A Few Backcountry Hygiene Tips

Shower Pouch

If you head out into the no service zone for more than a day or two, you need to start thinking about personal hygiene. Some basic hygiene exercises you’ll want to do every day, like brushing your teeth and washing your hands after bathroom breaks or before eating, but there are a few additional things you can do to keep your body happy and healthy when venturing outdoors for days at a time. Here are a few of my personal favorites.

Shower Pouch: After a couple of days schlepping heavy loads up and down thousands of feet of elevation or biking along dusty trails, you are going to be sweaty and dirty. This large 2′ x 1′ pre-moistened cloth is big enough for a whole body wash and will clean you up in no time. The formula is pH balanced, vegan, and hypoallergenic, and contains no parabens or sulfates. The wipes come in three different scents — bamboo, cucumber (my favorite), and unscented — and include organic ingredients such as aloe leaf juice, tea tree oil, witch hazel, and willow bark.

Unlike baby wipes or even Wet Wipes, these don’t leave you feeling sticky when you are done and you don’t have to use an entire pack to get yourself clean — one wipe will do the job. I always sleep better when I am clean — there is nothing worse than getting into your sleeping bag all sweaty and full of grime.

If you are intrigued to try them for yourself, the team at Shower Pouch graciously offered to supply you lovely readers with 30% off your purchase by using promo code “CASTER” at check out.

BLDG+Active

Bldg Active: Made from hypochlorous acid (HOCL), this skin repair spray mimics the solution created by your white blood cells to naturally kill bacteria, reduce inflammation and help your body heal. It kills 99.9% of bacteria within 15 seconds so is great to spray on the various scrapes and cuts you are bound to get playing outside all day. I also give my feet a good spray every night to aid healing of any hot spots or blisters that might have formed during the day and generally keep my feet in good shape — you need to depend on your feet so you better take good care of them.

Bread bags: If you are headed somewhere wet, expect rain, or plan to do a ton of bushwacking, you can pretty much guarantee that your shoes are going to be wet for the duration of the trip. So instead of sticking dry, clean socks into wet shoes each morning for them to only become instantly wet themselves, throw on some bread bags between the two. Dry feet are happy feet.

Chamois Butt'r

Chamois Butt’r GoStik: When bikepacking, I throw in this glide stick to use every morning or as needed. Since you are spending all day in the saddle, any small problem will only get worse so it’s best to keep things moving smoothly from the outset. The anti-chaffing formula is great for running, hiking, rubbing on your feet, or any sort of friction spots, too. It comes in an 0.15-ounce travel size so won’t take a lot of room up in your pack or bike bags.

Do you have any backcountry hygiene tips and tricks?

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