# Longest you've ever gone without a full body shower or bath? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2010, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520 "2010-12-09T09:53:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/1 "2010-12-09T09:53:34Z")
That’s it, whole question. Oh, also interested in voluntarily vs. involuntarily. Ta! ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/2 "2010-12-09T09:56:37Z")
21 days when crossing the Atlantic on a yacht. However, salt water splash washing did occur. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/3 "2010-12-09T10:01:01Z")
Probably a week when I had a really bad flu and just couldn’t muster the energy. ---
**Author:** ![grimpixie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecb155/32.png) [@grimpixie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grimpixie)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/4 "2010-12-09T10:08:35Z")
Several 5-day hiking trails over the course of the years… ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/5 "2010-12-09T11:42:36Z")
11 days while trekking in the mountains, back home in India. Quite early on in the trip, my friend and I tried to wash our hair in a glacial meltwater stream. That was a bad idea, and all personal hygiene was abandoned after we recovered from our skull-crushing headaches. I think it’s also true that you don’t get - or perhaps feel - quite as dirty when walking at altitude in the mountains as you would when in a city or lower down on the plains. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/6 "2010-12-09T12:28:09Z")
Two weeks - backpacking, very ripe! ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/7 "2010-12-09T12:48:01Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Two weeks - backpacking, very ripe! Ditto. On the time and the ripe. **Devorin** , I don’t think it’s so much a matter of urban vs mountainy dirt as indoors versus outdoors. It’s just not as noticeable when you’re in the breeze. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/8 "2010-12-09T12:59:57Z")
One month, trekking in Nepal. We could wash our faces from time to time. I’ve gone two weeks hiking many times, but those usually included a swim. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/9 "2010-12-09T13:38:31Z")
Week or so in the hospital. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/10 "2010-12-09T13:47:03Z")
Can’t tell, am still going at it. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/11 "2010-12-09T13:52:06Z")
A week rafting down the Grand Canyon. We tried to wash in the river but the Colorado is pretty muddy (at least through the canyon) and just added more dirt. I remember how filthy the water was going down the shower drain when we got to Vegas after the trip and how much I enjoyed being clean and sleeping in clean sheets! ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/12 "2010-12-09T14:14:13Z")
Within memory of adult life, I think 3 days. I have washed in some pretty dodgy/rustic locales. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/13 "2010-12-09T14:42:51Z")
Three months! I broke my hip, and the only full bathroom in the house is on the second floor. For three months I washed up at the kitchen sink. I thought I was doing a pretty good job but that cloud of funk that wafted off during that first shower told me different. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/14 "2010-12-09T14:47:42Z")
Five days. This was at summer camp. The camp counsellors got to take showers, but the campers did not. At least we swam in the pool every day. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/15 "2010-12-09T14:59:59Z")
When I was involuntarily commited to the local cuckoo’s nest, it took me 14 hours to get something to eat, 38 hours to get some basic toiletries and be allowed to take a shower, but only two hours to get [del]drugs[/del] medications. I gues taking medication is 7 times more important than eating and 19 times more important than cleanliness! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/16 "2010-12-09T15:06:25Z")
A couple of weeks, during camping trips. Like everybody else, ripe and stinky. A hot shower never felt so good! ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/17 "2010-12-09T15:09:34Z")
About a week on a camping trip. That’s been ages ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/18 "2010-12-09T15:10:30Z")
8 days. I was on a Venezuelan naval ship underway, and the ship didn’t have any working evaporators. It was pretty hot and humid - we were in the tropics, after all. Berthing areas were pretty smelly. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/19 "2010-12-09T15:13:42Z")
Months due to hospitalization and recovery. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520/20 "2010-12-09T15:17:11Z")
Two days. Even when I camp, I wash in the lake (and make sure one is available). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-youve-ever-gone-without-a-full-body-shower-or-bath/563520.md?page=2)