How long have you been without a wash?

[bhofmann]

I was thinking about washing and cleaning recently and wondered how long people here have lived rough and not washed. I'm not saying being filthy is something to be proud of, I just remember that I was about the only person in army training who opted to stay in the bush when the rest of the company went back to barracks for showers and such.

So my record which I hope I never break is 4 weeks. We slept in trenches we dug in the ground and by the end of the 4 weeks my face was filthy from the shooting more than anything else. I must have shot a few thousand rounds a week.

It's also the only time in my life I've had nothing but a stick to dig a small hole with and to wipe up with. No leaves of note for miles.

 

[helixpteron]

46 days.

Only water available was for consumption.

 

[maddave]

46 days.

Only water available was for consumption.

Yup round about the same (6 weeks)

 

[John Fenna]

About a week....I like clean!

 

[wicca]

Nine days' lying down only. No kneeling, no standing. Should have been four days but got compromised, stay there...hungry but plenty of rain..

 

[kilocharlie51]

Find this one a bit strange sorry to say, as an ex soldier (infantry) myself one of the first things you're given instruction in on your first outdoor exercise is keeping clean in the field, why? so you don't go down with a disease or illness and the rest of your section or platoon have to care for you and then are a man down next day for the battle or team task.

More soldiers died in WW1 from disease than were killed by enemy fire. It doesn't take long in the morning to sort your personal admin out. Wash those sweaty areas, powder the feet and socks and fight (or in the Bushcraft world) enjoy another day,free from stomach bugs, trench foot and all the other nasties that go with being a minger!

Surprised you didn't get a regimental bath!

Sorry everyone if you feel offended, but I don't see why risking illness in a remote area is something to be proud of. Just my personal opinion from the experience of others.

 

[wentworth]

1 week and I couldn't stand the smell of myself, doing up my sleepingbag was bad. The stench was trapped in with me...

 

[Tengu]

What is this washing thing?

Is it one of those immoral things that women do?

(most things women do are either incomprehensible or immoral, I find.)

 

[wicca]

Find this one a bit strange sorry to say, as an ex soldier (infantry) myself one of the first things you're given instruction in on your first outdoor exercise is keeping clean in the field, why? so you don't go down with a disease or illness and the rest of your section or platoon have to care for you and then are a man down next day for the battle or team task.

More soldiers died in WW1 from disease than were killed by enemy fire. It doesn't take long in the morning to sort your personal admin out. Wash those sweaty areas, powder the feet and socks and fight (or in the Bushcraft world) enjoy another day,free from stomach bugs, trench foot and all the other nasties that go with being a minger!

Surprised you didn't get a regimental bath!

Sorry everyone if you feel offended, but I don't see why risking illness in a remote area is something to be proud of. Just my personal opinion from the experience of others.

Not offended at all and absolutely agree 100%, but if you're pretending to be a molehill and close enough to be worried about where the oppositions going to throw his fag end, powdering your tootsies tends to fade into insignificance..

 

[Miyagi]

Hahahahaa!!

I can't beleive I'm reading a thread about who's the muckiest.

Should rename this thread "I'm the King of the Soap Dodgers".

Get those sweat creases done, and they'd better be razor sharp!!

Thanks for the laugh lads.

Liam

 

[Jakata]

A few days. Even out and about I like to wash my hair and beard, feel much cleaner when you have given your beard a wash.

 

[jdlenton]

For me its been 14 days but not any more, that was before I knew better.

As has already been said i see no point in staying dirty and stinking!!! The vast majority of places I go I can find a way of keeping my self clean, sometimes every other day but generally not that long between ablutions

A Quote from Mors: "If you don't leave the wilderness cleaner than you went in then your skills are not developed enough"

says it all really.

ow and Dave, man 6 weeks whats that about?

J*

 

[toonman]

2 weeks.
morning naked rolling in moist grass is hideous when you're right out of the toast warm of bed.
but it cleans up decent enough.

 

[Paul_B]

I'm a lightweight at about 5-6 days. Still was funny when a posh couple got on the bus after me and he sat down but she got him to get up so they could go to the top of the double decker. I am not sure it was me though just that she didn't like someone on the back seat. The stuck up piece of sh*t! I mean she's only using the bus pass she had because its free. Before they got the free bus pass they'd have looked down on public transport and on those using it. Besides I got told from someone I met who hadn;t been on my trip that I didn't smell bad at all. Apparently some ppl's bodies sort out their own odour issues. I never used any soap for that week and definitely no deodorant.

I did get home and jump into the shower and felt better after. I think that was more psychological than comfort related.

 

[maddave]

For me its been 14 days but not any more, that was before I knew better.

As has already been said i see no point in staying dirty and stinking!!! The vast majority of places I go I can find a way of keeping my self clean, sometimes every other day but generally not that long between ablutions

A Quote from Mors: "If you don't leave the wilderness cleaner than you went in then your skills are not developed enough"

says it all really.

ow and Dave, man 6 weeks whats that about?

J*

Same again... Enough water to drink and thats all we had. Very little food too OP's can be real hard sometimes (won't even discuss toilet drills)

 

[Rich^uk]

If pushed, maybe 2 weeks. But I can't imagine not being able to find somewhere to wash.

 

[R3XXY]

I'm with Tengu on this one, having to wash is just a pain.

Having said that i do it every day because if I don't, after a few days I start to smell like old onion gravy

If I could get away with it I wouldn't bother though.

 

[silvergirl]

I like being clean. If I'm just out for a few days then I don't worry too much about washing though. If I'm out for longer it makes sense to try to keep on top of 'hygine' from the start. I can't think of too long that I've gone without being 'clean' but I did have 4 weeks where my only methods of washing were sea water or half a pan of brakish water left out in the sun to take the edge off it.

What I want to know though is Where did this idea that we should 'shower everyday' come from?
The school when it does healthy living stuff tells the kids they should shower or bath everyday. How much energy does that use producing all that warm water?

When I were a lass most kids I new had bath night once a week. I liked my bath so usually had one twice a week. And my grandfather remembers bath night as the night when the tin bath got stuck in front of the stove and the whole family stood in it (one at a time) for a wash. But in those days cleanliness was a great matter of pride, both personal and clothing wise.

 

[wattsy]

some of my mates have showers twice a day i think its really unhealhy because your washing off all the natural oils that keep your skin supple and waterproof.
for the record the longest i've been without a wash was a week

 

[sensi5446]

some of my mates have showers twice a day i think its really unhealhy because your washing off all the natural oils that keep your skin supple and waterproof.
for the record the longest i've been without a wash was a week

I shower twice most days one in the morning to wake me up and one before bed after training, better then going to bed all sweaty When camping as long as I can brush my teeth I'm fine for a few days but do miss the shower