Wednesday, September 7, 2011

The Art of Camping - Sanitation Station

Camp "Sanitation Station"

This year at our campground, there was not a tap right by our camp.  Although the vault toilets and a tap were nearby, it was really convenient to have a way to wash up right in camp.  Our camp sanitation station consisted of a line with towels for drying hands and dishes (bring extra towels if you are camping a few days), and a water jug with soap attached.

Washing station

Fill a sturdy jug with water and suspend it from a tree.  I use an old piece of nylon stockings to hold the soap. The soap easily suds hands through the nylon, and doesn't fall in the dirt while you are using it.  A golf tee on a string plugs a hole in the bottom of the jug.  When pulled out, it releases a stream of water to wet and rinse your hands.  If the jug is in the sun during the day, you can even get warm water!

Golf tee plug in the water jug

Don't set up this station too near your tent, as you don't want water and mud running into your lodgings.  However, with the small stream of water, it usually doesn't get too messy at the sanitation station.

Keeping dirt OUT of the tent.

A doormat is a great help in keeping dirt out of your tent.  We try to enforce a "no shoes in the tent" policy, and it really helps when it is time to pack up the tent and go home.  (In really bad weather, sometimes we have to allow shoes just inside the tent door so they don't get soaked outside). 

This year I found a great doormat made out of flip-flops at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  It rolls up, is waterproof, thick, and durable.  It is a great addition to our camping equipment, and will hopefully grace the front of our tent for several years to come.

With a little creativity and effort, you can minimize some of the dirt and mess of camping!

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1 comment:

  1. Yay for a sanitation station! So glad we figured this out- it makes it so easy to wash hands.

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