[at-l] Pack washing.....

[baltimorejack@hotmail.com (Jack Tarlin)]

Do it yourself car washes work GREAT on backpacks; just be prepared to get 
kinda soaked in the process, plus arm yourself with a bossload of quarters 
so the machine doesn't shut itself off when you're only half done..... I had 
to do this once at Traildays after some miserable godforsaken wretch 
inserted a maggotty bloated goundhog in my pack which I unfortunately didn't 
discover right away....anyway, the car wash works great, also, there's a 
spray "de-stinker" called Fabreeze or something like that which also works 
great, especially if you use like 800 times the recommended daily dosage; 
anyway, this is THE way to go if you ever wake up with 38lbs of decomposing 
woodchuck in your Osprey.  Hey, don't laugh, it can happen.

    Another possibility---if you're staying in a hotel with a tub, fill it 
up with HOT water, detergent, and maybe a little bleach, and then dunk your 
pack in there and leave it to soak for awhile; I'd change the water once or 
twice if you're really motivated.  Then lay the pack out for awhile to dry 
out; obviously, this only works on sunny days, and obviously, do this AFTER 
everyone's had their showers as it'll monopolize the bathroom for awhile.  
Oh, and you might wanna clean the tub when you're done, as there'll be all 
sorts of rings and mung and other stuff.

  Anyway, it's surprising how many folks go the whole way WITHOUT cleaning 
their packs....it's not that tough to do, very helpful if you have a coupla 
beers beforehand. Oh, last comment.... if you ever haveta send your pack 
back to its manufacturer for warranty/repair work, you should really clean 
it well first; some folks won't accept or won't repair filthy packs, and the 
cleaner the pack, the better your customer service is likely to be.

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