Camp and Trail Part 6

[Sidenote: Quilts]

In the forest your rubber and woolen blankets will comprise your bed.

You will soften it with pine needles or balsam. On a horseback trip, however, it is desirable to carry also an ordinary comforter, or quilt, or "sogun." You use it under you. Folded once, so as to afford two thicknesses, it goes far toward softening granite country. By way of a gentle hint, if you will spread your saddle blankets _beneath_ your tarp, they will help a lot, and you will get none of the horsey aroma.

[Sidenote: Pillows]

A pillow can be made out of a little bag of muslin or cotton or denim.

In it you stuff an extra s.h.i.+rt, or your sweater, or some such matter. A very small "goose hair" pillow may be thrust between the folds of your blanket when you have a pack horse. It will not be large enough all by itself, but with a sweater or a pair of trousers beneath it will be soft and easy to a tired head. Have its cover of brown denim.

[Sidenote: Pails]

On a pack trip a pail is a necessity which is not recognized in the forest, where you can dip your cup or kettle direct into the stream.

Most packers carry a galvanized affair, which they turn upside down on top of the pack. There it rattles and bangs against every overhead obstruction on the trail, and ends by being battered to leakiness. A bucket made of heavy brown duck, with a wire hoop hemmed in by way of rim, and a light rope for handle carries just as much water, holds it as well, and has the great advantage of collapsing flat.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Collapsible Canvas Bucket and Wash Basin._]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Folding Lantern.]

[Sidenote: Wash Basins and Wash Tubs]

A wash basin built on the same principle is often a veritable G.o.dsend, and a man can even carry a similar contrivance big enough for a washtub without adding appreciably to the bulk or weight of his animal's pack.

Crushed flat all three take up in thickness about the s.p.a.ce of one layer of blanket, and the weight of the lot is just a pound and a half.

[Sidenote: Lanterns]

The Stonebridge folding candle lantern is the best I know of. It folds quite flat, has four mica windows, and is easily put together. The measurements, folded, are only 6 x 4 inches by 1-2 inch thick, and its weight but 13 ounces. The manufacturers make the same lantern in aluminum, but I found it too easily bent to stand the rough handling incidental to a horse trip. The steel lantern costs one dollar.[3]

[Sidenote: Hatchets]

If you carry an axe at all, do not try to compromise on a light one. I never use such an implement in the woods. A light hatchet is every bit as good for the purpose of firewood, and better when it is a question of tent poles or pegs. Read Nessmuk's _Woodcraft_ on this subject. The Marble Safety Axe is the best, both because of the excellent steel used in its manufacture, and because of the ease of its transportation. I generally carry mine in my hip pocket. Get the metal handle and heaviest weight. I have traveled a considerable part of the Canadian forests with no other implement of the sort.

[Sidenote: Axes]

On a horseback trip in the mountains, however, this will not suffice.

Often and often you will be called on to clear trail, to cut timber for trail construction or to make a footing over some ultra-tempestuous streamlet. You might peck away until further orders with your little hatchet without much luck. Then you need an axe--not a "half axe," nor a "three-quarter axe"--but a full five-pound weapon with an edge you could shave with. And you should know how to use it. "Chewing a log in two" is a slow and unsatisfactory business.

To keep this edge you will carry a file and a water whetstone. Use your hatchet as much as possible, take care of how and what you chop, and do not wait until the axe gets really dull before having recourse to your file and stone. It is a long distance to a grindstone. Wes Thompson expressed the situation well. He watched the Kid's efforts for a moment in silence.

"Kid," said he sorrowfully at last, "you'll have to make your choice.

Either you do _all the chopping or none of it_."

[Sidenote: Repairs]

Needle, thread, a waxed end, and a piece of buckskin for strings and patches completes the ordinary camp outfit. Your repair kit needs additions when applied to mountain trips, but that question will come up under another heading.

_SUMMARY_

_Minimum for comfort_

Silk tent (sometimes) Rubber blanket Blanket Pillow case of denim Pocket axe File and whetstone Needle and thread Waxed end Piece of buckskin

_Maximum_

Tarpaulin Blanket Comforter Small Pillow Canvas bucket Canvas wash basin Canvas wash tub Candle lantern and candles Pocket axe 5 pound axe File and whetstone Needle and thread Waxed end Piece of buckskin

FOOTNOTE:

[3] One is now made of bra.s.s to fold automatically, at a slightly higher price.

CHAPTER VI

THE COOK OUTFIT

[Sidenote: Materials]

MOST people take into the woods too many utensils and of too heavy material. The result is a disproportion between the amount of food transported and the means of cooking it.

I have experimented with about every material going, and used all sorts of dishes. Once I traveled ten days, and did all my cooking in a tip cup and on a willow switch--nor did I live badly. An ample outfit, however, judiciously selected, need take up little bulk or weight.

[Sidenote: Tin]

Tin is the lightest material, but breaks up too easily under rough usage. Still, it is by no means to be despised. With a little care I have made tin coffee pots and tin pails last out a season. When through, I discarded them. And my cups and plates are of tin to this day.

[Sidenote: Sheet Iron]

Sheet iron had its trial--a brief one. The theory was all right, but in practice I soon found that for a long time whatever is boiled in sheet iron pails takes on a dark purplish-black tinge disagreeable to behold.

This modifies, but never entirely disappears, with use. But also sheet iron soon burns out and develops pin holes in the bottom.

[Sidenote: Agate Ware]

Agate or enamel ware is pleasing to the eye and easily kept clean. But a hard blow means a crack or chip in the enameled surface, and hard blows are frequent. An enamel ware kettle, or even cup or plate, soon opens seams and chasms. Then it may as well be thrown away, for you can never keep it clean.

[Sidenote: Iron]

A very light iron pot is durable and cooks well. Two of these of a size to nest together, with the coffee pot inside, make not a bad combination for a pack trip. Most people are satisfied with them; but for a perfect and balanced equipment even light-gauge iron is still too heavy.

[Sidenote: Aluminum]

For a long time I had no use for aluminum. It was too soft, went to pieces, and got out of shape too easily. Then by good fortune I chanced to buy a pail or kettle of an aluminum alloy. That one pail I have used constantly for five years on all sorts of trips. It shows not a single dent or bend, and inside is as bright as a dollar. The ideal material was found.

Short experience taught me, however, that even this aluminum alloy was not best for every item of the culinary outfit.