Shower ? cleaning yourself clean !

[floatcloud]

that should be 'keeping yourself clean!'

Can anyone recommend a good shower facility for when you're camping in the middle of nowhere please ?

Really do hate getting into my sleeping bag all sticky and stinky to put it bluntly and wet wipes don't really do it for me..

Plenty of those dribbly luke warm solar shower kits around but has anyone tried anything superior please ?

I saw a review for Helio pressure shower but it really is VERY expensive for my modest camp budget!

This is such a must now the weather is starting to get warmer. There surely must be people out there with the same opinion !

Thank you
fc

 

[Janne]

Wash in the nearest stream.

The original way to keep clean. Hot showers are a very modern ( post WW2) luxury.

 

[Toddy]

Webtex collapsable bowl
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/2224...=1007302&device=c&campaignid=737386489&crdt=0

a bar of soap

and two flannels

It's how folks did it for a very long time.

Mark the bowl so one side is for the dishes, and the other's for cleaning you. Sorted

M

 

[Robson Valley]

I had really good jobs with various inland/freshwater fisheries agencies. Messy, to say the least.
1. With some laundry detergent, wade in to the lake and wash myself very thoroughly.
2. Take off my clothes and rinse them, leave them on the pier.
3. Use a bar soap on my own hide to slosh out smelly-clean!

 

[Janne]

Soap and flannels are a luxury too.
Be a real man and use the gravel and sand from the bottom of the stream!

 

[Janne]

But as long as the soap is not Lavender scented is should be ok.

 

[peaks]

As Mary said .......but I have been using this type of wash cloth for years rather than flannels - much better than flannels IMHO as it enables me to reach all areas of my back with ease. They are very light and dry quickly too. https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Skin-Care/Salux-Japanese-Beauty-Cloth-Towel-Scrub-Shower/B008ET8FYW

 

[Hibrion]

I use a collapsable bowl, a couple of face cloths and concentrated liquid soap like wilderness wash or something similar that's biodegradable. It's handy because you can wash yourself, clothes and dishes with the same product, but obviously not at the same time!

I usually boil some water over the fire, mix with cold water until I get the desired temperature and wash with a face cloth. I carry a small towel to dry off. I generally stay away from the microfibre hiker towel you see in outdoor shops as I find they smell quickly, dry slowly and absorb poorly. Good old cotton gets the job done best in my opinion.

*It is also worth noting that in many parts of the world it is unacceptable to use detergent of any kind in rivers or lakes - even biodegradable stuff like wilderness wash.

 

[Nomad64]

If you really want a proper shower try this from Boundarytec - I met Tim the guy who distributes these in the UK at the Bushcraft Show last year and have kept in touch - no affiliation other than that. Just put the heat exchanger in a fire or over a stove and off you go!

http://www.boundarytec.co.uk/products.html

I've seen it being demonstrated and it looks good - not cheap but maybe worth a look.

Otherwise as others have said a collapsable bowl and water from the pot on the fire.

 

[Toddy]

Oh that looks posh and kind of inspires kit envy, doesn't it ?

There's the thing with scrubbing oneself clean with flannels though….you feel 'clean' when you're done and they work with just plain water too. Not as good as with a bar of soap right enough, but they do the job. If you've got hot water so much the better.
I agree about the baby wipes, they just kind of slide over the skin. Fine for a wee freshen up, but not a real clean.
I just use a shemagh as a towel. Since it's cotton it does dry, and it dries off pdq when I'm done.

M

 

[MartinK9]

I use the ortlieb bowl method mentioned above

I also have one of these:

https://www.ortlieb.com/en/Shower valve/

attaches to various Ortlieb bags.

I have these:

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/ortlie...gclid=CIL54PDAmtMCFYg-GwodF2YMew&gclsrc=aw.ds

and also:

https://www.ortlieb.com/en/Water Bag/

 

[GGTBod]

If i can't use a local stream or lake then i go for how we used to do it when i ran away with the travelling fairground as a boy

Bowl for water (in the woods i always have my fold flat one made from vinyl back in the days of the fair it was a washing up bowl)
Soap
1 wash cloth
1 sponge
Kettle

boil up a kettle full
fill bowl with cold water
add boiling from kettle until warm enough, put kettle still mostly full aside
strip
one leg with foot in bowl and wash everything attached to it with soap and the wash cloth, don't bother rinsing it off yet
other leg in bowl and wash everything attached to it with the wash cloth, don't rinse
now throw away soapy water
fill bowl with cold and use kettle to warm it up
wash upper torso in same fashion standing over the bowl
once you've done yer head empty away soapy water by emptying over your whole soapy body
fill bowl with cold water and warm it with some from the kettle
use sponge to rinse yourself off
pour water from bowl over head
repeat until not soapy
a proper standing bath as we used to call it, full and total hygiene when you have no running water for whatever reason

 

[Robson Valley]

I never said that the lakes or rivers were warm. These shower devices look so comfortable.

It's also worth noting that the lechate from septic and other simple soil systems will contribute to the phosphate and nitrate eutrophication
of lakes and streams. Just isn't "smack-in-the-face" obvious and dribble on for centuries.

McBride has a zero discharge evaporative sewage system which has it's own artificially constructed wetland.
The vegetation was selected for metal absorption, It could be cropped and ashed for metals.
Population 600, system capacity 12,000.

 

[Macaroon]

I really can't believe what I'm reading here; I'm not a rude person but I'm very tempted here. Wash yourself in whatever way you can, keep your clothing suitable and well looked after and just get on with it.

If this seems a harsh reply, maybe you should stay with your mama, eh?

 

[GGTBod]

yo mama

 

[Janne]

I really can't believe what I'm reading here; I'm not a rude person but I'm very tempted here. Wash yourself in whatever way you can, keep your clothing suitable and well looked after and just get on with it.

If this seems a harsh reply, maybe you should stay with your mama, eh?

True. I believe we should make our stay in Nature as pleasant and fun as posdible, but to carry some kind of shower gizmo is plain weird..

 

[Toddy]

Why ? it's just warm rain

M

 

[Janne]

I find it extremely invigorating washing myself in a cold stream.
No, I do not keep the same hygiene when out. I wash my feet, between my big toes, armpits, face and hands.
I do not wash my hair or brush my teeth.

 

[homesicksteve]

The Solar Shower thing, topped up with a couple of kettles of boiling water does a great job for me...

 

[Joe tahkahikew]

We always washed or swam in the rivers or lakes. Bit harder in winter after the freeze up!! Cold water is good for body, spirit and heart.

Sometimes ne camp we stayed had steel oil drums. We filled those with water and left them in sun to get warm and that makes for nice wash if you like warm water.

But you could use any container really. Dark plastic gallon sized drum - fill him with water, put in sun for time and you have hot water if in sun for long enough. Canoe on shore with some water in the bottom also gets pretty dam warm in summer.