Hiker Funk Rant

[egilbe]

I'd be curious to see if any industrious student/scientist has ever done a epidemiological study of thru hikers or taken cultures at shelters during peak season.

I've wondered that, too. Most viruses and bacteria can't live in sunlight for very long. Outdoorsy places become sterile after awhile. During peak thru-hikers bubble, I bet it gets pretty nasty. It's curious that in the early Spring up here, very rarely see rodents around the shelters.

[reppans]

... Do you think you are going to carry a change of clothes for every day? The best you will do for a shower every day would be a cold sponge bath. Don't even think about washing your clothes on the trail...

I'm not a LD or thru hiker but for me, it's the heat and sweat that causes funk and gross stickiness - I personally hate sleeping like that and navy shower every evening when it's hot. I just keep an extra 1-1.5L of water from the last watering hole in my dirty Sawyer bladder before setting up camp. Stand on a rock, wet down with 1/3rd of the water, lather up lightly with unscented Dr. Bronners, rinse off with 2/3rds of the water, dry off with a bandanna.

When it's hot, I hike in a LW synthetic T-shirt/running shorts. I also keep some spare water in the dirty Sawyer bladder to repeatedly wet down my shirt/shorts/hair as evaporative air conditioning while hiking. If they're getting funky, just remove and soak/ring a couple times. Together, that leaves the same hiking shirt/shorts dry and reasonably unfunky by the end of each day.

[AllDownhillFromHere]

I'd be curious to see if any industrious student/scientist has ever done a epidemiological study of thru hikers or taken cultures at shelters during peak season.

I heard way back when that when hikers got sick, it was in groups, and had no correlation with water filtering practices. I think there's something there.

[jj dont play]

Do longer trips and you won’t be able to smell it anymore...
For real though I got pretty stinky a few times on my thru. Quick bathes and trying to hand wash clothes only goes so far. Sometimes logistics just don’t work out and you have to go longer than planned before you can wash up


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[gpburdelljr]

In the 1800s most everybody smelled funky.

[Dogwood]

I few drops of essential oils such as peppermint that's included in a homemade almond oil base herbal insect repellent or Dr Bronners Citrus or Peppermint soap, or a mint toothpick or mint favored floss and some fang paste can go a long way to reducing funky smells. It's not that hard folks...especially if you call yourself a hiker.

[wordstew]

I few drops of essential oils such as peppermint that's included in a homemade almond oil base herbal insect repellent or Dr Bronners Citrus or Peppermint soap, or a mint toothpick or mint favored floss and some fang paste can go a long way to reducing funky smells. It's not that hard folks...especially if you call yourself a hiker.

I will second the flavored tooth picks... I use FLAVOR FOREST HOT CINNAMON

[wordstew]

I few drops of essential oils such as peppermint that's included in a homemade almond oil base herbal insect repellent or Dr Bronners Citrus or Peppermint soap, or a mint toothpick or mint favored floss and some fang paste can go a long way to reducing funky smells. It's not that hard folks...especially if you call yourself a hiker.

I will second the flavored tooth picks... I use FLAVOR FOREST HOT CINNAMON

[Dogwood]

You seconded it a second time.

[evyck da fleet]

lol...can't really believe what I'm reading here. Myself and my hiking two hiking partners were very ripe and going to town every five or six days to shower and wash clothes didn't really help. Thing is...we couldn't smell it! I didn't smell it on other thru hikers either. No, I'm not a dirty hippie. I didn't get sick on the trail and neither did my partners. The funk is a part of life for a thru hiker. Everything we had was filthy. Our pack, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad. Do you think you are going to carry a change of clothes for every day? The best you will do for a shower every day would be a cold sponge bath. Don't even think about washing your clothes on the trail. If you think that you can do a thru and stay smelling minty fresh the whole time then don't bother to leave the house. You are fooling yourself. This is just about the dumbest thread I have read on here for quite a long time.

I don’t think all of us are referring to normal thrus. I usually spent 5 days and 125 miles between resupplies. Did I stink and not smell myself on the trail?Sure. But that wasn’t an excuse to not shower for weeks and brag about it. Yes I stunk about 15 minutes after showering at the Denton shelter due to my poly clothing and pack but that didn’t stop me from buying a new shirt along the way or spraying Lysol on my pack to try and keep the funk down. If not for yourself for the convenience store workers who have to smell you when you resupply without going to town to shower first.

[rickb]

In the 1800s most everybody smelled funky.

And some rather liked it.

To quote Napoleon in a letter to Josephine: Ne te lave pa. Je reviens

[Nathan428]

To thru-hikers: how often on average did you shower?

[blw2]

I'm surprised campfire smoke bath hasn't been mentioned yet....

Side note on this....when we were touring the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, we learned that the entrance to the Kiva rooms was through a small hole in the roof, climbing down a ladder that passed over the fire pit. The ranger never said this and so I can't confirm, but I put 2+2 together and guess that this had something to do with smoke bathing and hygiene.

[wordstew]

If you're having a hard time in the field with Hiker-Funk this website might help
https://www.survivalschool.us/bushcraft-camp-hygiene/

[egilbe]

Hiker funk I can get used to it. Old stale cigarette smoke on the other hand, makes me gag.

[Christoph]

To thru-hikers: how often on average did you shower?

Once a week for sure. On the trail in between, every night I would grab an extra bottle of water and go off in the woods and wipe down with a cloth bandanna (sometimes with soap if it was available). I don't like sleeping in my own funk, so I did what I could. I found the pack was the worst and washed that in towns a few times. Also did ziplock laundry when I could, ususally once between town and resupply stops. A lot of the time was hiking in the rain without my rain jacket on so that helped as well.

[El JP]

It's really special scent when tinged with a little bit of urine and an old beer. Eau de homeless.

As someone who has had much experience in being homeless i really wonder how bad it can get on the AT. Fact of life in being stinky on the skids, sooner or later you will reek to the point that your normal human interactions are limited and either you will have to get your ass cleaned or face exile from places at the very least. Dudes have been kicked from shelters and have even gotten beat down for being stenchy and avoiding soap and water when it was available. I remember once being in the tank in jail and some guy was forced to wash up with a bar of soap and water from the toilet.

As far as the AT goes i really won't have many chances to get inside and clean up. Doesn't mean i have to be Oscar the Grouch living in a garbage can. Even something as simple as dipping yourself and clothes in a stream or pond will help some. If you only have money enough for a laundry without soap that is still better than nothing. A couple of Vietnam vets i knew years ago told of washing up the rain during the monsoon season. Where there's a will , there's a way. I'm not the most fastidious guy around but i sure as hell prefer not to let myself get to the point of causing disgust in those around on the Trail.

[SoaknWet]

Remember many rain showers but cigarette stink could also cause problems. Sometimes you had to wonder stink or leeches.

[skater]

I'm all for cleaning up on the trail, but please don't wash your clothes in a stream. Follow LNT practices. Take water away from the stream to wash yourself and your clothes and dishes.

[LittleRock]

I heard way back when that when hikers got sick, it was in groups, and had no correlation with water filtering practices. I think there's something there.

I think you're onto something here. This pretty much the same as what I've been observing in my 3-year old's preschool class this year. 3-year olds, like thru-hikers, tend not to have good hygiene or sanitation practices. And whenever one of the kids introduces a new virus, 2-3 days later half the class is absent.