UKH

The way facilities in refuges have changed got me think about personal cleanliness whilst walking or climbing.

What's the longest others have gone without a shower or bath?

BTW In the Bonatti refuge, the only criticism I had was that, although the showers were supposed to be hot, by the time I went for mine it was cold and I mean cold as in glacial melt.

In reply to mypyrex:

2 and a half weeks in Arapiles (I did wipe myself down with baby wipes every day and no-one passed comment, probably because they also stank). I suppose I should feel some kind of repentance for the fact that someone had to sit next to me on the two planes which I caught to get home after that!
Far worse was 3 days at the Bosherston Campsite followed by a drive back to Newcastle, the smell in the car was pretty pungent!

In reply to mypyrex:

Couple of weeks, assuming there's enough freezing cold water nearby for at least a token attempt every few days. Even if its just a "snow bath".

In the past, 4 weeks in Iceland without even thinking about it...but I was a teenager at the time...

My Mrs is usually horrified at the though of me going longer than 24 hours without a wash. She doesn't believe me when I tell her that a) most people in the mountains tend to be a bit stinky and b) the longer you go without a wash or shower then the more you eventually appreciate it.
It annoys her no end when she asks if I've got my deodorant with me when I'm going away and I say that it's unnecessary weight. For a quiet life I pack it and then leave it in the car at the airport
As for only taking three pairs of underpants...

In reply to mypyrex:

6 weeks in Greenland if you ignore a few quick dips in the sea, and as there were icebergs floating down the fjord, calving from glaciers, the dips were indeed quick.

In reply to TobyA:


That beats my nearly 5 weeks in Greenland but I didn't take any dips and never once changed my underpants, in fact only taking them off once briefly for a naked selfie; I chucked them in the bin at the airport before flying home.

In reply to mypyrex:

I worked in the field in Greenland for two summers in a row in 1984 and 1985, each time for three months without a shower or bath. I found that the worst stage was after about two weeks; after that the skin would reach some new kind of equilibrium. The helicopter pilots who moved us every week did make some comments though!

In reply to mypyrex:

Nothing like not showering before a plane journey to realise how much you stink

In reply to mypyrex:

Not very long...

But the smelliest I think I have ever been was after an exercise on Salisbury Plain. At the end of it, my armpits would have stunned a wildebeest at 100m. I was wearing a smelly helly, though...

In reply to mypyrex:


Numerous times on 2-week trips into the big mountains with no facilities. No problem for me or mates

In reply to mypyrex:

6 weeks whilst in the Himalayas, although did do some wipe downs with snow and glacial melt water.

In reply to Trangia:

Always thought you had masochistic tendencies

In reply to womblingfree:


In a similar vein, I've always found that if you don't wash for a while in the mountains you don't actually smell much at all. Its only when you go down and stand near clean people that the smells suddenly appear. How does that work?

In reply to womblingfree:


In the days before Easyjet pre-allocated seat numbers, after an Alpine trip and not showering at the airport was a great way to ensure that the seats next to you remained empty......

In reply to Trangia:

After a 3 week venezuelan jungle trip we had the whole bottom deck of an overnight bus to ourselves. Several people came in, turned straight round and found somewhere to squeeze in upstairs instead.

In reply to Trangia:


Had a similar experience on a train from Toulouse to Paris after three weeks in the Pyrenees, pre-budget airlines.

Whilst we're talking about such matters did/does anyone bother washing their smalls?

In reply to captain paranoia:

<At the end of it, my armpits would have stunned a wildebeest at 100m. I was wearing a smelly helly, though...>

What was the wildebeest wearing? Brut?

In reply to Robert Durran:


I can't help but picture the washing machine in The Young Ones episode "Bambi", where Vyvyan tricks it into accepting their dirty laundry

In reply to Blue Straggler:

I can't help but picture the washing machine in The Young Ones episode "Bambi", where Vyvyan tricks it into accepting their dirty laundry

Felicity Kendall's underwear no less!

In reply to FactorXXX:



Yep, I know, I didn't add that to my post because I just didn't want to "go off" on too many tangents. As it were

In reply to Trangia:


Off the tea house route then as they have had solat powered showers for decades.

On arriving back in Chamonix the other week I spent a small fortune in one of the launderettes.
What was the first thing the Mrs did when I got home? Slung everything in the washing machine. :o{

In reply to mypyrex:
Think the longest I have managed is a week. There is some kit after heavy exercise use over a week that I have just binned. Stink does not even begin to describe it. If you can change your base layers or it is cold and arid it is mot too bad. But in humid climates, yuck.

There was some fabric boots I tried to leave under a bed in a hotel in Brazil (after 5 months of continuous use in the Amazon) before catching a bus to Beunos Aires, Argentina and a flight to Australia. The hotel staff chased after me with them. I managed to bin them before jumping on the bus.

Wonder when Mrs Num Num is going to respond They tell me she has really sweaty armpits

In reply to mypyrex:

she's had a sweaty army in a pit as well!

In reply to wercat: