Camp Skills
Camp hygiene
Clean hands, dry feet and a tidy kitchen prevent more ruined trips than any piece of gear. Here is the full system — washing without a shower, toileting properly, dishes, dental, period care and odour control — plus what changes for each style of camping.
Why it matters
Hygiene is a safety system, not a comfort item
Almost all camp illness is hand-to-mouth
Norovirus and the classic 'camp stomach bug' spread through hands, not through the water. Wash before every meal and after every toilet trip and you have removed the biggest risk on the trip.
Small skin problems become trip-enders
A hot spot becomes a blister, a blister gets dirty, and a dirty blister ends a hike. Clean feet and dry socks are hygiene, not luxury.
Smell attracts wildlife
Scented soap, toothpaste, deodorant and wipes are all 'smellables'. They belong in the bear canister or hang with the food, never in the tent.
Clean camp means clean neighbours
Greywater, food scraps and poorly buried waste ruin a site for everyone who follows and draw rodents into your gear overnight.
Comfort keeps morale up
A five-minute wash before bed is the single biggest difference between 'roughing it' and sleeping well. Dirt and sweat on skin also cost you warmth.
It is mostly free
A bottle of hand sanitiser, a bandana, unscented soap and a trowel cover ninety percent of camp hygiene for under twenty dollars.
The one habit that matters most
The kit
What a complete hygiene kit contains
Hand sanitiser (60%+ alcohol)
One small bottle on the outside of your pack or by the kitchen, one in the toilet kit. Sanitiser does not kill norovirus or Crypto — it is a supplement to soap and water, not a replacement.
Unscented biodegradable soap
Dr. Bronner's or Campsuds. A tiny amount does everything: hands, body, dishes, laundry. Biodegradable still means 200ft from water, on soil, never in a stream.
Two bandanas, colour coded
One for face and body, one for dishes or dirty jobs. Rinse, wring hard, hang on the line — they dry faster than any towel.
Pack towel
A small microfibre towel dries you and then dries itself. Full-size is unnecessary weight; a 12x24in is enough for a whole body.
Trowel and toilet kit
Trowel, TP in a zip bag, sanitiser and a sealed pack-out bag, all in one bright stuff sack so nobody has to hunt for it in the dark.
Wet wipes (unscented)
For when water is scarce or freezing. Every used wipe is packed out — they do not break down, ever.
Toothbrush, tiny paste, floss
Cut the handle if you're counting grams. Floss doubles as cord.
Nail clippers and tweezers
Dirt under long nails is a real infection route, and tweezers pull splinters and ticks.
Foot care kit
Spare dry socks, blister tape or moleskin, and a little foot powder. Feet get their own kit for a reason.
Personal medications and period supplies
Doubled up beyond the trip length, in a waterproof bag, plus opaque pack-out bags.
Small mirror (optional)
For contacts, ticks in awkward places and splinter removal.
Trash bags
One for rubbish, one for pack-out hygiene waste, one spare. Odour-proof bags are worth it in bear country.
Step by step
Handwashing that actually works in camp
- 1
Set up a dedicated wash station on day one
A jug with a spigot, or a hanging 2L bottle with a pinhole cap, plus soap on a string and a towel. Put it between the toilet area and the kitchen so it's on the natural path.
- 2
Wet hands away from the water source
At least 200ft (70 adult paces) from any lake, stream or spring, and away from the trail and camp.
- 3
Soap and scrub for 20 seconds
Backs of hands, between fingers, under nails, wrists. Under-nail is where most of the contamination hides.
- 4
Rinse with a slow trickle, not a dunk
A pinhole bottle uses a fraction of the water of pouring. Half a litre washes four pairs of hands.
- 5
Scatter the greywater widely
Broadcast it over a wide area of soil or vegetation. Never into a stream, never in a single puddle beside the tent.
- 6
Air dry or use the clean bandana
Then sanitiser as a final step if anyone in the group has been ill.
When to wash, every time
Before cooking and eating
Every single time, including snacks. This is the one that prevents most illness.
After using the toilet
Soap and water, not just sanitiser.
After handling raw meat or eggs
Cross-contamination in a camp kitchen is dramatically easier than at home.
After handling firewood, fuel or the stove
Soot, sap and fuel residue all end up in your food otherwise.
After petting dogs or handling gear from the ground
Especially in livestock country.
Before treating anyone's wound or blister
Including your own.
Getting clean
Bathing without a shower
The strategic wipe-down
You don't need a full wash. Hit the four places that matter — face, armpits, groin, feet — with a warm damp cloth. Ten minutes before bed and you'll sleep dramatically better.
