Cleaning undergarments

[Laurie]

Use hers when caving in Devon.
They turn a lovely shade of pink.

 

[IanWalker]

Does anybody know how to get the brown tinge out of your clothes after you have been caving?

we use aerial acti-lift tabs or gel. the 'acti-lift' part is important - they say it is formulated to assist lifting of particulates. certainly eems to do a good job of cave mud and clay. works out about 20p per wash and gives all your suits, SRT gear and ropes a lovely fragrance too.

ian.

 

[Alex]

SRT gear and ropes a lovely fragrance too.

Hmm, remind me not to use your ropes! I don't like the idea of chemicals near any of that stuff. Just chucking rope on the rinse cycle solves it.

Darn off topic, so back on topic, never been a concern for me as I am single so no one is really lucky enough to see my underkecks generally so it don't matter what colour it is, black ones seem to wash fine though.

 

[Slug]

Have a separate set just for caving......then again as I'm helping to dig into Wigmore on Mendip, I also require a whole separate skin, as, no matter how may showers you have afterwards.....you will still stain the bedsheets a pinkish brown....sort of like a speleo Shroud of Turin effect..... :-\

 

[pwhole]

I stopped bothering with underwear when caving some time ago as it's just another layer to get through if you need to take a leak, for one thing, and with SRT kit on, that's difficult enough, especially with my suit (Meander Cordura), which seems to assume that one urinates from the belly button! Still, my Stop and Croll are always mud-free...

And yes, they got trashed quicker than in normal use, (probably due to grit abrasion) and anything coloured other than black is just depressing to view after one trip. Seemed as I spent most of my time up to my waist in cold gloop, what was the point of underwear?

 

[cap n chris]

I stopped bothering with underwear when caving some time ago as it's just another layer to get through if you need to take a leak, for one thing, and with SRT kit on, that's difficult enough, especially with my suit (Meander Cordura)

Get an omni and a velcro fastening suit and it only takes 15 seconds to remove SRT/open suit for a wee.

 

[Les W]

Get an omni and a velcro fastening suit and it only takes 15 seconds to remove SRT/open suit for a wee.

Sometimes, 15 seconds is too long...  :-[

 

[Mike Hopley]

Black Speedo swimming trunks. Problem solved.

No underwear = horrible chafing. At least for me. And oh god, those commando novice trips when I had matching holes in my borrowed under- and oversuit...:spank:

 

[r_walklate@hotmail.com]

Pampers??????

 

[Amy]

I stopped bothering with underwear when caving some time ago as it's just another layer to get through if you need to take a leak, for one thing, and with SRT kit on, that's difficult enough, especially with my suit (Meander Cordura)

Get an omni and a velcro fastening suit and it only takes 15 seconds to remove SRT/open suit for a wee.

Try having ladybits then tell me if that still works. 

I have tried and tried to master the whole "unzip and pee" trick - some women can and there are directions for how. I just can't seem to do it. The only way is to take off all the gear and drop my pants and squat. I can't even do a straddle over a public toilet. It always keeps running down my leg instead,it doesn't matter how I try and move stuff out of the way, it's just comes out crooked, the stream always goes to the right and hits my right leg and runs down it instead. Ewwwwwww.

...tmi? But really. I totally don't mind peeing outdoors. It is no bother at all for me. I actually kinda find it cleaner feeling than using a toilet. But, I have to drop my pants just enough so I can squat and go. Then my legs are out of the way and it all works beautifully. If anyone has any tips feel free to share, I just haven't figured out a way around needing to squat yet. 

 

[bagpuss]

Not sure I get the muddy undergarments thing, not something I've ever suffered from.. My suits tend to keep the mud/water off unless it's a damp cave.

 

[bagpuss]

I stopped bothering with underwear when caving some time ago as it's just another layer to get through if you need to take a leak, for one thing, and with SRT kit on, that's difficult enough, especially with my suit (Meander Cordura)

Get an omni and a velcro fastening suit and it only takes 15 seconds to remove SRT/open suit for a wee.

Try having ladybits then tell me if that still works. 

I have tried and tried to master the whole "unzip and pee" trick - some women can and there are directions for how. I just can't seem to do it. The only way is to take off all the gear and drop my pants and squat. I can't even do a straddle over a public toilet. It always keeps running down my leg instead,it doesn't matter how I try and move stuff out of the way, it's just comes out crooked, the stream always goes to the right and hits my right leg and runs down it instead. Ewwwwwww.

