[at-l] Responsible use of soap {WAS Re: help me with mygear list - please}

[kahley@ptd.net (kahley)]

Two reasons to clean up in the woods.
One...you go toidy in the woods and then
use the same hand to eat gorp.  Since I
have never mastered the discipline of wipe
with the left and eat with the right, I use
Purell post toidy.

Two...general grubbyness. Purell doesn't remove dirt.
It sanitizes it and sometimes that's enough to
prevent crotch rot and similar maladies that occur
due to bacterial growth in the sweaty zones.
But if there is water, I prefer an actual wash
but I don't like solid soap.  I like a liquid like a
face wash type product.  It's less sudsy, safe
for the face, usually fragrance free, doesn't get
gummy in the plastic bag because you put it
away wet and if you drop it, it doesn't get leaf bits
and grit stuck onto it.  I bet that "stuff" grows on
soap bars that are constantly wet.
It only takes a little bit on a wet clothe to
do the job so I put some in one of those tiny
eye drop bottles (the oblong translucent ones are
better than the round white ones).

BTW... am I the only person who carries eye
drops on the trail.  I've only used them a couple times
to flush something outta my eye.  Would water
have sufficed??