Staying Clean

After a few days of being out in the wilderness, without shower facilities, you begin to feel greasy and grimy.  Maybe you can handle it for 2-3 days, but for the average 21st century person we don’t like to be dirty.  I know, I know, if you’re a real tough guy (girls know better!) you can go for weeks without a bath!  But, there is another consideration that you need to be aware of.  A dirty, greasy body attracts insects and bugs like body lice and hair lice and also there is a build up of bacteria all over your body.  Even your clothes begin to lose some of their insulation value when they are dirty and soiled.

A wise woodcrafter will, at a minimum, take along a handkerchief (or two) and will use it as a washcloth to clean themselves on a regular basis. Sometimes you can just take a swim in a creek, stream, river, pond or lake.  Getting wet with your clothes on (not your boots of course)  is a good way to wash dirt and grime off of you and your clothing.  It is also a good idea to bring along one of those little bars of soap like they give you in motel rooms.  (A mini Altoids tin makes a dandy soap holder for one of those tiny bars of soap!)

Always make sure, however, that you don’t actually use soap in a stream, creek or river and that when you do rinse off, you do it at least a hundred yards away from any water source.  Never contaminate the environment, even if it says its biodegradable soap!  That simply means that you can use it on land and it won’t hurt the soil as it biodegrades, but no one wants to have soap suds in their water!  Most bar soap won’t hurt the environment, but you still need to be cautious where you use it.  Also, go lightly on the soaping up as a “little dab will do ya” and you don’t want to use up a lot of water to get clean.  It’s not like standing in the shower at home, always be thinking of the conservation of resources (like your mini soap bar and clean water) so be clean but do it in a way that ensures a clean environment, as well as ensuring that you have enough for later for another bathing session!  Also, letting your clothes and sleeping bag dry in direct sunlight will kill a lot of the bacteria on them through the UV rays of the sun.  If you can’t wash your clothes, hang them in sunlight for a couple of hours, turning them over or inside out periodically for a full application of sunlight to both sides of the garment.

The old saying is that “Cleanliness is next to godliness.” While I know this isn’t directly a scriptural quote, God had many things to say in the Bible to His People, the Jews, about how they were to cleanse themselves, spiritually and physically.  If you are a Believer and follower of Jesus Christ, you need to take care of yourself as well.  No one wants to be around a stinky, ill-kept person!  After all, you’re a child of the King of Heaven and as His Representative, you need to keep up appearances!  However, the most important thing that you can have is a clean heart.  Sin will soil and dirty your mind, body and soul like nothing else!  Sin can only be washed away by the Blood of Jesus.  It sounds strange to say that you can make something clean by washing it with blood, but remember that it is a spiritual saying that refers to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross of Calvary in our behalf.  We must accept His Payment for our sins in order to have our sinful hearts cleaned.  How about you?  Does His Blood wash away all your sins today?  If not, I would love to talk more about this with you.  Feel free to contact me below any time.

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PS. We have just added a Facebook Page, it’s WayPoint Survival.  Look us up and send us a friend request!  You can also check out my other websites where you can set up training for many of these skills at www.waypointsurvival.com and look at and order my custom knives at www.benderknifeworks.com.

James B