#75775 - 10/30/06 04:05 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Geezer
Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
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If you weren't allow to dump it on the ground, were you told what you could do with it? Were you near a water source? What did they have as toilet facilities, a hole-in-the-ground privy, or a contained unit? If it was a privy, I would have considered dumping it there. Why draw a line between gray water and black water if you're letting black water enter the ecosystem? <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />
The only thing that comes to mind is to take an empty 5-gallon jug or bucket with a tight-fitting lid (and one of those bucket openers), and dump it all in there, and empty it at an RV dump site (or take it home).
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#75776 - 10/30/06 04:06 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Cranky Geek
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/08/05
Posts: 4642
Loc: Vermont
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If you are cooking over a fire, you can cheat.
While the item is still dirty, drop in a bit of wood ash and enough clean water to make a paste, scrubbing with a bit of paper towl or rag. The lye in the ash will mix with any fat in there to form soap. Scrape slurry out, rinse with fresh water.
Otherwise, while things are still freshly dirty, wipe out with paper towel or TP, and as little clean water is possible. Pour it into a seperate container. That goes into the latrine. If it has a chance to dry, or worse, burn on, a bit of green scrubby works wonders so long as you aren't packing anything teflon (which should never need it in the first place).
_________________________
-IronRaven
When a man dare not speak without malice for fear of giving insult, that is when truth starts to die. Truth is the truest freedom.
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#75777 - 10/30/06 02:37 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Enthusiast
Registered: 02/08/02
Posts: 312
Loc: FL
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Don't know how applicable it is to survival or long-term camping, but when backpacking I often limit my cooking to boiling water and adding it to various dried foods.
If you pack the food in a ziplock bag, add the water to the bag, then eat from the bag, you can avoid dishwasing all together.
Bear
_________________________
No fire, no steel.
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#75778 - 10/30/06 03:44 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Old Hand
Registered: 09/12/05
Posts: 817
Loc: MA
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Cowboys never "washed" their cooking gear, instead they cleaned them by rubbing everything down with sand.
_________________________
It's not that life is so short, it's that you're dead for so long.
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#75779 - 10/30/06 03:46 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Geezer
Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
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I have been camping all of my life (and that is a lot of years, and a lot of camping trips), and I have never seen a campground that would not allow dumping dish water. Many campgrounds even have a grey water dumping site in each campsite, or at least centrally located. Have to give this some thought, but right off the top of my head, the privy, or your five gal can thing are all that come to mind...
_________________________
OBG
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#75781 - 10/30/06 04:06 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Geezer
Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 5695
Loc: Former AFB in CA, recouping fr...
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Could be. If any nearby bears were hard up enough to want to dig into waste water for little bitty chunks of scrambled egg, I would be worrying about my main food supply too. Even in Yoseite and Sequoia Natioal Parks, where the bears are notorious for food scrounging, they don't prohibit grey water dumping (at least not as of my last visit, which admittedly has been a couple of years)...
_________________________
OBG
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#75782 - 10/30/06 05:53 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Geezer
Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
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Most of the food remnants can be wiped out of the container with a paper towel, which is then burned.
From what I understand, the 'washing dishes with sand' is just an old tale. It's not going to take the grease off, and guess what rancid grease is going to cause? Yep. Cowboys were hard workers, and they couldn't take time off every twenty minutes for a bout of diarrhea.
Sue
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#75784 - 10/30/06 08:24 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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"Be Prepared"
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 06/26/04
Posts: 2208
Loc: NE Wisconsin
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What do you do with the formerly boiled water? Do you throw that on the ground?
My suggestion is to wipe the gear to the point of looking clean with paper towel (or even a wet paper towel). Then wash in a plastic tub with warm soapy water (I use Dawn, which is more environmentally friendly than many). Then rinse in a tub with clean hot water. Then rinse in a tub with coolish water with a caoful of bleach added (1.5 teaspoons/gallon). Let dishes soak in the chlorine water for a few minutes if possible.
Now here's the trick. Take a 5 gallon plastic bucket. Drill a few fairly small holes in the bottom of the bucket. Set the bucket on the ground off to the side. When done doing dishes, pour the soapy water into the bucket. Then pour the rinse water into the soapy water tub, swirl, and then pour that into the bucket. Now pour the bleach water into the rinse tub, swirl, then into the soap tub, swirl, and then into the bucket.
If you pre-wipe the dishes well, the water in the bucket is really quite clean and shouldn't have any food particles.
Let the bucket sit for a few hours and the water will magically disappear. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> The other nice thing about this is that putting all of the water together dilutes both the soap and the bleach down to 1/3 the original volume, which helps a bit (not that I'd want to drink it). Place the bucket in a new location each time you do this.
As for what to do with toothbrushing spit ... don't spit. Put just a liiiiitle tiny dab of toothpaste on the brush, brush, swallow, get a mouthful of water, rinse, swallow. No spitting.
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#75788 - 10/31/06 12:57 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Member
Registered: 09/08/05
Posts: 156
Loc: Chicago burbs
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Good find. I just forwarded the page to some of the animals that attend the annual walleye pilgrimage.
_________________________
I hear voices....And they don't like you.
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#75789 - 10/31/06 01:03 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Member
Registered: 04/24/05
Posts: 122
Loc: Upstate NewYork
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If you're going to cheat anyway, us a bit of soap/detergent rather than screwing around w/ sahes. Eliminate the middle man. As for the "dangers" of teflon, just be sure to wear your tinfoil hat.
