Being in the Army while in the field can be difficult at times, with bad weather, inhospitable environments, no phone, no light/power, and no motor car (as the song used to say), among many other things. At least your days are planned for you and with enough activities you can forget some things like laundry. At least until your laundry comes alive and takes a dislike to you.
Enter the Scrubba Bag, a simple, easy-to-use portable clothes-washing system you can take anywhere.
I sent some Scrubba Bags to my Grandson Iahn recently and when his group went to the Italian Alps for training they took the Scrubba Bags with them.
First though, what is a Scrubba Bag?
It’s a personal, portable clothes washer that goes where you go, and enables you to wash certain items where and when you want when on vacation, in the field or even on the sidelines at a sporting event. Best of all, it fits easily into a backpack, duffel bag or Ruck.
When laid flat the Scrubba Bag is 21.3″ x 12.6″, when rolled up for storage it’s 6.3″ x 2.4 x 2.4″ and weighs only 5.3oz. Guy McCardle and I recommend dry soap sheets both to conserve weight, ease of use and packing, which is what I sent along with the bags for Iahn and his Group. Liquid soaps are also compatible with Scrubba Bags and work just as well so if that’s your preference, no worries.
Scrubba Bags were designed in consultation with a former Australian SAS team leader, so you can be sure they are multipurpose, will hold up under pressure and will deliver the results you want. According to Iahn, the Soldiers in his Group and the Italian Soldiers they were training with, their Scrubba Bags delivered BIG TIME! Their trip was pretty high up and didn’t include many amenities so having the Scrubba Bags was a good thing for all of them.
How does it perform?
The bags are made to hold up to 2 T-shirts, 2 pair of socks and 2 pair of underwear, per load, essentially the basics to keep you going. Fill with your laundry, water and soap, seal the bag, deflate some air and start rubbing the clothes across the washboard inside the bag. Rinse, hang to dry and repeat for the next load, unless you need to catch a little sleep before standing guard of course. The results were great, according to Iahn the bags hit all the required marks:
Easy to use, CHECK! The directions are printed in multiple places.
Easy to wash clothes, CHECK! If you can make a scrubbing/rubbing motion for up to 3 minutes, you’re good.
Gets clothes clean, CHECK! Amazing how clean T-shirts and socks came out.
Yes, they did have some complaints. I’m not sure these had anything to do with the Scrubba Bags but here they are:
The thin cold air and minimal sunlight didn’t dry clothes well. Whoops, talk to your travel agent.
Clothes were clean and smelled clean but maybe next time, send some Lavender scented soap? Uh sure, I’ll get right on that…….
Back to the Scrubba Bag, it also serves as a water bucket and can easily carry 2 gallons of water, (3 total but it’s harder to safely carry), if you don’t have a bucket available. Last but not least it can also serve as a dry bag so if you’re heading out on the river for a few days, it will keep your electronics dry during the day and do your laundry at night.
A Soldier’s schedule in the field can be erratic and full of long hours with minimal time for anything other than eating, working, standing watch, patrols and a couple hours of sleep. This is another area where the Scrubba bag excels, it’s fast and with some practice you can easily multi-task your laundry and other needed activities at the same time. Some of the host country Soldier’s were doing laundry while having their morning coffee, Iahn did his while cleaning his weapons and making sure his gear was ready. When laundry was the only task at hand, 10 minutes was enough for a good wash. If multi-tasking then sometimes up to 20 minutes was needed but the result was the same, clean laundry with minimal time spent and no electricity required.
The Scrubba bag was also useful when his unit returned to their barracks in Germany and everyone was trying to use the washing machines. During these times most people are doing one of two things, laundry or, waiting on a machine to do laundry and due to his group’s extra work when returning from the field, Iahn normally was waiting to do laundry. In this case though he used his Scrubba bag for his socks/underwear/T-shirts and then went to bed for a (comparatively) long night’s sleep.
The Scrubba bag was just as effective cleaning his laundry as the washing machines were, there wasn’t a difference that he could tell and when he used his normal laundry detergent, his laundry had a nice smell. I guess it’s the little things that matter.
Some the Soldiers in his group took their Scrubba bags to work, again trying to multi-task and get clean laundry.
Since the time in the Italian Alps Iahn’s Battalion has deployed for training in other places across Europe and Africa and the Scrubba bags have gone with them. With the bags at just over 5oz and the soap sheets weighing less than 3oz it’s an easy choice to pack them in a Ruk. Convenience is a huge factor for the Soldiers, they’ve commented that being able to have clean laundry, fast with their limited free time is such a huge thing for them. They are already excited about having the Scrubba bags available when the warm weather hits where comfort and hygiene become a major issue.
Iahn has commented that he sees them being invaluable for Army Scout Snipers or Special Forces personnel who need to maintain a very low impact and footprint while on extended operations in the field. The versatility of the bag itself, minimal weight and space in the Ruk, hygiene, no scent soap, all those would contribute to the concealment and survivability of specialized units being able to stay in the field safely.
The point being Scrubba Bags deliver great results that will help the warfighter stay stronger and better in the field, and the vacationer trying to save money and time with their family in Cabo. They’re tough, versatile, easy to use and won’t give out after two or three uses. We here at SOFREP recommend them, Iahn and his Group love them and the Italian Soldiers that used them loved them as well.
Garfield out.
