questions for FEMALE CAMPERS.....?

Question

for hardcore camping....camping with out restrooms, trash cans, running water...etc....How do you keep up personal hygien?
1. My skin is very sensitive and if i dont shower or use soap i break out, very badly, but i know if i am camping i cant use soaps in the rivers....what do you do?
2. When you go to the rest room and there are no toilets what do you whipe with...where do you leave the stuff you whipe with?
3. When on your period, how do you discard tampons....?
Add anything else helpfull to know when camping....THANK YOU!

Answer 1

1. You can buy biodegradable soap that is safe to use in rivers. Or what you could do is collect water, heat it over a fire and "bird bath" clean yourself.

2. Pack toilet paper. Dig a hole to use as a toilet. TP breaks down very quickly and can be buried after you are done.

3. You should know when you're going to have your period. Try to camp when you won't have it. If you must, burn what you can't bury in campfires.

Answer 2

Buy a solar shower (at a camping/sports outlet). You fill this bag with water, place it on a rock to sit in the sun all day. The reflective coating heats the water nice and hot by mid-afternoon. Hang the shower over a tree limb (away from lakes, running water, and prying eyes) and enjoy a real home shower.

Questions 2 and 3 are the same. You have to spend just a few more bucks and by a small collapsible spade. Dig hole. Bury waste a foot or so deep. You can also dig a hole, construct a toilet around the hole with flat rock and build them up to chair size. Be seated and enjoy the view. Cover the hole with dirt and collapse rocks and scatter them.

Bring bug repellant (unless of course you're going where its cold and snowy, brrrr). That would require a chapter of information. Hopefully you'll be going somewhere where the weather is nice.

Basically I'm guessing you'll be dealing mostly with food when you're not dealing with hygene, so think about what you would need to cook, prepare, and eat it with. Potholders (tongs) are a good thing not to forget. Obviously flashlights. A sharp knife.

You seem to be describing back packing? If you're just camping next to your car where there's no facilities, your car is your lifeline for all your stuff, and it's not too hard core because your car is right there. If you are seriously considering backpacking, it's a whole 'nother story.

Answer 3

1. You fill a water bottle or folding bucket with water and then move 100 feet from any water source and then wash yourself with whatever soap you like, then rinse thoroughly.

2. I use leaves or sometimes rocks to wipe, and follow with a rinse of water followed by washing my hands thoroughly and also using Purell (which you'd do anyway, right). Waste is buried in a "cat hole" at least six inches deep. You'll bring a plastic toilet trowel with you for such purposes.

Neither burying nor burning toilet paper in your cat hole is recommended. Some people who have camp fires or small cooking fires and insist on using TP will save and burn their toilet paper in there, but nothing plastic should ever be burned in the wilderness.

3. A preferable method is to use your birth control pills to delay your period for the week you'll be in the back-country (ask your doctor how to do it), but if you'll be gone longer you're going to have to carry those things out with you. Buy some O.P. (Odor Proof) Sacks if you're worried about odors: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/aloksak_op_sak_9x10.html

Answer 4

#2 & #3 carry your own toilet paper. My Dad carries ALL trash with him in a separate bag, inside of a bag, etc... until the hike is over. "You carried it up with you, you can carry it down"

Use an organic soap that does not contain phosphates.

Heat up the stream water using the camp fire before you wash.

Use bandanas and ponytail holders instead of headbands or clips because you can use them for other things.

If you are hiking, take breaks as often as you need to.
Drinking water is heavy.

Answer 5

1. take some cotton balls, add witch hazel (astringent found by hydrogen peroxide), and throw them in a ziplock bag. OR by Dr. Bronners all natural soap-it can be used for anything (even brushing teeth, but it is not recommended) it is eco friendly. It can be found at REI or most health food stores.

2. if you are a naturalist, you pack it in/out. this includes toilet paper. once again ziplock baggies are a must. i often bring baby wipes along for face, butt, armpits etc. there is a crazy device called a freschet (spelling). I haven't used it, but wanted to try it. Basically, it allows a girl to pee standing up. this one freaks me out a bit...

3. Periods are a tough one. again, you must carry it out with you in a ziplock (or two) bags. it sucks, but don't let it hold you back too much :-D

I usually buy some lavender oil to help with the smell of not showering. Or I just buck up and take a dip in a stream/lake. It is cold, but a good clean feeling definately out weighs it!

Have FUN!

Answer 6

Igght im a guy but ino

1. use biodegrable soap it doesn't harm the enviroment and maybe even get a sunshower.

2. this is a little nasty but u gotta be a hardcore camper, "u pack it in u pack it out" that includes waste but not liquids. So brown paper bag little kitty litter put it all in there then in ziploc bag then into your pack

3. look at 2

Answer 7

Ok 1: use soap in the river.. it wont hurt anything..
2: bring tp ... wipe with that.. dig a hole then cover it over when it gets full.
3: try to shedule camping trips away from that time.. if you cant help the timing then do the same as #2 but cover it over as soon as you drop it in.

Answer 8

well try not to go camping while on your period . You can take wetwipes along with you for the toilett. Usually there are showers on campingsites. And u can use the soap in the river

Answer 9

okay so basically you take a bottle of water and a wash cloth and wash your self.... you dont wipe, or you use toilet paper, and put it in a bag and take it back home with you...........

PLASTIC BAG!!- for your tampons, trash, toilet paper, food scraps.... and lock it up in a car..... you wouldnt want a bear coming after you

Answer 10

Use soap in the river....what's the big deal?