Do you use a collapsible kitchen sink ?
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Hey Zski
This is the one I use and I have had it for a good long time. Wouldn't be without it.

I have a small mesh bag into which goes the soap/scrubee. I use the cord on the mesh bag and "hook and loop" it around one of the handles of my sink. That way everything stays together.

This is a great size for 1 or 2 people. It is also the right amount of water to rinse soap off (away from the shore) from your person. Fill it up, set in the woods, go for a swim, soap up and grab your handy dandy granite gear sink. The loop at the bottom is a great aid for rinse off as well as drying upside down.

I keep mine on the outside of my duffel secured by a biner and straps against loss. It will stay wet for a time, even upside down so keep that in mind. And yes, a reasonably flat surface is good.......Not to big, not to small, just right up

Seattle Sports Camp Sink...on clearance at REI presently...hold 25 liters, stands on it's own, bomber handles, very tough.  I wash out of a pot of warm/hot water and rinse into the bucket.  That way I can do dishes near camp and dump the dirty/soapy water well back in the woods.  Also serves as a bath bucket, clothes washer, fire bucket, resevoir to filter water from and adhoc live well...thought I usually catch fish too big to fit in it!! 

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pd

Portage Dog and I think alike as I use the same sink in exactly the same ways. I consider it essential gear for a group of 4 or more. I have a smaller version for solo or 2.

We use an old rubbermaid sink. Lots of our gear fits inside, so it doesn't add to packing bulk. Cheap and works great.

good choice Zski

Mine has held up very well and I am partial to it. Not so great for larger parties but perfect for solo or 2 guys.

Bear in mind larger containers also mean lots more weight when you are lifting it from the shore. This is actually a good time for an injury. Been paddling all day, don't want to get your feet wet after setting up and leaning over the water all while lifting a fairly heavy weight out from your body. Water is not light and I tend too be a little careful when lifting it. But the Granite gear size is not so bad.......

Try one of those small mesh bags to put your soap and scrubber in, very handy to have it all together.

I always dry my dishes right away and put them up, never let them air dry.  I use a synthetic car drying towel (Absorber, Shamwow, pick a name...) cut in half.  Cheap and you don't need (or want) them to by 'dry'.  I keep it in a quart ziploc bag in my wash kit to keep it clean and from drying out.  Much cheaper than a 'camp towel'. 

I use the other half to dry me or sometimes dry the dew/rain off the tarp or tents so they pack a bit dryer than just shaking them off.

pd

Puckster wrote on Apr 16^th, 2014 at 8:57pm:
this is what we've been doing all along too. till now. we'll see how it goes

For years this is all I would bring in, weight wasn't to bad either, fits nicely in the fattest part of the canoe and the sweetest part was it double as an anchor in a pinch.

Enjoy,
Redowl

Snow_Dog wrote on Apr 17^th, 2014 at 2:15pm:


This sounded good to me........ for about 10 seconds.......what do you use to rinse water when you soap up the bod?

I will often have a daily swim but eventually a guy or gal needs a wee bit of soap. Somehow I can't picture lugging a plastic container back in the woods and lifting it over my head.

mastertangler wrote on Apr 17^th, 2014 at 5:27pm:


Why not?  No different really than a collapsible sink.  Or you could just do what PJ does and use a sunshower. 

My teflon fry pan is not dirt/sand friendly, Gavia.  I'll stick with a sponge and some soap and I wash the same way db does - cleanest first.  I highly encourage campers to lick their plates clean first too!  I prefer not to leave dishes out as they could pick up stuff from say, that Canada Jay perched on the branch above them, eyeing your crumbs.    Since pots heat up, killing the germs, the real risk is on the eating gear.  All you other old Army guys must recall having to hot dip your mess kit BEFORE eating.  I also don't like having loose stuff around camp...a bit OCD on that. 

p(OC)d

portage dog, I don't use anything on my teflon pans either.  I mean anything, since nothing sticks.  Just a quick wipe to get any remaining bannock crumbs off and they're clean.

