes. The
> main purpose for rinsing clothes is to get the salt and food dust out of
> them - not to make them sparkling clean. And as has been pointed out
> innumerable times here and elsewhere, if you do use Campsuds, a very
> little goes a very long way. Something to train your Scouts in,
> definitely - they'll use it like it's Johnson's baby shampoo. And if
> you do use soap, wash by the sump, and not after whatever time cutoff is
> in vogue that year (usually 3, 4, or 5 pm).
>
> - When I realized (from this list-server) that we had little chance for
> showers on our trek, we added a couple of cannisters of anti-bacterial
> wet-ones to our Crew gear, and used them for dinner cooks and
> occasionally for wipe-downs of our - ahem - more private parts (what
> Coop refers to as "PTA's"). The antibacterial coating on the wipes does
> a pretty fair job of keeping the body-odor causing bacteria (somewhat)
> at bay. Finally, as those of you who have perused my Philmont gear list
> also know, we bring flushable wipes and Desitin cream for our latrine
> kits - and I suspect that keeping your crotch clean is THE most
> important aspect of personal cleanliness - and those who do not keep
> themselves and their underwear clean generally end up with a moderate to
> severe case of hiker's rash. As you can probably guess, hiking with a
> teenage or adult version of diaper rash isn't a whole heck of a lot of
> fun (for a refresher, check with the parents of any 2 year old), and in
> fact people have dropped off the trail for this exact problem.
>
> Note that wet-ones, flushable wipes, Desitin, and any similar product
> are smellables and cannot be discarded in latrines - they have to be
> packed out. And yes, to pre-empt the usual comment about extra trash,
> this is extra trash, no doubt (and extra weight too), but special
> circumstances call for special measures. As John and others are
> pointing out, you certainly don't HAVE to do this, and the old methods
> also work just fine - but it's a nice safety net.
>
> - Dr. Bob
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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> As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
> Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
> loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
> cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
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-------------------------------------------------------
As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
-------------------------------------------------------
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