[MR] Pennsic water and pennsic sanitation

Sat Jul 16 22:47:30 PDT 2011

I too have yet to get sick at pennsic,but I have known for years that the water is a bit...funny.
but heck just bring plenty of water and all is well.

seems this subject is in the drain for most anyway.we all know what needs be done specially the veterans.

Torgar

Fearlessness is better then a faint heart for any man who puts his nose out of  doors,The length of my life and the day of my death were fated long ago.

Thorwulfgar Uvaerkaller

________________________________
From: Gina Shelley <paintedwheel at hotmail.com>
To: atlantia at atlantia.sca.org
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 1:39 AM
Subject: [MR] Pennsic water and pennsic sanitation

I don't drink Pennsic water, not because I don't think it's potable (I don't know if it is or not. I know people drink it without ill effects), but for two other reasons. 

1. I'm not used to that water and it obviously has a very heavy mineral content (Iron, evidently, for the most part.) Even potable water full of minerals you're not used to can upset your tummy. Especially in a situation where you're going to need to drink a lot of it. Why risk that in a place like Pennsic?

2. If water tastes bad or odd (or, say, like a rusty nail for instance), you are going to tend to drink less of it. You're at Pennsic, you need to drink more water, not less (you're welcome, Morwenna.). 

You can buy it in five gallon tanks at the Giant Eagle up there. You can buy it at Coopers. It's cheap. I know for a fact you can get the big tanks of it in the Bridgeport West Virginia Walmart, because that's where we do our Pennsic grocery shopping every year. 

I think people tend to get Pennsic Plague because in a situation like that, you really have to mind your camp kitchen. You have to keep your food on sufficient ice. You have to wash your hands A LOT. You have to keep your kitchen supplies scrupulously clean (and I mean clean like "Gypsy" clean, too. Pretend you're Mr. Monk.). We bring up tons of hand sanitizer (not a substitute for washing), Clorox wipes, dishwashing supplies. I bring a spray bottle of vinegar and one of hydrogen peroxide. Spraying them both on surfaces, letting it sit, then rinsing off with clean water provides a food grade sanitize for your feastware, your cookware, and even your fresh produce. It produces peracetic acid when mixed (do NOT mix these chemicals into one bottle). I do this at home. I don't even put produce in my refrigerator before treating it in this way. I treat raw meat and unwashed produce like it's toxic waste. (that produce Delia brought up to Morwenna's vigil last
 summer probably didn't
  have enough bacteria left on it for the leftovers to rot when we got finished with it down in camp. )

Do not allow flies to land on your food or gear. (it's not that you don't know where they've been. You do. They've been in the privy. Where the guy in the next camp who does not practice these things I'm telling you is spending A LOT of time. ) Big box of large zip lock bags helps with that. Food goes in, clean gear goes in. 

Watch where you put your shoes. They've been in the privy, too, slogging around in all that nice fresh norovirus. I tend to keep my shoes under the vardo. They are marhime...contaminated with something that can make me sick. I might put them inside the vardo if the weather is really bad, but I have a special place for them on the little porch, outside the door jamb, where they won't touch anything else. For God's sake don't put them on your bed or (shudder) your PICNIC TABLE. (just...no.)

It helps if your camp has hot water. If you don't, heating water to wash dishes is something you should take the time to do. We're lucky down in The Court and have a Zodi water heater, which I highly recommend. Hot water makes it easier to keep yourself and your gear clean, so you're more likely to do it right. 

You might laugh at my obsessiveness, but I have yet to puke at War. I'm just saying. 

Dulcy
Who finds a great deal of irony in the knowledge that people think "gypsies" are dirty. 

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