Let’s face it: Most items that hikers carry to look or feel cleaner in the backcountry are optional. A brush, hand sanitizer, soap, deodorant (definitely deodorant), a razor, and a bandana can all be left at home.

However, most of these items are extremely lightweight, so it is not uncommon to find one or two of these “important” non-essentials in the packs of ultralight and lightweight backpackers—even mine.

Stay Clean with Less Weight

Part of looking and feeling good on the trail without adding weight to your pack is about making use of the natural resources available to you. You are going ...