Hand Sanitizers: My Journey Towards Discovering Best Practices for Wilderness Hygiene

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Backcountry travelers have a long list of things to fear. Here are my ten favorites:

Animal attacks by mosquitoes, bears, snakes, ticks, wolves, or locusts.
Drinking water poisoned with giardia, crypto, amoeba, typhoid, or the bird flu.
Running out of toilet paper and having to wipe with snow, rocks, pine cones, or spruce sprigs.
Having to build a fire when it really counts.
Having to push the 911 button on their SPOT because they failed to build a fire when it really counted.
Getting their feet wet, and then having them fall off after a progression of suprahydration, maceration, epidermal separation, fissurization, staphylococcal infestation, gangrene, and rot.
Accidentally leaving something behind, or having to justify to everyone on the Internet (in the lightweight backpacking community, at least) why they can't leave something behind, like their Sling-light, Crocs, Frisbee, iPod, Newcons, or box of E&J.
Hiking with other people.
Hiking solo.
Running out of coffee.

Of course, only #10 is a justified fear (coffee lovers, check back next week for a reprint of Mike Clelland's Techniques and Gear for the Lightweight Backcountry Coffee Connoisseur).

For the rest of you, you may be fearing the wrong things.

What you should be fearing is facilitating the transportation of fecal hitchhikers from your exhaust pipe orifice to your fuel filler neck orifice.

This article discusses how to stop these illegal immigrants en route, because we all know you can't close the border.

ARTICLE OUTLINE

Introduction
The Relationship Between Hand Sanitation and GI Illnesses
Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizers
Alternatives to Alcohol Based Hand Sanitizers
Conclusion
References

# WORDS: 1610
# PHOTOS: 1

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Viewing 25 posts - 26 through 50 (of 69 total)

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Sep 2, 2010 at 12:26 pm #1642574

Mary D
BPL Member

@hikinggranny
Locale: Gateway to Columbia River Gorge

"Anyone else out there use the mud scrub method?"

I do, and use hand sanitizer afterwards. Remember that both the mud and the stream water may be contaminated! But it will scour away most of the grunge from your hands. I've found, though, that getting my hands completely clean involves shampooing my hair at least twice, giving myself a thorough scalp massage each time, in the shower after the trip. Just soap and water and scrub brush don't do the job.

I very much dislike using soap out in the wilderness. Even a tiny amount getting into a water source can kill aquatic life.

Sep 2, 2010 at 1:39 pm #1642594

EndoftheTrail
BPL Member

@ben2world-2

I seldom if ever use hand sanitizers day to day — what the heck for? But out on the trail, I carry a half-ounce bottle with me. It's just so light and convenient to use — as compared to washing with soap and water (yes, water can be scarce here in sunny So Cal and and carrying it is heavy ).

Use the proper tools for the tasks at hand.

Sep 2, 2010 at 5:43 pm #1642662

George Matthews
BPL Member

@gmatthews

Good informative report! Thanks.

Glad to see I'm in great company in my use of a mini bottle containing Dr. Bronner's soap. And supplement with wipes that I store in a ZipLoc.

P.S.

Anyone ever buy the quart size DR B's and explore the writing on the label?

http://www.drbronner.com/pdf/drbronner_32oz_Baby.pdf

Sep 2, 2010 at 9:23 pm #1642710

Timothy Murray
Member

@timothymurray

This conversation is ridiculous. Seriously people.

Sep 2, 2010 at 10:47 pm #1642724

Sharon Moore
BPL Member

@justslm

If you aren't sure what to do with your leftover alcohol-based hand sanitizer, it does a great job of getting sap out of nylon hiking clothes. Gets it off your skin, too. But I always feel cleaner using biodegradable soap and water – just stay away from lakes and streams when you use it.

Sep 3, 2010 at 1:10 am #1642734

James holden
BPL Member

@bearbreeder-2

i'll take the CDC at face value …

If soap and clean water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub to clean your hands. Alcohol-based hand rubs significantly reduce the number of germs on skin and are fast-acting.

When using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer:

Apply product to the palm of one hand.
Rub hands together.
Rub the product over all surfaces of hands and fingers until hands are dry.

Sep 3, 2010 at 5:14 am #1642750

Will Webster
Member

@willweb

My method: 4 drops of Dr B's from a BPL bottle onto palm; rub palms together; small splash of water; work up a lather; another splash; rub lather all over hands; repeat until soap seems gone; rub in a splash of Everclear 190. All done well away from water supply. I backpack with my wife so one of us always has relatively uncontaminated hands to handle the dropper and water.

Sep 3, 2010 at 7:37 am #1642770

W I S N E R !
Spectator

@xnomanx

Talk about overcomplicating a simple process.

Soap and water…just like our grandparents did it.

Sep 3, 2010 at 8:20 am #1642782

Joe Clement
BPL Member

@skinewmexico
Locale: Southwest

I'm with Craig. The grandparents had a lot of common sense.

Sep 3, 2010 at 7:18 pm #1642915

Anonymous
Inactive

"Anyone else out there use the mud scrub method?"

That was my standard practice for many years after cleaning fish and then after eating them. It was great for removing fish slime, odors, and fish grease. I also used it after bowel movements, but then washed with soap and water, just to be sure.

