stevage

Nifty. But I can't recall the last time I was at a campsite during daylight hours...certainly not enough of them to heat up that volume of water.

yeamac 

My bad. My frame of reference was the USA in modern times. If touring in places where the locals don't bathe often, and you could stand your own B.O., then I could see not bathing all week. Me, in 90 degree weather, I'll be looking for a shower, here in the good ol' US of A.

NeilGunton

I hate not being able to get clean after a heavy day of cycling. You end up covered with salt and sunscreen, possibly mixed up with insect repellent and road grime. It's not pleasant, and it also can result in health problems - for example, saddle sores and other chafing can result from damp, grimy skin rubbing against dirty clothing all day long. That said, sometimes there just isn't any shower available, so what to do?

I've read about people using those pre-moistened towlettes ("Wet Ones" etc) to wipe off at the end of the day. There's one by Adventure Medical Kits called Fresh Bath:

https://www.rei.com/product/730067

Anybody used these, or similar? Do they work? Better than nothing?

Neil

Cyclebum

Neil, they work fine. Thanks for the link to 8x10 size. Nothing can replace a hot shower, but these things are way better than nothing.

Wogster

My point was that historically this hasn't been an issue, in modern times we can't go more then 24 hours without using 200L of hot water and chemical soaps, and then dousing ourselves in more smelly chemicals, lest we smell like people.

If your riding solo, then camping in the bush, going 3-4 days without shouldn't be a problem, even in higher heat situations. Of course you can do wonders with a cloth a little biodegradable soap and a couple of litres of warm water.

Chris L

This is a problem in warm, humid climates, sometimes day rides during summer in this part of the world will have the same result.

You not only need baby-wipes, but you also need to be washing your clothes on a regular basis, which is why I'm in a habit of seeking out a commercial campground or whatever to find a shower every 2-3 days at the most.

Machka 

I use baby wipes ... and they work very well. Go to your local Walmart or pharmacy or wherever and get a packet of baby wipes.

staehpj1

I have not found that to particularly be an issue for me. We had 90-100+ temps on much of our 2007 TA and went without showers or doing laundry for fairly long periods without issues other than the fact that we stunk a bit. Which BTW seems to be less of a problem in the rural west. Folks there seem to be a lot less prissy about body odor than in other parts of the country.

Historically folks managed fine without much bathing and still do in many parts of the world. This includes folks who spent their days on horse back. I figure if cowboys could be on horseback day after day and not bathe for months it probably won't kill me to go a few days without a shower and without washing my clothes. Experience seems to have proven that out for me. Of course YMMV.

jurjan

When we were in Argentina there would often be shower facilities (free) at the YPF gas stations.
however... girls need not apply (officially that is), it's meant for truckers, and that means it's forbidden for girls.
strange...

Machka 

+1

The daily shower thing is only a recent development in history. When I was growing up most people I knew didn't have showers and bathed twice a week ... once on Saturday night so they could start the week fresh and clean, and once in the middle of the week. When my parents were growing up the Saturday night bath was it. And this was the case for people living in a wide range of temperatures and doing a wide range of physical activity.

In between baths, on hot days, they might take a dip in the local stream or swimming hole.

Rowan and I have had to revert back to the old days here with the once a week bath, and then we use other methods of keeping clean in between. Baby wipes play an important role. They are quite inexpensive at the local department or grocery store, and we get the unscented ones. I always travel with baby wipes ... they've got a lot of uses.

I've also figured out how to wash my waist-length hair with a little more than a kettle of water (one kettle of boiled water to get it hot, and a bit of cold to cool it down a touch). When I wash my hair, I also do most of my upper body. In a camping situation, we bring a folding sink with us (we actually do carry everything and a the kitchen sink!), so we could boil up a pot of water, add a touch of cold water, and then bathe out of the sink. We haven't needed to do that yet because we've always stayed at a campground with showers every few days.

I have used the swimming pool showers, but I usually go for a swim while I'm there as well.

And in the spirit of reverting back to the old days, I've been eyeing the local dams and streams on the property here and debating about taking a dip in between bath days.

travelmama

Will camping I have taken the 24 oz shower which consisted of the water in my bike water bottle. Another time I went in to In-N-Out burger, asked a worker to fill up a 5 gallon jug with warm water and took a shower in a park. Now that I have a solar shower I will use it while out and if on cold days, I need to shower, I will ask for warm water or boil some and dump it in the sack. I don't need much as I take very quick monkey showers at home and wash my hair twice per week at the most.

Machka 

I think you've got an interesting, and environmentally friendly, shower setup at home too, if I'm not mistaken. I'd actually be interested in seeing a photo of your setup.

travelmama

You are right about my set up however, it is nothing fancy. I just took an old rectangular storage container out of the garage and placed it on the floor of the shower basin and stand it in when I take a shower. Since I use a low flow shower head, my showers consist of less than two gallons of water. The container is not too large so I am able to pull it out and pour the water down the toilet rather than flushing.
I am considering a new shower that will be a bit more financially and environmentally friendly.

lubers

Have anyone tried using Warm Showers

axolotl

When I toured in northern Laos, I had a hot shower in most guesthouses I stayed in. In some of the smaller villages, however, you couldn't always get a hot shower. One place I stayed in had a large barrel of air temperature water with a large ladle. If you requested, the guesthouse would heat up a large pot of water to a near-boil. You could then mix the cool water with some hot water and get a very effective and comfortable bucket bath. I found this hot bucket bath was far preferable to a real shower which was cold water only. For 2 days I biked in an area which was off the electrical grid and cold water was all you could get. I don't have much tolerance for cold water and I've learned that if that's all that's available, then I should always shower as soon as possible after I get off my bike while my body is still hot.

One place I stayed in was adjacent to a hot spring. Locals would all go there to bathe and I did the same.

A lot of the villages had a public water source and you would often see local people giving themselves bucket baths in a very modest manner in the warm afternoon sun. By the way, this was during the winter. From December to February, northern Laos and Thailand have comfortable daytime temperatures and can actually get cool at night. In the mountains of Laos, it can get quite cool at night.

fantom1 

Bring a sponge. Lightweight, compressible, and cheap.

Take a little Dr. Bronners, a little water, wipe down. Rinse the sponge, then rinse yourself. You can have quite a good cleansing for less than 1 bottles worth of water (really only need 1/2 a bottle if you're careful.)

I've gone for about 5-6 days at a time without a "real" shower doing this and was fine, not even smelly. Of course, it really helps to wear wool and not synthetics.

AsanaCycles

you can also use just about any hydration bladder
i.e. CamelBak, MSR Dromedary
the caution, is to not pour boiling water into the bladder.

typically I have some cold water in the bladder, and pour the boiling water into it, taking care to not melt the bladder.

you can also just squat in the bushes and bathe with this method.
simply step on the bladder to provide water pressure.