Warm water changes everything
Boil a litre, add two litres cold in a basin, and you have a genuinely pleasant bath in a bowl even in near-freezing weather.
Solar shower bag
A 5-gallon black bag left in the sun from 10am hits 100°F+ by mid-afternoon. Hang it from a sturdy branch and you have a real shower for a family.
Camp shower tent or a tarp corner
Privacy is what actually makes people use the shower. A cheap pop-up shelter or a tarp strung in an L is enough.
Rinse away from water, always
Carry water to your wash spot 200ft from the source. Soap in a lake is soap for everyone downstream, biodegradable or not.
Swimming is a rinse, not a wash
Swim if you like, but no soap in the water. Rinse the sweat off, then do the soap step onshore with a bottle.
Dry fully before dressing
Damp skin under layers chills you fast and causes chafe and fungal issues in warm weather.
Sleep clothes stay clean
A dedicated set of dry base layers that never leave the tent is the biggest single upgrade to camp comfort and warmth.
The awkward one
Toileting in the outdoors, done right
- 1
Check the local rule before you go
Many high-use, alpine, desert and river corridors now require pack-out — WAG bags or a groover. Burying is not always legal or acceptable.
- 2
Walk 200ft from water, camp and trails
Roughly 70 adult paces. Pick a spot with dark, organic soil and some sun — it breaks down far faster.
- 3
Dig a cathole 6–8in deep, 4–6in wide
Deep enough that animals don't dig it up, shallow enough to stay in the biologically active soil layer.
- 4
Go, then pack out the paper
Toilet paper goes in a doubled opaque zip bag, not in the hole. Buried paper gets dug up and blows around for years.
- 5
Fill in and disguise
Stir a little soil in with a stick, fill the hole, tamp it down and cover with leaf litter or a rock so nobody digs the same spot.
- 6
Sanitise and then wash properly
Sanitiser at the spot, then soap and water at the wash station before you touch food or shared gear.
- 7
Urine is different
Dilute and generally harmless, but salt attracts animals that dig up vegetation. Aim for rock, gravel or bare soil, and stay off plants and away from camp.
- 8
Group camps need a designated area
Pick a direction on arrival, downhill and downwind of camp, and tell everyone. Random catholes around a busy site are how sites get closed.
Your six toilet options
Cathole and trowel
The default for dispersed and backcountry camping where allowed. Cheapest, lightest, no smell to manage.
WAG bag / pack-out kit
Gel and enzyme powder in a doubled bag. Required in canyons, on rivers, above treeline and on glaciers. Surprisingly civilised in use.
Portable camp toilet (bucket style)
A 5-gallon bucket, a snap-on seat and heavy contractor liners with sawdust or kitty litter. Perfect for basecamps and family car camping.
Cassette / RV black tank
Use plenty of water on every flush, RV-safe paper only, and dump only at a legal dump station. Never dump greywater or black water on the ground.
Composting toilet
Popular in vans and small RVs. Separates liquid from solid, which is exactly why it doesn't smell — empty the liquid daily.
Vault and pit toilets
Use them when they exist, even if they're unpleasant. Concentrating waste is far better for the land than a hundred catholes.
Check the regulations first
Kitchen
Dishes and food-safety hygiene
Scrape and eat clean first
Less food in the wash water means less to strain and pack out. Wipe the pot with bread or a spatula before it ever meets water.
Three-bowl method
Bowl one: hot water with a drop of soap. Bowl two: clean rinse. Bowl three: rinse with a capful of bleach or a sanitising tablet for group trips. Air dry — towel drying re-contaminates.
Wash 200ft from water
The whole operation, including the rinse, happens away from the lake or stream.
Strain the greywater
Pour through a bandana or mesh strainer. Solids go in the trash bag, liquid gets broadcast widely over soil.
Never leave dishes overnight
Dirty dishes are a wildlife invitation and a bacteria farm. Do them before the fire dies, not after.
Store dry, store sealed
Damp nesting pots grow mould in a day. Air dry fully, then bag them.
Daily
Dental care in camp
Brush twice, same as home
It takes two minutes and it's the most-skipped camp habit. Bad oral hygiene over a long trip causes real pain.
Use very little paste
A pea. Toothpaste is a strong smellable and you want as little of it in camp as possible.
The spray-spit method
Walk 200ft from camp and water, take a mouthful of water, and spray the spit out in a wide arc so nothing concentrates. Never spit in one spot near the tent.
