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To shower or Not to shower, That is the Question


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One more thing occurs to me that hasn't been mentioned here....

 

Mosquitoes are attracted to the more odivarous person. Hence it is preffered to use non-perfumed soap OFTEN. And non-perfumed deoderant (not antipersperant).

 

There's a selling point: Let the 'skeeters go to the more stinky Scout!

 

YiS

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The best solution is to have modern showers at your Scout Camp! Will Rogers Scout Reservation installed a new Shower House with 20 stalls and 20 outer lockable doors. None of these "communal" showers or having a time schedule for Youth / Adult or Male / Female. All showers were open to all at any time. Once you went into your shower and locked the door, the nice warm showers with a bench were yours. The lights were even the motion detector type so energy was not wasted.

 

In this day & age with all of the Youth Protection stuff this really is the best solution and a lot more kids are taking showers these days in Cleveland OK.

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Sand Hill installed new rennai tankless water heaters in every campsite this year. Now they just need to install new mixing valves. the showers have curtains not locking doors but they are ok just have your buddy stand guard then return the favor.

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Our Cub Resident camp has those. It's very nice. It's kind of weird standing in line next to a mom or a kid. But it's one of the best setups I've seen. Our Boy Scout camp retrofitted their showers with stalls (taking them down from 6 heads to 4). But it was worth it.

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  • 4 weeks later...

"Every year it seems to be a struggle to get boys to the showers (mostly the younger guys). Any "fresh" ideas on how to get boys to take a shower at least once during the week of camp?"

 

My father was the Troop Scoutmaster at summer camp for 4 years when I was a scout. First day he would gather us all around and say something along the lines of "It's hot, you're gonna get dirty. You HAVE to shower. If you don't, you'll get crotch rot." First year, one boy responded with "Will IT fall off?" Everybody showered.

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A few thoughts... First, its much much easier getting (younger) scouts to shower at camps that have private shower stalls with locking doors. I even like it a little bit better myself. Of course, some scouts still won't want to shower, and I think its mostly an effort thing - its much easier just to sit in camp, warm and dry talking with your friends, than heading off to take a shower. Also, at nights at camp when its cold and rainy, I'd have a hard time forcing a kid to go shower. That said, my troop doesn't really have a big problem with it, and the adult leadership has never really felt a need to make proclamations about requiring showers, or mandatory troop shower time, etc. Instead, we find that peer pressure is very effective, and on the few occasions that warrant it, some one-on-one counseling with an adult or the SPL is all that it takes. When all else fails, an impromptu water balloon fight might work ;-) . Or, one year at camp, it started raining REALLY hard about Thursday afternoon. It was one of those summer storms that dumped heavy rain for about 1/2 hour, and then cleared up nicely for the rest of the week (and the temperature dropped!) Some of the older scouts changed into their swim suits, got out their shampoo and started "showering" out in the middle of the campsite, or using the runoff from the dining flys. Soon enough, almost the whole troop was off getting clean.

 

The camps that don't have private showers are a little bit more of a challenge. Sending scouts with their swimsuits is a good idea. One thing we tried for the new scout patrol was trying to designate a shower time just for them. We took them down while the troops were preparing dinner, and these scouts just ate a little bit later. That way, the showers were empty, and they felt a little more comfortable. Can't guarantee that will work, though.

 

As far as tooth brushing goes, we had a scoutmaster once that had received some complaints that kids weren't brushing their teeth at camp, so he decided to make Wednesday after breakfast a mandatory tooth brushing day. Each patrol lined up with their tooth brush, and brushed their teeth for a few minutes, while the SM took pictures to "prove" to the parents that their scouts brushed their teeth.

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  • 2 months later...

Our local camp has built showers similar to what bigedbsa mentioned...

 

We now have 4 shower houses with 10 lockable "bathrooms" each. These rooms have a shower, sink, bench, and toilet. I learned from my guys this past camp season that many of them took at least one shower per day, and some took 2! With the flushable toilets now in a locked room, I heard of no one holding it for multiple days.

 

I do remember being a scout and taking showers in the shower rooms (locker room type). Many of the scouts then would go in and get out as quickly and clean-ly (is that a word) as they could. I do remember we would joke on the younger scout that would wear his bathing suit in for a shower, but at least he was taking one...

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"Mosquitoes are attracted to the more odivarous person. Hence it is preffered to use non-perfumed soap OFTEN. And non-perfumed deoderant (not antipersperant)."

 

I thought that mosquitoes weren't attracted to you if you didn't shower and did smell bad.

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G-W: Personal experience and scientific evidence...

 

Check out the "Science News" April 22, 2000 by Corina Wu

 

Carbon dioxide, lactic acid, heritage, unknown stuff.

 

 

Course, if one is dirty enough, the 'skeeters can't get thru to you. That's why hippos coat themselves in mud!

 

Also, it seems that DEET doesn't really REPEL the skeeters, it just make one smell like a PLANT, which skeeters aren't looking for. Confuses 'em.

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My personal observations are that those who don't shower don't get bit by skeeters. Perhaps the stink of stale sebum and rancid armpits masks the attractants.

 

I did read the article and I didn't see anything about showering. It did say that if your feet stink and emit CO2 then skeeters will like them. A good reason to change your socks.

 

In any case, I'll continue to only shower every other day at camp because after two days, I can't stand being near myself.

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I strongly urge the scouts to shower in their swim trunks. Therefore no unnecessary horseplay(?) hazing,or other unscoutlike incidents can occur. Also you are not having to worry about ANY misunderstandings from anyone. It is a sick world we live in,and I do NOT want anyone "drooling"over my scouts!!! It also seems that they are more likely to shower in the bath house. Summer camps are shared by other troops as well.

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