Puckster wrote on Apr 18^th, 2014 at 2:08am:
that's an excellent question puckster, one i've asked myself while reading through the various responses in this thread. A sink has been a fleeting thought from time to time but really never gave it enough consideration to actually purchase one. Then while checking out some granite gear under seat stowaway bags on sierra trading post, curious, i clicked the 'other stuff by gg' link. Well they had sinks for 12 bucks and traditional #4 packs for 74 (with email discount). Which got me thinking i've got a couple older packs and might be nice to retire one as a backup. And then these sinks, that's a pretty good price too, and there must be something to these things if so many people are using them. Do a lot of people use them? Must be otherwise they wouldn't be making them. And then looking at a BWJ back issue and there's an article on 'top ten gadgets'. One of the top ten is a seattle sports sink and one of the big glossy full page pictures highlights none other than, yep. a sink. that very night i had a dream with a sink in it too! (not really). So anyway, I'm starting to think 'am i missing something here?' I've never really missed a sink and have always used a big pot to do the job. sometimes sand and soil a was mentioned. It's kind of trivial, and i hesitated to even ask here but what the heck. A dull uninteresting topic, but everyone has dirty cookware and everyone has their own method and tools to deal with them. I liked reading all the responses. Good stuff. At this very moment a couple gg portable sinks are en route via ups. I might like em or not but will give them a try. Worst case they can be used to carry boxes of drywall or deck screws, right? Woah getting late gotta get off to work. New thought for a bumper sticker. I'd rather be washing dishes in the wilderness...   

Zski -- you sound like me, some might call us gear heads, always curious to try something new.  Let us know what you think after a few trips with the sinks.

MT -- gotta hand it to you, you're probably the only one on this site that can turn an interesting, if mundane, discussion about washing dishes into a debate, and judge people about their camping ethics.  Geez... 

puckster

must . . . resist . . . urge . . . to . . . reply . . .

mastertangler wrote on Apr 18^th, 2014 at 1:30pm:



I don't know much, but I do know THAT statement IS judgmental, right or wrong.

Is being judgmental a bad thing (even when it comes from what is VERY LIKELY the earth stewardship ethical high ground)?

I don't know.  Hey, at least we know where the guy stands.  It's the indignant flavor of the statement that sort of jumps out at me ("but my temp is starting to rise").

My experience is: 1) most folks don't wish to be publicly judged (they'd prefer to be quietly "educated"), and 2) he/she who "judges", in turn, invites the world to judge him/her (to cast the 2nd stone, so to speak).

Being a judge and hanging a target on my own back seems like a lonely position to take.  I'm not saying it's wrong.  I'm just saying it seems lonely.

MT, I think the point you made was a valuable one.  On the other hand, I think the way you made it is not likely to win friends & influence people in the manner you intended.  To each his own.  Wear what colors you will.

I'll give you this, though.  You're not afraid to stand up, be counted... & possibly stoned.

Jimbo   

P.S. An example of exercising the "judgmental" prerogative of a Moderator (albeit not of this forum) in the interest of promoting healthy & courteous discussion, not fist fights, about our dish water.

jimmar wrote on Apr 18^th, 2014 at 4:45pm:


Sorry jimmar.  MT is an easy target but I can't seem to get this log out of my own eye to notice the speck in his.

Now then, at the request of a friend, let's keep it to washing your dirty crockery and kitchen sinks here.  If you want to start a thread on your personal hygiene there is a way to do that.   

Wow! I didn't realize all of the moral & ethical boundaries that could be violated by using the wrong sink. Thanks to Jimbo & PJ for restoring sanity.

mastertangler wrote:
How do the non-sink folk wash the soap off their person after washing up?

I don't know about others, but I either use a cooking pot filled with filtered water or bring the whole gallon (clean water reservoir) along with me.

Here's how I do it:

1. Cook, eat, rest.
2. Heat filtered water in big pot.
3. Add a few drops of dish soap to warm water in pot.
4. Gather dirty dishes. 
5. If the dog is with us, he gets to clean off the crumbs from the plates.
   If we're without a dog, crumbs get scraped into small pile on a plate and
   burned, or buried in woods with dirty dishwater.
6. Walk off into the woods with warm soapy water in pot, dirty dishes, and
    nalgene of clean filtered water.
7. Clean dishes in soupy water using a scraper/sponge. 
8. Pour dirty water in small hole in ground. 
9. Rinse dishes, pot, and sponge with clean water from nalgene.
10. Carry back to camp and put clean dishes out to dry on rocks or logs. 
11. Shuffle cards for cribbage.

Pretty simple.  No dish pan.  It's just how I do it, but I'm sure there are as good, or better ways. 

Some might be disgusted by the role my dog plays in this operation.  Guilty as charged. 

puckster

Along with my "PO-BOY" kitchen sink, I have a 3 gallon solar shower.
A few hours laying on a warm rock with even overcast skies, brings in warm enough for a shower on my lay-over/camp days.

Travel days, I can fill it enough to use to wash soapy dishes back in woods.
Like PJ, I find a hole to dump soapy water in.

I like unscented Dawn dish soap. It's concentrated so a little goes a long ways.
I figure if it's good enough for cleaning wild life covered in oil and disposals easily, it's good enough for back country use.