Deodorant/Anti-Perspirant… what do you use?

Embrace your inner funk!

Tom

This is the only country I have ever been in that seems to give a rip about the human fragrance, and that includes places as varied as Mexico, Iraq, India, Holland, Russia, and China, to mention a representative sample. Human body odor(s) is just part of the environment that everyone takes for granted, along with other animal smells, vehicle exhaust, etc. Nor do they shower with soap every day, either. A simple rinse seems to do just fine, and there are lots of healthy folks running around in all those places. Being American, I have a residual tendency to use soap every day when I'm in town, but only on the hairy parts with a full soap once a week, been doing it that way for years. My wife still loves me, there's no ring of dead flies around me when I wake up in the morning, and no one else seems to take much notice of me either. In the backcountry, nothing could be farther from my mind. I mean, am I going to offend Fat Fred, the local marmot, any more than I already have just by showing up?? And everybody I run across, or am hiking with, smells pretty ripe, too. On a more practical note, every fragrant item you bring along has to go in the OP bag, leaving less room for really important things like food. Personally I think we're all victims of a gigantic scam by the personal grooming products industry. It's seamless-soap, soap, soap 'til your skin dries out and then you have to use skin conditioners to restore its oils, worry, worry, worry that your natural aroma might offend someone and lo and behold, you start to smell unpleasant from all the stress and have to use deodorant, etc, etc. Time to kick back and accept your odor as part of the human condition, folks.

Very interesting. 1 month you say? I am defiantly going to try this one out. Ben, you may have just started a revolution.

Let the stinking begin! I may lose a few friends but I will save that ounce of weight in my pack. How's that for being a gram weenie!
As for toothpaste and toothbrush I say leave them behind too. If you've made a fire, stick some of the charred wood in your mouth. That's an old trick we used to play on the new Scouts. Walk over to the cool fire and pop a piece of charcoal in your mouth. The newbies would look at you like you were crazy when you told them you were just cleaning your teeth. It works pretty well too! Just be sure to rinse your mouth well when you're done :).

Adam

We all big boys and girls now, and there's no excuse for acting and smelling like slobs just because we are out in the wilds. Sure, we can relax our standards some, but we should still show appropriate consideration toward others, right?

Now, if y'all carefully re-read my post, you will note that my position is simply "the middle way":

o On the one hand — DON'T fall for those stupid deodorant ads! Deodorants are just not necessary for most people.

o OTOH — DO take care of personal hygiene. There is a big difference between using soap or anti-bacterial wipes versus just coating yourself in bacteria for three days and then stinking up a whole car afterwards!

A few sheets of anti-bacterial wipes weigh very little. A nightly wipe down will not only keep you cleaner — but it will keep your sleeping bag cleaner as well. Boggles my mind why full-grown adults would let themselves go just because they are hiking…

ADDENDUM: Just browsed through the thread again — and noticed that not a single female responded! Hmmm….

to carrying deodorant/anti-perspirant.

Honestly, when the rest of me is sweaty, how much better am I going to smell if I use deodorant? Not enough to carry it, take the time to dig it out and apply it when all I want to do is eat dinner and collapse for a little rest, and then mess with bear bagging it.

Wearing wool has worked to minimize odor for me.

(Had to chime in due to Ben's note that no women had posted!)

Pam

Umm, I hope I didn't raise a stink! :)

Don't usually bother myself, but the missus has a tiny travel roll-on that we share if hiking together.

That's the problem really, if one of the couple uses deodorant then it becomes obvious that the other one, isn't.

Next time we hike together I might try putting a couple of babywipes in a small ziplock and using these instead. They would weigh less. They cover up stink AND might clean you a bit at the same time.

It sounds like several here think you won't stink if you don't use deoderant for awhile…I would love to suffer thru one month to go deoderant-free the rest of my life, but I'm having a hard time believing it will work.

Take my 8yr-old daughter for example. She never used deoderant a day in her life, until she STARTED smelling badly. We all stunk for the 1st time BEFORE we ever used deoderant, so how will stopping now reverse the process?

I wish deoderant was a gimmick, but it works. Help me understand what I'm missing, here.

Thanks, Todd

Alright – I'm trying it. I'll see how long I can go – or should I say see how long my wife can go. This should be interesting…

Speaking of conditioning your body while at home for the trail, (I know this sounds crazy), but has anyone ever tried sleeping consistently (while at home) in colder temperatures so that when you hit the trail you don't need as warm of a sleep system? I tried it a few nights with the window open and the fan on but couldn't fall asleep.

I've slept w/ windows open (don't like a fan blowing in my face, though, for some reason) and it worked. My body got used to it.

I'm glad to know it worked – and that I'm not the only crazy one.

I got to thinking – I'm sleeping under a down-filled quilt (my comforter), I can hear the crickets chirping with the windows open… it's amlost like I'm backpacking! I got to wondering what fill down is in the duvet – I think I'll measure the loft. Then I just need to put my GG NightLight on the floor and I'm there! This way when I'm in the backcountry sleeping – it really will be as comfortable as sleeping in my own bed!

Brilliant, isn't it?

As stated, I've never ever used deodorant in my life. I am thinking that folks who use deodorant would be accustomed to a certain fragrance and a certain "dry" feel. Ditto for the folks around them. Quitting "cold turkey" and returning to a more natural feel may actually seem weird or even uncomfortable — at least initially. I think this may be similar to some folks who use lip balm a lot — they keep using it even when their lips are not chapped at all, but simply because they've gotten used to that certain feel on their lips!