...tmi? But really. I totally don't mind peeing outdoors. It is no bother at all for me. I actually kinda find it cleaner feeling than using a toilet. But, I have to drop my pants just enough so I can squat and go. Then my legs are out of the way and it all works beautifully. If anyone has any tips feel free to share, I just haven't figured out a way around needing to squat yet. 

I feel your pain, I remember a trip once where I had a wetsuit on without a swimsuit, so had to bear all to the world pre cave in the bushes, not good!  You need a She Wee! (I don't have one, but they have been recommended when I have moaned in the past..)

 

[kay]

You need a She Wee! (I don't have one, but they have been recommended when I have moaned in the past..)

They work. But you have to practise. At first you get the bedpan effect - you want to wee, you know the container is ready, but your body says "this isn't right" and it takes a great deal of concentration to get anything at all to happen. - Oh, and they're not long enough. You need an extension tube, which they'll sell you at exorbitant cost, or you can dig out a piece of tubing the right length from the accumulation of junk in your garage.

But I have to say - in normal clothing, peeling off and squatting is quicker.

 

[Elaine]

I have managed to go 12 hours in the past and boy wasn't I busting when I got back to the hut! Yes, Amy, I understand too! I just drink very little and hope I can last out! Trouble is, I am thin skinned and somehow I absorb cave water!

 

[Amy]

Because I'm totally carrying a she-wee with me everywhere, and worry about cleaning it up or a ziplock to put it in, etc etc. ewwww I'm sorry the entire concept of a funnel for me to pee out of is just NASTY. plus, what if I pee too fast for it and it overfills making a mess? seems to just cause more trouble than it's worth I can't think of a single good thing about it.

Frankly if I was in a cave that wet where I was in the water in a wetsuit, I'd pee in my wetsuit. Water will dilute it and I can just wash the suit when I'd get home. But I don't have a wetsuit (and that's a totally different rant. 45-35-45 and no one fucking makes wetsuits for my hips or boobs. GRRRRR. I finally found Bravissimo and placed an order, hopefully I can finally have bras that fit. Sick of wearing illfitting shit. Been making do with 38DDD's but I'm really between a 34G/GG and 36FF...which I can't get in the states - my package is making it's making it's way across the Atlantic now! And I'm totallllly visiting a store as part of my next UK trip, lol.)

Oddly, I usually only feel like I need to pee when I'm in wet caves. Something about the chill of the water hitting my crotch does it, lol. But if it's that deep...would anyone know if I did pee?  :ang: I was taught the only time it's ok to pee in a cave is with lots of running water because it dilutes it so quick to a point it doesn't friggin' matter. Otherwise, pee bottle. Which, pee bottles work fine if I squat. I have an oversuit but I rarely ever wear it. Even when I was in the UK I didn't use one. So except for being in a seat harness, there is never really a time when I can't drop and go quickly.

For now I just always pee before putting on my srt kit and hope I can hold it until it's time to take it off LOL.

 

[pwhole]

Thinking about it, a She-Wee could be just what I'm looking for with my suit.

The first guy to find a use for them...?

 

[kay]

Oddly, I usually only feel like I need to pee when I'm in wet caves. Something about the chill of the water hitting my crotch does it, lol. But if it's that deep...would anyone know if I did pee?  .

They wouldn't know if you didn't tell them. But after that post, I imagine everyone will be making sure they're never downstream of you 

 

[kay]

Thinking about it, a She-Wee could be just what I'm looking for with my suit.

The first guy to find a use for them...?

You'll find the top end is not a very useful shape for you.

But if you talk nicely to your GP, the NHS provides "he-wees" - just be warned, they're designed to be worn under your clothing (rather than applied temporarily), and are kept in place with elastoplast  :tease:

 

[crickleymal]

In one of Spike Milligan's books (Rommel? Gunner Who? I think) one of his tent mates solves the problem of having to strip off several layers (it's freezing in the desert at night) by slipping a length of bicycle inner tube over the end and dangling it out of his trouser leg. Just walk out into the desert and relax. But cunning Gunner Edgington put a peg on the end whilst he was sleeping....

 

[cavermark]

Oddly, I usually only feel like I need to pee when I'm in wet caves. Something about the chill of the water hitting my crotch does it, lol. But if it's that deep...would anyone know if I did pee?  .

It's fine in public swimming baths too, isn't it?