I've been studying up on the various methods of trapping & fishing for survival purposes, mostly due to watching a bunch of Survivorman episodes lately. There's a lot of info out there on acquiring and cooking fish & small game.

But it raised this question: in a survival situation, how do you clean up yourself & your knife after butchering fish/game? Wouldn't any animal fluids & tissue that remain on you or your gear become breeding grounds for getting ill?

I'm sure there are ways to deal with this problem. I'm curious to know what's most effective and efficient.

I would suggest that carrying a bit of detergent with you (in a small, very tight bottle) and a similar bottle of bleach is the safest answer. Boil some water, add a bit of detergent (you don't need a lot -- 1/4 teaspoon is probably more than enough), wash the tools thoroughly, then immerse in a mild bleach solution for a few minutes, rinse again with boiled water and dry thoroughly, then oil.

The only other way might be to heat the tools in an open flame, but that might not be the best treatment for some knives, etc, and probably wouldn't get into the grooves of a folding knife.

"He died of diarrhea" is not something I would want to see in anyone's obituary. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Ohhhh... I dunno'. There are a couple of people for whom it would give me quite a chuckle to read that in their obituaries. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I keep a little bottle of "campers soap" in my gear. It works well with hot water, cold water, sea water, you name it. And it doesn't take much per wash. You can find it in just about any outdoor type store, plus on the Coghlans wall in most large chain drug stores...