Camping For Boys Part 4

Guying the Tent

One of the troubles with tents is their remarkable proclivity for tightening and slackening with the varying conditions of the weather. This means a constant loosening or tightening of the guy ropes, and the longer the guy ropes the more they will shrink or stretch according as they are wet or dry. This may be overcome to some extent by using very heavy corner posts securely driven into the ground and spiking a pole across them, and very short guy ropes fastening to this pole. (See page 47.) A shower, or even ordinary dew, will cause the canvas to shrink, therefore be sure to slacken the guys, or you may have a torn tent or broken ridge pole.

Trenching

Dig a trench around the tent and do it before you have to. If you have ever gotten out in the middle of the night when the rain was coming down in torrents, to dig a ditch or trench, you will appreciate this bit of advice.

Warn the boys not to touch the roof of the tent on the inside when it is raining, for it will surely leak wherever it is touched.

There is a right and a wrong way of driving stakes into the ground. Study ill.u.s.trations, p. 47.

Peg Wisdom

In taking down the tent, don't pound loose the tent pins or pegs, but with a looped rope and a pull in the direction from which they are driven they can easily be removed.

Conveniences

After pitching your tent, put everything in order. Run a stout line, either of rope or rustless wire, between the two upright poles, about a foot below the ridge pole. A very convenient thing to throw clothes over.

In some camps they have a shelf suspended from the ridge pole, divided into compartments, one for each boy in the tent. Nails driven in the upright poles afford convenient pegs to hang things on. Be sure the nails are removed before taking down the tent or a rip in the canvas will be the result.

A bundle of elder leaves in a tent will keep away flies. If ants show a desire to creep into your tent, dust cayenne pepper into their holes and they will no longer trouble you.

When there is no wooden floor in the tent, strew small hemlock twigs. They make a fine carpet and the odor is both pleasant and healthful.

In addition to the different styles of tents shown in the ill.u.s.trations on page 43, the following description of how to make a ten-foot teepee is given by Charles R. Scott in his Vacation Diary:

Making a Teepee

Sew canvas together making oblong ABCD 20 by 10 feet; with E as centre and EA as a radius, draw half-circle AFD. From remaining canvas cut smoke flaps LKCM and ONBP. Sew piece of canvas at C and B making pocket for ends of smoke poles. Sew ML to HI and PO to GJ on one large piece of canvas.

Sew lash to E to tie teepee to pole. Sew 6 or 7-foot lash to K and N to set smoke flaps with. Make holes in pairs from L to D and O to A for lacing pins. Ten poles 12 feet long are needed. Make tripod of nine of these and tie teepee at E to pole two feet from top and place over tripod.

In "Recreation," April, 1911, in an article on "Tent Making Made Easy," H.

J. Holden tells how to make ten different tents with but one piece of canvas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Ten Foot Teepee]

Tent Wisdom

The best type of tent to use in a permanent camp is a wall tent, either 12 x 14 or 14 x 16, which will accommodate from four to six fellows. An eight ounce, mildew-proofed duck, with a ten or twelve ounce duck fly will give excellent wear. Have a door at each end of the tent and the door ties made of cotton cord instead of tape. Double pieces of canvas should be sewed in all the corners and places where there is unusual strain. Manilla rope is best for guys, and metal slides are preferable to wood. If the tents are made to order, have a cotton cord about two feet long sewed in each seam just under the eaves, so that one end shall hang down inside the tent and the other outside. The walls of the tent can then be rolled up and tied so that the tent will be thoroughly aired. Make sure that the end of the ridge pole and of the upright poles have iron bands to prevent splitting of the poles.

Bed on Ground

For a short-term camp, pine boughs make the best kind of a bed (see chapter on Tramps and Hikes for description of bed). Sometimes a rubber blanket is spread upon the ground and the boys roll themselves up in their blankets. An old camper gives the following suggestion to those who desire to sleep in this fashion:

The bed should be made in the afternoon while the sun is shining. To make the bed, clear the ground of twigs and stones. The s.p.a.ce should be about 6 x 3 feet.

