ladies hair care

[Khaliela]

It depends entirely on where you are camping. If you are camping in a developed campground in a state or national park, or even some of the NFS camp grounds, then it doesn't matter what you use. Feel free to smell as fruity as you like because the kid in the next campsite who fell asleep with marshmallow in his hair and evidence of s'mores on his face is going to be far more tantalizing than any smell your shampoo gives off.

 

If you are using undeveloped campsites on state, federal, or BLM land, it probably doesn't matter much there either as long as you are using the usual bear precautions and not storing anything "smelly" near where you sleep.

 

If you are in the backcountry, bears probably won't be accustomed to the smell of people anyway, so shampoo shouldn't be on the menu regardless of what it smells like. If you are backcountry hiking in a wilderness area or in remote areas of our National Parks, check with the local backcountry office to see what if any recommendation they have. Some only allow biodegradable camp soap, others don't allow soap in the water at all, in which case, practice making your braids, or buns now.

 

Re: other women's Hygiene. If you are menstruating and you are in a "pack-it-in pack-it-out" area, make sure you have LOTS of plastic baggies. If you are in the Backcountry or in an area where bears are making a nuisance of themselves, make sure your companions know you are on the rag and have your pack hung far away for everyone else's.

[Stosh]

I don't think I would rely on developed/undeveloped/back country formula. I have camped in an established scout summer camp and a bear walked right through the middle checking it out. It found nothing so that's okay. However, if one were to rely on the "developed" factor, it could have been a problem. As far as the human scent in that situation, it didn't deter the bear one bit.

 

In our area another scout camp, one of the boys was killed while eating snacks in his tent in the middle of the afternoon. After the bear leaned on the tent and dropped it, the boy panicked and he struggled and the bear killed him, not realizing it was human.

 

Being over-cautious even in a well developed area is still a good thing.

[Stosh]

Okay, a short story: A friend of mine who grew up in Africa whose parents were missionaries, married a gal from the US. For a honeymoon they went to Africa so she could see where he grew up. One morning, while camping, she got up to do her morning thing and soon he was awakened by her screaming. She was standing on a large rock looking at a pride of lions a few hundred feet away. He told her to stand QUIETLY. The lions just laid there and were not at all interested in her. Finally he said she could get down and come back to camp. The lions hadn't moved one bit. She climbed down and came back to camp and asked why she had to stand there so long and finally came back and the lions didn't do a thing. He said, because the cape buffalo standing behind her finally moved off. He was a greater threat than the lions.