[Macumazahn]

Plenty.

... I wonder how many uses the onion bag is good for? Do you have any insight?

More than you could ever need, I am sure. These are the ones from my kitchen so I have used them before and I used them all weekend with no discernible signs of wear. I am sure they would last a few weeks if you were just using them to wash up your cook pot.

 

[hawkbern]

why do people still use dish liquid in streams and rivers?

I would imagine they use it to clean dishes.

Some of use soap that is lighter on the enviornment than the stuff you are assuming we are all using.

 

[dirtyfeetrae]

Camp cook is one of the things that I am for a living.

If you are using cast iron, heat it to a high heat and burn everything to ashes, then just brush out the ashes. Dry silica or sand works well as a scrubby, then just brush out the sand. Spun plastic is your next bet bet, it dries fast. Don't use soap if you can't rinse. Soap residue will ruin food. Fire though burns most scraps out of pots and then you just brush the ashes away. Use flames to burn off your dishes, not coals. Flames turn things to ash fast.

 

[ColoradoWildcat]

Something we have in our packs is a 3" x 3" Scotchbrite or Scotch Guard pad- it has literally no weight, and is really tough. A piece of that will scour anything.

 

[bushwacker73]

Sand and water. If on a stream bed little round pebbles and water work good.. P.S. good topic..

 

[Foulwind]

For me, as a kid out camping / hunting, our campsite was next to a creek. The sand/ gravel at creek side made short work of the burnt on chili or stew I happened to burn into my mess kit's pan. My mess kit is a SS surplus GI style , my dad got me when I was 7yrs old! I still have it today! When the creek was dry, I'd boil water in the pan until the water is almost gone, this softened up a lot of the cooked on residue, then with sand /gravel I "Sanded" the rest off then rinsed. Dad schooled me on how to do all this.

 

[bunkerbuster]

Stainless steel scrubby.
Not the lightweight cheap household ones from WalMart, etc..
Commercial quality from restaurant supply places.
Multipurpose & will last years.

 

[azb]

Best to avoid dirty dishes altogether.

Most of my meals are dehydrated from home and put into freezer bags. Boil water, place water into freezer bag, let sit for a bit and eat. Dirty bags can be tossed at first opportunity, or taken home and cleaned at leisure for reuse.

Since the only thing in pot is boiling water, it never needs cleaning.

Fresh meat is grilled on rocks or sticks over the fire, and on rare occasions when the pot is used for actual cooking, I clean with sand well away from water sources. Any waste and rinse water goes into a small hole and is buried.

Food particles and soap have no business in a water supply, or near camp if you're in bear country.

Az

 

[IC_Rafe]

guess the guy just went to the last page and last thread and necro'd that...

 

[DadeMurphy]

JetBoil Ti... I carry a scotchbright pad. Just add a little water and scrub quick.

done.

 

[canadan]

If there is no water around Ill just use dry dirt until its just basically a slightly dusty mess kit, then I just wipe it with my bandanna etc. If there is water around it'll get a clean rinse, using dirt works wonders.

 

[Donk]

Sphagnum moss is abundant in supply here so I use that for a lot of things including cleaning cookware. If my pots are really black from cooking on a fire, hexi stove or something similar I'll usually go with sand/gravel if possible. I also carry a piece of Scotchbrite.

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

I tried sand and wood ash, but neither seemed to work very well without water. I wonder how many uses the onion bag is good for? Do you have any insight?

Wood ash is no good by itself. However, if you soak it in water overnight, it releases the lye. Once you have that, you have a cleanser that will get you just as clean, if not more so, than modern store bought soaps.

It is gritty, like Comet Kitchen Cleanser, and works just as good or better.

 

[Vanishing Nomad]

One trick I got from the guys at "Great Outdoors and Survival" was to take grass, wad it up, almost like a tinder bundle for fire making, and use that as a scrubbie sponge. It works really well if you add a little sand, and it's completely renewable. It also gives the advantage of not having to pack anything.

 

[Brew]

Wait.

You guys dont leave it out at night so you can collect more ***** and possums?

You know. Circle of fire. Circle of food.

 

[MagicPuff]

Frying pans don't need to be washed, or not everyday at least; the residual fat in them wont go off easily.

Plus when you cook again in them the heat will kill any germs that may be there. I think so anyway, I haven't got sick yet using this method.

 

[Goblin X]

I was going to say

My Black Lab !

tha dog or cat, depends which one is with us, but usually a piece of bread takes care of any residue thats left,,,,,,,,,:thumb: they gotta get in line behind me....

 

[TMcArthur]

The dog seems to do a really good job of licking them clean for me.

 

[nomad10th]

I just pour biodegradable dish soap into a travel size shampoo bottle (the screw cap type not the kind you can open by pushing down on the top) then put it in a freezer bag. That will get you through a couple of weeks out in the bush. I also carry a green scouring pad in a ziploc.

 

[Dill]

snow! 10 characters.