Packing a few items that may, just may, keep me slightly cleaner on trail. It’s not hard, its not difficult, just needs a bit of thought.

I’m pulling the gear together for a multi-day hike in Scotland. It will be around two weeks in length and I am giving thought to what items to pack in to my hygiene kit. I will be backpacking, wildcamping on most nights. But I will also be staying in a couple of hotels, a hostel, possibly one or two ‘official’ campsites. So I am packing along a bit more than I might on other occasions.

I have been intrigued by a couple of inventive toothbrush heads that appeared for sale in the last couple of years. They clip on to the handle of a spoon and weigh just a couple of grams. They are also a bit expensive. I have not been intrigued enough to buy any, more slightly baffled by anyone that would. A bamboo toothbrush is lightweight, does the job properly and can mostly be recycled when no longer fit for purpose. They are also cheap. Take a child’s version and they are smaller, lighter, and cost less too. An alternative could be Miswak, also known as siwak. This is a natural 3mm – 5mm diameter twig toothbrush from the arak tree (Salvadora persica).

I often take toothpaste tabs of one brand or another with me on trail. They are light, pack small in a little baggie, and I can take exactly the number I require. But they are not cheap and I find after a few days of being bashed around, can crumble to a dust. The powder can obviously still be used. But for this trip, I am just taking a cheap and cheerful mini tube of the real stuff. It will easily last the duration. I am sure most of you are aware that you can make your own cheaper tabs by drying out a squeeze of paste, snipping it into bits, then putting in a baggie with a dusting of bicarb. Or make your own toothpaste out of bicarb, plus an equal proportion of cold-pressed coconut oil and add a little activated charcoal, possibly also a little essential oil of your choosing too.

When it comes to soap, I only use Castile soap on trail. It is non-toxic, pure, biodegrades, lathers easily and is super concentrated in liquid form. It can also be purchased unscented. Beside being used to wash body and hair, it can even be used to wash vegetables and the like. It comes in two forms, liquid or solid bar. I usually carry a liquid, just using a couple of drops of the concentrated stuff on a wet cloth to body wash in the tent. This is kept in a dropper bottle and is a very light solution. However I often find it leaks out of the bottle, making a mess of things, so keep it in a tiny baggie. But I got to thinking. In my First Aid Kit I carry Betadine (10% povidine iodine) antiseptic in a 2ml glass bottle with orifice reducer. Despite being glass, this is just about unbreakable. It also doesn’t leak. So I purchased a 5ml bottle with orifice reducer for the liquid soap. Despite being glass, it is almost unbreakable and still very light. However liquid soap isn’t much use in a shower, certainly not the quantity I would wish to carry, and I’ll be taking the odd shower on this trail, where I know accommodation providers will sometimes not be providing any shower gel or similar. So I am also carrying a small sliver of a solid block of castile soap, carried in a small Matador soap bag, with ‘dry through’ technology.

As to scrubbing the body clean. I have my multi-use Swedish Cloth. Used for anything from wiping the tent clear of condensation, to mopping up water from the tent footprint, to pot grab, to flannel. To supplement this, when packing prior to leaving, I just grab a large handful of the compressed towelette ‘pucks’ that I purchase off eBay by the hundred. Made of cellulose, these are biodegradable.

My towel is either the Swedish Cloth or a small size Pack Towl, This hangs from my packs shoulder strap and will dry in the breeze while I walk.

No-one seems to be brushing or combing their hair these days. You will never see brushes or combs on anyones gear list. Well, I still have hair, and I want to get the tangles, burrs, leaves and trail cobwebs out of it. I just have less of it these days, so pack along a little Kent Slim Jim comb. I used to use small brushes, but they are not worth carrying these days. Those with more hair up top than I , might still have a use for them.

And then we come to the unguents and creams. Those things that help us sort out the dryness, the itchiness, the smell, the suffering feet, the chafing, the list goes on. Everyone will have their individual issues. I wear trainers so the feet get a fair amount of balm rubbed in each night. I also carry Sudocrem and a little Eurax, in case of itchiness. My containers for these have continued to evolve over the years. First what they came in, then decanted in to quite large Nalgene pots, then smaller pots, then lighter aluminium tins with screw lids. I have been using the latter for a few years but not only do the threads on the soft metal wear quite badly and often cross-thread, but in hotter weather, the footbalm in particular leaks through and makes a mess of things. I have now been able to locate leak proof plastic tubs from Muji, used for cosmetics and the like, they come in different sizes and I use ones no larger than they are required to be.

And that is about it. It all goes in to a small baggie. On occasion, I might keep it in an equally small but more robust DCF pouch. One last addition on the ‘hygiene’ side, is the poop kit. Take one. It is irresponsible to not have one. Not only that, but use it. I am fed up with seeing other peoples waste on beautiful trails. In this kit is a Ti trowel, a roll of TP (always take more than you think you need), a small Bic lighter for when it is safe to burn TP, and a small roll of dog poo bags for when it isn’t. Pack it out.