"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action."
_________________________
"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action."
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#75791 - 10/31/06 03:52 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Cranky Geek
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/08/05
Posts: 4642
Loc: Vermont
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It isn't the dangers of teflon I'm worried about. I'm worried about taking the teflon off with the green scrubby.
The first time I washed a teflon pot, it was one my mother had used. This is the woman who can burn water, despite being a decent cook. In an act that can be best discribed as "Pavlovian", I might have reached for the copper wool..... I had to buy her a new pot. And I got all the old, non-teflon pots and pans as she upgraded. (Including the old cast iron stuff- wooh-who!)
_________________________
-IronRaven
When a man dare not speak without malice for fear of giving insult, that is when truth starts to die. Truth is the truest freedom.
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#75792 - 10/31/06 04:02 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Cranky Geek
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/08/05
Posts: 4642
Loc: Vermont
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*tries to picture Blast in a chainmail loincloth, with a claymore and rum*
*pictures self in black great kilt, broadsword, one hand holding scotch and the other spiced mead*
Not sure which image is scarier. :P
Actually, I've heard through the grape vine that santiation has been a constant bugaboo for the organizers of the TRF. I guess the first couple of years, some people actually did get sick, and they've had to clamp down hard to get any kind of insurance at all.
_________________________
-IronRaven
When a man dare not speak without malice for fear of giving insult, that is when truth starts to die. Truth is the truest freedom.
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#75794 - 10/31/06 05:20 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Member
Registered: 09/08/05
Posts: 156
Loc: Chicago burbs
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STOP IT!!!!!! YOU'RE SCARING THE CHILDREN!!!!!!!!
_________________________
I hear voices....And they don't like you.
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#75795 - 10/31/06 06:33 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Newbie
Registered: 10/06/06
Posts: 42
Loc: Portland, OR
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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.
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#75796 - 11/01/06 02:31 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Cranky Geek
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 09/08/05
Posts: 4642
Loc: Vermont
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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.
_________________________
-IronRaven
When a man dare not speak without malice for fear of giving insult, that is when truth starts to die. Truth is the truest freedom.
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#75797 - 11/01/06 02:40 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Old Hand
Registered: 12/07/05
Posts: 781
Loc: Central Illinois
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*tries to picture Blast in a chainmail loincloth, with a claymore and rum*
*pictures self in black great kilt, broadsword, one hand holding scotch and the other spiced mead* *tries to remove image of this from brain with imaginary gasoline.
_________________________
Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards.
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#75798 - 11/01/06 02:52 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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"Be Prepared"
Pooh-Bah
Registered: 06/26/04
Posts: 2208
Loc: NE Wisconsin
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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...).
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#75799 - 11/01/06 08:36 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Rapscallion
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 4020
Loc: Anchorage AK
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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.
_________________________
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
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#75800 - 11/08/06 03:34 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Addict
Registered: 02/02/03
Posts: 647
Loc: North Texas
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#75801 - 11/09/06 01:10 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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journeyman
Registered: 11/03/06
Posts: 95
Loc: Delaware
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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="" />
_________________________
See 'Ya Down the Trail, Mike McGrath
"Be Prepared" "For what?" "Why, any old thing!" B-P
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#75802 - 11/12/06 02:02 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 11/09/06
Posts: 2846
Loc: La-USA
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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).
_________________________
QMC, USCG (Ret) The best luck is what you make yourself!
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#75803 - 11/12/06 03:33 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Addict
Registered: 05/04/02
Posts: 493
Loc: Just wandering around.
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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.
_________________________
...........From Nomad.........Been "on the road" since '97
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#75805 - 11/13/06 04:12 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Old Hand
Registered: 05/10/01
Posts: 780
Loc: NE Illinois, USA (42:19:08N 08...
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This is the human sump method. If you lick clean your bowl and pot and let air dry, at the next meal you boil your cooking water in the pot and dip sanitize the bowls and spoons before using the water to hydrate your meal. This assumes dehayrated meals requiring only hot water for cooking.
_________________________
Willie Vannerson McHenry, IL
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#75806 - 11/13/06 05:17 PM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Old Hand
Registered: 09/12/01
Posts: 960
Loc: Saskatchewan, Canada
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This is the human sump method. I've never heard that term before. I just figure that if it's good enough to eat in the first place it's good enough to get cleaned up and consumed. Why waste any nutrients? Why add pollutants to the nearby stream or lake? I just saw my solution as being practical - to hell with urbanized conventions and ways of doing things. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
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#75807 - 11/14/06 02:12 AM
Re: Washing dishes in the woods?
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Rapscallion
Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 02/06/04
Posts: 4020
Loc: Anchorage AK
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Well, I have to think that after a few cycles, that water is going to have a fair amount of grease/scum floating around on it. Not sure what that would do to the taste of subsequent meals prepared/served with stuff cleaned that way, but it would at least be safe. I suppose you could boil off most of the water at the end and have a lot less (maybe none) left to have to contend with.
With no water to cycle, I reckon the dutch oven method to be superior given the restrictions. Chemical treatment or boiling the washwater might disinfect it, but it won't do much to purify it. Now if you had a microscreen and a good reverse osmosis system, you could drink that water, no worries, when you were done processing it.
_________________________
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -- Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
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