Besides the basics:
Water
Food
Shelter
A way to stay warm -

I think a way to stay clean is important too. I have always liked Lehman's as a source of non-electric goods. They have had this hand-washer for as long as I've known about them and yes, it's small, so if you have a family, it might not do. But, with others relying on wringer washers in a long-term scenario, this might be a reasonable option for some.

http://www.lehmans.com/jump.jsp?itemID=1600&itemType=PRODUCT&path=1%2C2%2C679%2C673%2C674

Agree with you DFW that staying clean is very important.

Have you read Cody Lundin's "When All Hell Breaks Loose"? Fascinating chapter on hygiene.

I've been thinking about buying Lehman's hand-washer. Does anyone have experience with it?

thanks,
Nurit

Here is a site that reviews the wonder washer.

http://camping.about.com/od/campinggearreviews/gr/wonderwash.htm





Here is another way to wash clothes.

http://www.breathingwasher.com/index.htm

But a very inexpensive clothes washer can be had for $2.00. A bathroom plunger in a bucket like the item above will work great. I have used this many times on long camping trips.

On the boondocker and van living sites they talk about putting whatever is to be cleaned into a 5 gallon bucket with a good lid, then letting the sloshing while driving provide all the agitation to do the actual cleaning.

I'm thinking this might work on a boat as well.

BobS, thanks very much for the links and your excellent advice. I'd been hesitating on the wonder-washer because of its price and size. Even 12"x12"x16" is serious space to an apartment dweller. The breather-washer looks interesting and more practical for my situation.

Nurit

Before you buy the breather washer try a (new ) bathroom plunger. It really gets a lot of water movement. It’s actually harder to do then you first think, its tiring. But it does work.

A standard five gallon bucket and plunger will work. I have used this setup for extremely dirty work clothes and get good results.

I helps if you keep the load sizes small, use about a quarter the detergent you would in a standard sized washer, and dissolve the detergent into the water before adding the clothes. Two loads does a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved work shirt, two tee shirts, a couple of pairs of underwear and two pairs of socks. It takes about an hour and can be done while you watch TV.

Using a plunger I work one edge in a semi-circular pattern so the clothes roll over and they all get some action. The stroke is fast-in-slow-out as this keeps the clothes moving and suspended in the water. As opposed to beat down in the bottom.

I agitate for fifteen minutes, empty, wring out the bulk of the water, add water, work it for ten minutes more, wring and hang to dry.

A roller wringer or mop press makes the whole process less tiring. Wringing out jeans by hand gets to be like work. In fact when I had access to one I sometimes used the mop bucket and wringer setup. The bucket is a bit larger and the wringer is a plus.

I have one of those wonder washer gizmos. . . um. . . wouldn't buy another one. It is a bit cumbersome to store and actually quite small on the inside. I've done a couple light weight shirts in it. You could probably put in a pair of jeans, maybe. I'm not overly impressed with the cleaning either and I doubt it would clean very dirty items. It doesn't wring anything out and I found that hand rinsing outside the gizmo worked better. And its pricey.

The bucket/plunger/mop squisher would do as nicely I would think. Maybe spring for one of those nice buckets with the twist on covers. Put a hole in the top for the plunger handle. That way if you get overly excited while agitating, you won't slosh all over the floor.

$42.00 seems expensive???

it seems OK to me.

If you have a 12 volt wind or PV power source, then a low consumption 12 volt washing machine is worth trying.
"staber" are the well known brand, they are simple low tech and user repairable.
I believe that this product received a good review in "home power" magazine but cant find a link.