TOILETRIES....yes toiletries!

[icefest]

Toilet paper or not, or doesn't really bother me. Just warn me beforehand if you hike with me. I'd prefer knowing about an impending fecal transplant.

[north-north-west]

Ok, here's how it works ..... you put several drops of eucalyptus oil in a cup of water, use that to brush your teeth. Then you dip a chammy in the water and wipe down your body, then you wet your comb and comb your hair. Then throw out water and clean cup. Done! It works surprisingly well and the eucalyptus oil is considered non-polluting (unlike soaps/shampoos/etc).

*applause*
Neat. Obsessive, but neat.
Personally, I don't bother washing. After all, I walk alone so there's no-one who matters to be scared by the whole wicked-witch-of-the-west look I get after a day or two out bush.

Bog roll, toothbrush and bicarb/toothpaste. Must try the euc/tea-tree oil thing for the teeth. Much more environmentally sound.

[Happy Pirate]

I have no b.o. problems and haven't used deodorant in over 8 years,

I remember causing a great deal of consternation amongst my tute group when I was at uni by announcing I hadn't used anti-perspirant for 10 years. They couldn't quite get their heads around the fact that I clearly didn't reek of BO yet didn't use anti-perspirant (which they had been indoctrinated to believe was obviously essential to good hygiene).

They got even more confused when I pointed out I could see no need to interfere with the function of a perfectly good sweat gland.

I agree, I think over-use of toiletries is a downward slide. Back then as you describe it was succumbing to the myth of deodorants. A regular cycle of sweating and rinsing will prevent BO (which occurs more if you don't sweat regularly as well as not rinsing regularly).

The new con is hand sanitisers. While I recognise their water-saving potential out bush, there is more and more of a push in polite urban areas (and Gov. workplaces) that after the requisite hand wash you then sanitise. A friend even related the story of being accosted by a restaurant patron in Melbourne because he didn't sanitise after he washed and was accused of spreading disease.

The truth is that many of our 'modern' afflictions - asthma, eczema, allergies, diabetes, crohns disease etc are diseases of an over-active immune system given nothing better to do as a result of over-sterilisation, so it reacts to the smallest imbalance in the system. A certain amount of dirt, parasites and disease stops the body inventing it's own threat out of benign incursions.

And seriously - if you smell enough to need perfuming - it won't help. A little while out bush and the nose adjusts to the subtle scents of it's surroundings. Artificial fragrances always smell like an affront to the surrounding nature.
cheers
Steve