The 200-foot rule
Leave No Trace is the group whose seven principles most US parks teach. The third principle covers washing.
To wash yourself or your dishes, carry water 200 feet away from streams or lakes and use small amounts of biodegradable soap.
Soap, sunscreen and what you rinse off your body all end up in the ground. Two hundred feet of soil filters them before they reach the stream. Standing in the lake with a bar of soap skips that filter.
A bottle at the cathole
The same principle asks you to bury toilet paper deep or pack it out. A rinse from a bottle cuts the paper to the few sheets you dry with, and those weigh nothing in a zip bag.
- Fill the bottle at camp, before you walk out.
- Rinse over the cathole so the water goes where the waste goes.
- Dry, bag the paper, cover the hole.
- Wash your hands with a second squeeze, away from the hole.
480 ml · more water
Easy-Bidet 2.0 XL
480 ml per fill, on a wider base that stands steady.
4.3 out of 5 (25,250 ratings)
$19.99
How much water a wash costs you
Water is weight. These figures come from our own range and from the weight of water itself.
| Feature | Original | XL | Camping Shower |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water per fill | 300 ml | 480 ml | 12 litres |
| Weight of that water | 0.66 lb | 1.06 lb | 26.5 lb |
| Fills from one full shower bag | 40 | 25 | 1 |
| Price | $17.99 | $19.99 | $24.43 |
A full shower bag is too heavy for a backpack. It belongs to car camping, a van or a base camp, where you fill it at the site.
The shower bag
Our camping shower builds pressure with a foot pump, so the bag sits on the ground. Set it black side to the sun in the morning and read the strip before you use it.
12 litres · foot pump
Camping Shower with Foot Pump
A 12-litre shower you pump with your foot. No tree and no battery needed.
4.1 out of 5 (81 ratings)
$24.43
- Wet down, switch the nozzle off, soap, switch on, rinse. The switch is what makes 12 litres enough.
- Stand on gravel, sand or a mat, not on plants.
- Use a small amount of biodegradable soap, or none.
- Scatter what is left over a wide patch instead of pouring it in one spot.
Honest limits
- Sun heating depends on the day. One buyer of ours heats a pot on the stove and adds it to the bag.
- The bag's base is soft. Prop it while you fill it.
- Biodegradable soap still needs the 200 feet. The label is not a permit.
- In desert and alpine areas the rules can be stricter. Ask the ranger station.