Treated water only
Rinsing with untreated water is a very common way people get sick after doing everything else right.
Floss and check
Floss picks are light. A trapped seed becomes a genuine problem four days from a road.
Pack a dental emergency plan
Temporary filling material and clove oil weigh nothing and are miraculous on long or remote trips.
Personal care
Periods and personal hygiene outdoors
Cups and discs are excellent outdoors
Twelve-hour wear, nothing to pack out, no bulk. Practise at home first, and empty into a cathole, then rinse with treated water — never in a stream.
Pads and tampons need pack-out
Doubled opaque zip bags, or a dedicated odour-proof pouch. A little crushed aspirin or baking soda in the bag controls smell.
Everything is a smellable
Used products go in the food-storage hang or canister overnight, not in the tent, in bear country.
Bring more than you think
Altitude, exertion and travel shift cycles. Pack for a surprise start on any trip.
Hand hygiene is critical here
Sanitiser in the toilet kit plus a full soap wash afterwards. Consider a small squeeze bottle of treated water as a personal bidet.
Dark clothing and a spare base layer
Removes the whole worry, and dark shorts double as normal camp wear.
Bears are not attracted to periods
Clothing
Camp laundry and odour control
Wear less, rotate more
Two shirts you rotate and air out beat four you wear once each. Merino resists odour for days; synthetics do not.
Air is a cleaning method
Hang everything in sun and wind for an hour. UV and airflow kill most of the odour bacteria without a drop of water.
The zip-bag wash
A gallon bag, a litre of water, a drop of soap, shake for two minutes, rinse twice. Perfect for socks and underwear.
Rinse twice, always
Leftover soap in fabric causes chafe and skin irritation more than the dirt did.
Wring in a towel, then hang
Roll the garment in your pack towel and stand on it — it removes far more water than wringing and halves the dry time.
Broadcast the wash water
Strained, 200ft from any source, over a wide area.
Body care
Skin, feet and small injuries
Feet: wash, dry, powder, fresh socks
Every evening. Air them by the fire, sleep in dry socks, and start the day with dry footwear if you possibly can.
Prevent chafe before it starts
Anti-chafe balm on thighs, under a pack belt and under bra bands on day one — not after it hurts.
Sunscreen counts as hygiene
Reapply every two hours, and remember ears, neck, the part in your hair and the underside of your chin near water and snow.
Keep small wounds clean and covered
Rinse with treated water, antibiotic ointment, a clean dressing, and check it daily. Camp dirt in a cut turns bad quickly.
Nightly tick check in season
Waistband, groin, armpits, behind the knees, hairline. Buddy-check the places you can't see.
Moisturise and lip balm
Wind, sun and dry air crack skin and lips fast at altitude. Cracked skin is an infection route.
Leave No Trace
The six rules that keep sites clean
200 feet from water for everything
Washing, dishes, toileting, tooth spit, greywater. Roughly 70 adult paces.
Soap never enters natural water
Biodegradable soap needs soil microbes to break down. In a lake it is simply pollution.
Scatter greywater, don't dump it
Wide broadcast over soil, strained of solids.
Pack out all paper and hygiene waste
TP, wipes, tampons, floss. All of it, every time.
Use the facilities that exist
Vault toilets and dish stations concentrate impact where the land is already managed for it.
Leave the wash site invisible
No soap film, no food bits, no paper, no disturbed ground.
These are the hygiene-specific applications of the wider principles — the full set is in the Leave No Trace guide.
By camping style
What changes for the way you camp
You usually have a tap and often a bathhouse. Your job is to build a routine that survives a rainy, tired evening.
Build a permanent wash station
Jug with spigot on the table edge, soap on a carabiner, towel on a line. If it takes more than five seconds, people skip it.
Shower shoes are non-negotiable
Campground shower floors are the most reliable place to pick up athlete's foot on the whole trip.
Bathhouse timing
Go mid-afternoon or very early. Right after dinner is the queue, the cold water and the mess.
A dedicated hygiene tote
One clear bin that lives in the car with soap, towels, TP, wipes and a trowel. It comes out first at every trip.
Keep the tent clean
Shoes off at the door, a small doormat, and a nightly shake-out. Sand in the sleeping bag ruins sleep and abrades gear.
Smellables out of the tent
Toothpaste, deodorant, wipes and sunscreen live in the car or the hang, not by your head.
Print or save
The complete camp hygiene checklist
Hands & body
Toilet kit
Dental & face
Skin & feet
Personal & period care
Camp cleanliness