Hygiene for preppers
For Preppers, hygiene will be more important than ever in securing your chances of long time survival. A 2011 Survey by the Hygiene Council for World Health that people aged 55 and over are more likely to wash with soap and water than the younger generation.
They also report that people with good hygiene such as covering their mouth and noses when sneezing and coughing get sick less often than those who don’t.
We are entering the Holiday season and also hunting season where groups of friends and family get together in small confined areas to share the same breathing space which means it’s also prime time to share Flu season. (Marry Xmas Grandma ….ah choo…xoxoxo).
Good Hygiene is important
The guys here at MLM take hygiene very seriously by having antibacterial soap and alcohol wipes near the kitchen sink and in the restrooms. If you’re going to touch food or finish using the restroom “wash”.
Washing means cleansing your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds then drying them. Things like door knobs and counter tops should be cleaned regularly also. Clean yourself after cooking, toilet use, applying first aid, blowing your nose, handling trash, working with animals or handling their waste.
Never Poop where you eat
If you’re one of the group roughing it at primitive hunting camp site, have a designated restroom area by using colored tape around a designated pee tree. Store and bury human waste at least 200 feet away from any water source, sleeping area, food storage or preparation area.
While lane training with Troop E of the 153d Cav, we set up a neat outdoor restroom area with yellow ribbon around several trees and made a toilet using slit trench pallet and ammo crates. Pitched up an camo net for privacy and hung up a roll of t.p. in a freezer size zip lock bag. I would dare to say training was better than normal that year as those guys know how to live.
Nothing is more likely to set off camp rage than to put your sleeping bag down in an area where someone had bodily functions. Remember most everybody will be armed.
Good Hygiene Techniques
In an Every Day Health article by Wyatt Myers, he listed eight hygiene habits we should follow on a daily basis:
- Wash your hands and face at least twice daily
- Shower or bath.
- Brush and or floss daily
- Clip your finger and toe nails
- Shave
- Man scaping
- Wear deodorant
- Change you’re underwear and clothes if dirty.
I agree on the first four. Shaving, I would keep the beard trimmed and wash all the previous meal left overs you’ve been keeping for later out of it. Deodorant and man scape is as situation dictates. Man scaping may be a modern term but the principle is well known by soldiers serving overseas in hostile environments.
Back in the 80’s while attending jungle survival training in Panama, we learned from an instructor that Americans give off a unique smell because of our diets, deodorant, soaps and hygiene habits.
Man scaping is basically shaving off excess hair from your body because you secrete sweat through you’re hair and the hair retains the smell. A person living off the land will be able to pick up the smells of the Irish Spring wearing red meat-eating, beer drinking, American soldier. I left off cigarette smoking because everyone breathing today knows the health risks of smoking…. right.
With this in mind make sure you wash thoroughly next time you step away to shake hands with the President.
As always, be safe and healthy my friends. Be sure to follow our blog for more informative articles.
Ralph Tcat
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