STOP IT!!!!!! YOU'RE SCARING THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!

My group used the system in the conclusion while on an 18-day trip rafting the Grand Canyon. It worked beautifully and is quite simple once you’ve done it.

Because so many people play in the Canyon, you have to pack everything out for impact reasons. This means every tiny scrap of food. The ecosystem is so dry, even the smallest bits will take months or even years to decompose. Not to mention discouraging critters from becoming a nuisance.

Once you’re done cleaning the dishes, strain the water from the first bowl into your disposal destination. From there, pour bowl 2 into bowl 1 for a rinse, then strain it into your disposal. Continue this process on down the line until all three bowls are clean and disinfected… just like your dishes. It may sound complicated, but it’s really not.

Because you strain all water before disposal, food scraps are contained and easily packed out. On the river, we kept all our garbage in large ammo cans (rocket box) lined with a garbage bag or two.

And that is why I don't post MY picture. I'm immune to the effects of this thing I have hanging in front of my brain, but I've been known to make small children nervous.

And that isn't just becuase my stomach growls and they wonder if I'm going to eat them.

*tries to remove image of this from brain with imaginary gasoline.

This article suggests use of:
1. Soapy Water
2. Bleach Solution
3. Plain Water

The problem with this is that the third bucket, if not VERY carefully managed can run a risk of contaminating the disinfected utensils - either through contaminated tubs, water, or accidental reverse use of tubs (this happens a lot with Boy Scouts).

My recommendation (and that of many state & local health departments and the Boy Scouts of America) is to use:
1. Warm Soapy Water
2. Warm Rinse Water
3. Lukewarm - not cold - Bleach Solution (min 1.5 teaspoons/gallon 70-90F water) for 2 minutes
4. Air Dry on sanitized surfaces or in mesh dunk bags (don't wipe dry - it would add yet another chance of recontamination)

Once dry there will be no residual chlorine or associated odor. Upon drying the chlorine will convert to a gas that dissipates into the air.

Yes, I know many feel that use of a bleach solution is overkill, but this is a simple way to prevent cross-contamination of utensils (fecal matter from unwashed or insufficiently washed hands, cold & flu germs, etc...).

What!!!

I don't get it? Marduk's solution still produces a waste stream. How can this be any different from the original problem?

Unless I missed something, the only way I know of for doing camp cooking using pots, pans and utensils without leaving a waste stream is to take my two biggest cast iron pots and use one as a scrub pot and one as a disinfecting pot. This is necessary to clean utensils only. Once I am done cleaning and disinfecting the utensils, then I cook off all the liquid and scorch off the residue until is all ash or volatized out. This makes the pots unusable as cooking items until I can get them re-seasoned again, but it leaves no liquid waste stream whatsoever. I've done this using wood fires as well as portable gas stoves, and it is safe, effective and practical.

If utensils are not a concern, then it gets even easier. I just take the cast iron pots I use for cooking the food in and scorch out all the debtritous. The heat cleans the pot and disinfects it, and when it's done scorching it, then it is real easy to re-season the pot if needed.

I believe you'll find that this method was used to clean pots a lot more often than wiping them down with dirt back in the cowboy days. Most meals were eaten off the end of a two pronged fork or a knife blade, or just with the hands rather than fuss with plates and flatware, which didn't lend themselves to firecleaning like the big pots do. If you got beans, which were more common than just about anything else, it was usually in a cup, washed out with the coffee you drank at the end of the meal.

At least that's the way Grandad said it was for him most of the time. In fact, many was the time we'd have beans with lunch, and he'd slurp them out of an enameled cup just like he did on the range.

www.freezerbagcooking.com

Not a tale by any stretch! I learned it from an old WW II Pacific Theater Leatherneck. They perfected it under imposed "stealthy" conditions! Did it myself dozens of times. We used the best sand we could find with a clump of grass as a "scrubbie." When it's done right and thoroughly (Sarge would have it no other way!) you could damn near eat off 'em when you were finished! But then a quick soap wash, clean water rinse, followed by sterilizing tablet rinse (followed by air drying) - and you're good to go! Not much water and virtually all the food particles go with the sand into the fire. If we had no sterilizing solution then onto the end of a stick and into the fire for a few minutes. End result - sparkling dishes, use very little water, no food particles, healthy patrol! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I would like to know who wouldn't let you dump grey water on the ground-he park rangers? I carry a couple of Brillo pads in my messkit for cleanups & a few bandana's for wiping up (among other purposes).

I frequently spend long periods in the AZ desert. This is a fragile ecosystem. In some places it has a concrete hard surface, but it is only a few inches thick. Water dumped on this surface will soften it and create a hole. The hole will remain for many many years. The seasonal rains will expand the hole. I suspect that the seasonal rains do not cause holes because the large amount of water immediatly runs off into the gullies (arroyos??) and usuall no pockets of water remain on the surface. Sounds odd, but that is what happens.

I have frequently been warned by various wardens, rangers, LEO's that to dump water is illegal as well as very damaging to the ecosystem.

Different places require different attitudes and protocols.