Sep 3, 2010 at 7:21 pm #1642916

Anonymous
Inactive

"I very much dislike using soap out in the wilderness. Even a tiny amount getting into a water source can kill aquatic life."

+1

Sep 3, 2010 at 7:24 pm #1642917

Anonymous
Inactive

"This conversation is ridiculous. Seriously people."

Pretty strong words. Could you maybe be a little more specific about what you find ridiculous?

Sep 3, 2010 at 9:36 pm #1642940

EndoftheTrail
BPL Member

@ben2world-2

There is NOTHING complicated (or ridiculous) with using soap and water — or a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer.

Sep 4, 2010 at 12:20 am #1642955

Franco Darioli
Spectator

@franco
Locale: Gauche, CU.

I use the mud/sand method to wash my hands and my food container. I also use a very small dose of hand sanitiser afterwards.
Never use the stuff at home.
Franco

Sep 4, 2010 at 4:42 am #1642963

John Davis
Member

@bukidnon

Fear No. 8 is my main one.
How dangerous are my own microbes to me?

Sep 4, 2010 at 5:25 am #1642964

Dave T
Member

@davet

"Stop these illegal immigrants en route, because we all know you can't close the border!"

Ryan,

Maybe you should have followed up with:

"Keep your dirty hands and your trail GORP apart, just like white women and colored men!"

Sep 4, 2010 at 1:59 pm #1643032

Roger Caffin
BPL Member

@rcaffin
Locale: Wollemi & Kosciusko NPs, Europe

> I'll go get some castile bar soaps at Walgreens or something.

We collect those little packaged soaps you find in motels etc. Much lighter than a full-sized bar, far more convenient than a dropper bottle, and one tiny bar lasts for a year or two in the bush.

Cheers

Sep 4, 2010 at 3:27 pm #1643045

Eric Fredricksen
BPL Member

@efredricksen
Locale: Silicon Valley

I'm wondering if clean hands are less important when hiking solo. It seems very possible that your own GI fauna would be less harmful to you that that of others'.

Sep 4, 2010 at 11:54 pm #1643117

John Davis
Member

@bukidnon

Agreed, Eric. Your system ought to be used to them, although care should be taken as to what gets touched after a visit to the ablutions office. VSO's doctor told a bunch of us new recruits that diarrhoea means you have ingested someone else's faeces.

I also wonder if this and the issue of contaminated water come into sharper focus in hot, dry environments. My suspicion is that British backpackers have traditionally not been too concerned with hygiene and have suffered very little as a result. The Scottish Highlands have been particularly well supplied with cold, clear water this August.

The glens were sodden and even summits such as that of Mullach Fraoch Choire had excellent water sources. I wish its pool hadn't been freshened up quite so frequently during my holiday.

Sep 5, 2010 at 7:03 am #1643137

Tohru Ohnuki
Member

@erdferkel
Locale: S. California

I would agree. Good sources of water harbor few pathogens and probably quite a few of the "I've never gotten anything in the backcountry" reports are from soloists. Hell is other people (or their commensal bacteria)…

Sep 5, 2010 at 8:12 am #1643150

John Davis
Member

@bukidnon

Couldn't help chuckling, Tohru

Sep 5, 2010 at 4:46 pm #1643247

Anonymous
Inactive

"Never use the stuff at home."

Mud and sand? Or hand sanitizer?

Sep 7, 2010 at 11:46 am #1643679

Simon Wurster
BPL Member

@einstein
Locale: Big Apple

"just like our grandparents did" Ever watch your grandparents wash their hands? It was if they were scrubbing in on surgery. The 21st century quick wet-soap-lather-rinse ain't gonna do nothin' no-how. But if you scrub well like they did…

The BAK-based cleaners have an advantage for me as a contact lens wearer: no alcohol residue (and thus eye burn). No rinsing needed, just rub (scrub?), air dry, then continue as if at home. (I don't have to use any treated water prior to hand-meets-eye, removing that possible source of contamination as well.)

I use the Adventure Medical Kits hand sanitizer, and found that the dispenser can be refilled: take a suitable pair of pliers (I use needle-nose vise-grips) and carefully grasp the bottom plate and rock it off. It'll be scratched a bit, but it'll snap back on without any fuss (and many times too). I use either Soapopular (for backcountry as it's odorless but more expensive), or the Office Max Smart & Silky brand (the one for kids) for day-to-day use (dirt cheap). Even though these brands vary in concentration of BAK from 0.13% (Soapopular) to 0.10% (Smart & Silky), I can tell no difference in efficacy.

Sep 9, 2010 at 4:27 am #1644123

Richard D.
BPL Member

@legkohod
Locale: Eastern Europe / Caucasus

My trick for washing hands in the backcountry was developed while solo-hiking the PCT. I suck water into my mouth from my Platypus or water bottle and immediately dribble it out of my mouth onto my hands while rubbing vigorously. No soap. It may sound remarkably anti-hygienic, but it allows for much better rubbing of the hands than if you pour water with one hand onto the other and try to rub and rinse the hands with each hand subsequently pouring water onto the other.

With this method I could cleanse my hands as many times a day as I wished (3-8 times) to keep them feeling clean. I used hand sanitizer only after bowel movements.

I had no GI problems then or since.

Sep 9, 2010 at 9:09 am #1644172

Jerry Adams
BPL Member

@retiredjerry
Locale: Oregon and Washington

If you're solo then you won't be infecting others
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