[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [at-l] Toliet System

> It comes down to what your comfortable with while on the trail.  Maybe you
> can bring wipes and soap on a trip and make an effort not to use them and
> judge for yourself if you really need them at all?
> Take care,
> John O  
> 
> 
> 
        
>                John O   E-mail johno@mail.monmouth
>                         Brick, New Jersey
> 60 miles north of Atlantic City   60 miles south of New York City
>

John O--

Thanks for the note. My drill sergeant in basic training tried telling us
the single-piece-of-toilet-paper trick, and we didn't believe him then
(luckily, I think). Of course, the Army rations came with a small packet of
individual sheets of blue TP, so you got new ones every meal or so.

I don't know. I feel strongly that inadequate hand-washing is the vector for
all sorts of nasties at home, in day-care centers, etc., and it would not
surprise me if it had the same consequences in the backcountry. For example,
some folks who get giardia get sick, then get well, then become carriers,
leaving behind giardia cysts with every bowel movement. I really don't want
one of these people reaching into my bag of gorp if he hasn't washed his
hands afterward.

(By the way, our daughter had giardia at age 3. She liked to lean out of the
canoe and run her hands in the cool water, then stick them in her mouth. It
took over a month for us to finally decide it was bad enough to see a
doctor, get diagnosed, and get it treated. She probably would have been okay
in the long run without treatment, but she would be a carrier, and we
wouldn't know it. Heck, _I_ might have it and not know it.)

Of course, giardia is just the current nasty of choice. There are lots of
other microbes in feces that I wouldn't want to ingest (high counts of fecal
coliform bacteria occasionally shut down municipal water supplies). 

IMHO, a packet of wipes is a good idea for me when I'm solo, and a
requirement when we take our kid backpacking. A simple cold-water rinse just
doesn't seem like enough.

Oh, well, a little more weight on my back. 

Cheers,

Ken 
* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List | For info http://www.hack.net/lists *

==============================================================================