A "Hip Hole"

A shovelful of dirt is removed, making a shallow, transverse trench, about midway of the bed. This trench is the "hip hole" and the making of it properly is what renders the bed comfortable. In making the bed the following order should be observed:

(1) spread the rubber blanket;

(2) the blanket spread so that one-half only covers the prepared couch;

(3) then spread the woolen blankets so that the "hip hole" is in the right place;

(4) add the pillow;

(5) fold the blankets over you and pin them with big safety pins across the bottom and along the side.

To Keep Warm

Stewart Edward White in "Camp and Trail" tells how to keep warm when sleeping on the ground: "Lie flat on your back. Spread the blanket over you. Now raise your legs rigid from the hip, the blanket, of course, draping over them. In two swift motions tuck first one edge under your legs from right to left, then the second edge under from left to right, and over the first edge. Lower your legs, wrap up your shoulders and go to sleep. If you roll over, one edge will unwind but the other will tighten."

A bed tick[1] 6-1/2 feet long and 2-1/2 feet wide, to be filled with gra.s.s, leaves, straw or any available stuff makes a comfortable bed.

[Transcribers Footnote 1: Cloth case for a mattress or pillow or a light mattress without springs.]

To Make a Bed

A comfortable bed used at Camp Durrell, is made by driving four posts in the ground and nailing a frame work of saplings on these posts. Rope is then interwoven from side to side in somewhat the fashion of the old-time cord bed. Pine boughs are then placed "shingle" fashion in the cording, making a very comfortable bed.

Double-Deck Bunks

Many of the long-term camps, however, have cots or bunks with canvas bottoms. This is the best way to sleep for boys who are going to be in camp the entire summer. The following type of double-deck bunk is in use at Camps Adirondack, Becket, Wawayanda and Dudley. The ill.u.s.trations give a clear idea of its construction. Use wood as free from knots as possible.

Spruce seems to be the best kind as it is both light in weight and very durable. The top section upon which the canvas beds are tacked is bolted to the uprights which makes a bunk easily taken apart. Three of these uprights, one at each end and one in the middle, will make a bed section accommodating four boys, two on the "first floor" and two on the "second floor." In this manner eight boys may be comfortably housed in a 12 x 14 or 14 x 16 foot tent, with room for baggage in the center, as shown in the ill.u.s.tration on page 37.

Blankets

Always remember that to keep warm while sleeping in a cot or bunk, you must have as much thickness of blanket under you as above you. Usually boys will pile blankets on top of them and have only one blanket under them and then wonder why they are cold.

Pillows

A pillow may be made out of a bag of muslin or dark denim and stuffed with a sweater or extra clothing. Much better--take a small pillow with you with removable and washable "case" made of dark green or brown denim.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Bunk Diagram]

Kitchen Ware

In purchasing kitchen ware, a mistake is frequently made by getting a cheap kind of ware unfitted for the hard usage of camp life. The kind manufactured for hotels and restaurants and of sufficient capacity, is more expensive, but will outwear two outfits of the cheaper type and is really more economical in the long run. In the buying do not omit that most adaptable and convenient of all cooking utensils for camp--a wash boiler. Get one that is copper-lined and made of the heaviest tin.

Table Ware

Campers prefer the white enamel ware on account of its appearance and wear. If the imported kind is purchased it will last for at least three long-term seasons. Avoid tin and the cheap gray enamel ware. Each boy should be provided with a large plate of the deep soup pattern, cereal bowl not too large, a saucer for sauce and dessert, a cup, knife, fork, table spoon and tea spoon. In a small camp the boy usually brings his own "eating utensils." When the table is set with white oil cloth, white enamelled dishes, both serving and individual, with decorations of ferns, wild flowers or blossoms, the food always seems to taste better and the meal proceeds with that keen enjoyment, which is not only conducive to good digestion but promotive of good fellowship. A dirty table and dishes and rough-house table manners are a disgrace to a camp even as small as six boys. Cleanliness, courtesy and cheerful conversation contribute to the making of character while at meals.

Table Tops

Table tops should be made of matched boards and battened. Screw the battens[1] to the boards. The tables should be thirty-six inches in width.

The length must be determined by the number of persons to be seated. The seating of boys in tent groups is considered the best plan.