Ultralight Backpacking Handwashing Station

While hand sanitizer in the backcountry is nice, nothing beats the feeling of hands scrubbed clean with soap and water! This gadget uses virtually no pack space, weighs mere grams, costs pennies, yet delivers a load of luxury in camp (not to mention healthy hygiene).

• One quart-size freezer Ziploc bag
• About a foot of 1/4” plastic tubing (available from your hardware store)
• Duct tape
• A single-hole punch
• Scissors
• Cord

Make a small diagonal cut in one of the bottom corners of the bag, approximately 1/4" across. Insert the tubing into the Ziploc bag and down to the cut corner. Push the tubing into the hole and pull it through, except for about the last half inch.

On the outside of the Ziploc bag, seal the part where the tubing pokes through to make it watertight. Tearing some smaller strips of duct tape and wrapping them around the bag and tube in the corner should do the trick.

Apply some duct tape to the top outside corner of the Ziploc bag opposite the tubing. This is for reinforcement of a hole that will be used to hang the bag.

Punch a hole into the duct tape reinforcement, all the way through the bag (you may need to add a few punches to make the hole big enough to accommodate the tubing). Alternatively, you could just cut a slit.

You are now finished with construction! Before filling the bag with water, take the end of the tubing and thread it across the bag and through the hole in the opposite corner. This will prevent water from running out of your tube. Insert a cord to hang the bag from a tree branch.

Fill the bag with water, and tie the cord onto a tree branch. When you want to wash your hands, just pull the tubing out of the hole and let it point toward the ground. Replace the tube when done. Depending on how conservative you are with the water, you can wash your hands about 4 to 5 times per fill-up. Congrats and enjoy!

What about hanging a small microfiber towel and soap from the same cord so all your supplies are in one place? I include a container of camping soap sheets in a snack-size bag.