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[at-l] Dubious Dr.Bronners
>This question is for Jim Owen and the several others of you who have
>mentioned dissatisfaction with Dr. Bronners soap. I myself was not very
>pleased with it. . .the question remains. . .what have you found to work
>better???
Jenn -
I'm not sure my answer will appeal to a lot of people, but here it is anyway.
When I was on the Trail I carried a 2 oz Nalgene bottle of Amway's LOC.
And just so you don't get the wrong idea - I'm not an Amway distributor
so I'm not trying to sell you anything. LOC only tastes a little better
than Dr Bronners, but it's more effective, cheaper and a whole lot more
biodegradable. I think a quart still sells for less than $10 which is a lot
cheaper than "the other stuff". I used it for washing pots until I found
out the hard way that that wasn't a good idea regardless of what kind
of soap you use. I used it for washing clothes and for showers - it even
works as a shampoo, although I'm not sure I'd recommend that for long
term use. I put an 8 oz Nalgene bottle in my send-ahead box so I could
refill along the way.
Now for the twist - at some point, I sent it all home. I had a bar of soap in
a ziploc bag in my send-ahead box, so that took care of showers when
I was in town. Didn't need shampoo (they don't call me Bald Eagle without
reason) and I couldn't justify the weight for the few times that I actually
used it, so I saw no reason to keep on carrying it. I carried it until Harpers
Ferry and after 1000 miles I'd used a total of less than 4 oz.
Now, let me make it clear that I was NOT one of the people who didn't
bathe on the Trail. The ritual EVERY night was to bathe before dinner.
Bathing makes you feel better after a long day on the trail and it makes it
a little easier for the other hikers to live around you. But even more
importantly it's necessary to stay clean in order to keep the chafing to
a minimum. And chafing is something that WILL make you miserable
if you let it get out of hand. I've known a number of people who were
chafed so badly that they had to get off the Trail.
Anyway, I've wandered off the subject here, so have a good day.
Walk softly,
Jim
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