For folks who want to detach from deodorants, it might make sense to do this at home — and maybe take more frequent showers or use antibacterial wipes initially — until their bodies have adjusted — physcially and mentally. Daily users probably shouldn't quit right before a long hike…

I used to do that before going waterfowling. My body doesn't do so well in cold temperatures (thumbs don't work so well, feet freeze up, and that's just when its right below freezing!). I would make sure it was cool in my room when I went to bed and then on the way to the farm to hunt Dad wouldn't turn the heater on. By the time you got to the blind you were already a little chilly so the cold air didn't hit you so hard.
I used to have a really uncomfortable bed at home and would sleep on the floor with a sleeping bag a lot. Maybe I should start doing that again the few days before I go on a trip.

Adam

Ben,

Why do you say "Daily users probably shouldn't quit right before a long hike…"?

I'm about to take one and was wondering…Thanks

>Speaking of conditioning your body while at home for the trail, (I know this sounds crazy), but has anyone ever tried sleeping consistently (while at home) in colder temperatures

Yep, until I moved in with my girlfriend! Now I have the opposite problem. During our first year together, I would lay awake sweating because the warmth of cuddling overwhelmed my naturally high metabolism. I finally got the hang of switching my metabolism *off* when I go to bed, and now I can't stop doing it! When I lay down for my first night on the trail, I fffreeeeze! It's not until the second night that I'm adjusted and my body turns *up* the heat at bedtime instead of *down*.

In college I had a Ukrainian room mate for awhile. *That* got me used to cold. He couldn't stand heat of any kind; every morning he was up at 5 and he threw all the windows and doors open. Even in the winter! I'd wake up shivering, with the apartment being just a few degrees above freezing. I'd come out and find Yuri, walking around in his gotch, a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth, making coffee. If you've ever met one, you'll know that old-country Ukrainians are some of the tougher people on the planet…

"I think this may be similar to some folks who use lip balm a lot — they keep using it even when their lips are not chapped at all, but simply because they've gotten used to that certain feel on their lips!"

I have found that I can transfer some natural oil from my forehead to my lips with a swipe of my finger, and this works better than any balm. It may sound gross if you haven't tried it, but it really isn't.

> I have found that I can transfer some natural oil from my forehead to my lips with a swipe of my finger

"That is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard!"

– Leon Phelps, "The Ladies Man"

A while ago I read an article on the miraculous properties of "nose grease," — that it was superior to lip balm for that application. The most most amusing part was that watchmakers allegedly swore by it for lubricating tiny parts. I'm sure the sebum secretions in "forehead grease" are in the same league . . .

Well, since your carrying it anyway . . .

Somewhere I remember being exposed to the idea of using nose grease to lube the ferrules on a fly rod. I'm sure there is an infomercial selling a nose grease additive to lengthen your engine life and improve fuel efficiency using second place nascar drivers to shill it. Around the turn of the previous century in the late 1800's nose grease was a major ingredient in patent medicines that later morphed in modern day soft drinks, hmm, who would of thought it.

Calling our researchers…

When did humans first become aware of their smelly arm pits? Are there any cave wall drawings to show evidence supporting this?

When was consumer deordorant invented?

P.S.

My earlier posted car incident was a little over three years ago. There is still – although very faint – a lingering flavor to this day. Which makes me wonder if ancient stinks may still be trapped under the ice in places. I guess we'll know soon.

I think we're off on a tangent in terms of dealing with stink. My own personal experience has been that it's my clothes than stink far more than me after a few days of hiking. That and the hairy parts of my body. Washing both is about all that's necessary to keep things manageable for me. I've given my skin the "sniff test" many times and never wrinkled my nose so far. The pits and crotch, even from afar, are another matter…A rinse, no soap, works just fine for all of the above mentioned offenders. My guess is that the UV rays of the sun kill most of the bacteria dwelling in my clothes when I hang them out to dry. Pits and crotch still smell a little, but not enough to keep me awake nights stressing about it. Ditto when I get back to the car. A change of clothes suffices until I make it back to civilization and, so far, no rental car company has ever charged me extra for returning a stinky car. As for anti-bacterial wipes, a few swipes with one of them will hardly make a dent in the bacteria population on your skin, which is, and has been practically from the day you were born, colonized by a multitude of different bacteria, some beneficial, some benign, and some nasties. They will continue to multiply geometrically and in a very short time things will be as if you had never swiped. It's a waste of weight, time and money, IMHO but, what the hey, to each his/her own. Good thread. Any sociologists or behavioral psychologists participating?

My Dad taught me to do that w/ a fishing rod, too!

I also rarely if ever use deodorant. Like Brian… I have a stick somewhere under my sink that's over a year old… with plenty left. I just shower every morning. So the idea of taking it backpacking seems odd to me. But that's just me! And I DO sweat. I sweat a lot actually. I used to go to a yoga class every morning before work where I would sweat buckets (Ashtanga… hot room)… and even then… I'd just have a "bird bath" when I got to work. No BO. Maybe that's just my body chemistry or diet? Maybe some people's sweat smells more than others? I think when you're backpacking tho'… no one cares what you smell like. I wash up in the morning… ya… but that's all I would ever do. Personally.

Having been in enough environments with folks from other countries I prefer freshly washed with soap.

Some people stink so bad being around them is like a punch in the gut. Their problem, not mine.

I don't bring deodorant into the backcountry. Antiperspirant
is considered a bad idea health wise by some people.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-difference-between-antiperspirant-and-deodorant.htm

I have long contended that women using moisturizing lotion lose the ability (for whatever reason) to keep their own skin hydrated.