Hammocks
Some motor campers get along finely by sleeping in hammocks slung from the sides of the car at the ends to near-by trees or even to tent poles. There are some wide hammocks that answer very well as beds. The snug hammocks that are used in the navy are of strong canvas, but they are very hard to get into and at first quite uncomfortable. It takes several nights to get used to one of these hammocks, and some people never get to enjoy them.
There are really no very satisfactory sleeping hammocks on the market. The navy hammock can be bought of dealers in navy supplies. The ordinary porch hammock can be bought almost anywhere, but it is not very satisfactory as a bed. However, one can buy a wide hammock made of heavy canvas of tan color with metal spreaders and cotton ropes for about five dollars which will make a pretty good [[151]]sleeping hammock for a camper. Where a hammock is used care should be taken to have the head higher than the foot and to have it strung as taut as possible, otherwise the sleeper will be doubled up something after the manner of a jack-knife.
Although sleeping in a hammock is attended with some difficulty, any fairly active man or youth ought to find it quite satisfactory in fine weather. In bad weather some provision will need to be made to secure shelter from the rain. In the winter season no one will want to sleep in a hammock because it would be very difficult to keep warm in one in freezing weather.
A very useful article in cold or chilly weather is a night hood, or night cap. This should be of wool. Such a protection is mighty comfortable of a cold night. Also, in cold weather, the best way to have warm feet is to take off the shoes and day socks and put on heavy sleeping socks.
Perhaps we should not leave the subject of sleeping accommodations without describing one or two other interesting outfits for the tourist camper. One of these is the “Comfort Sleeping Pocket.” This is a luxurious puncture-proof air bed in a water and wind-proof felt-lined covering. The outer covering or pocket is made of “Wearproof” duck, lined with heavy red felt, wind and waterproof, light and strong. It is shaped to the body to save weight and bulk, but is very roomy. There is “lots of room” to “turn over,” for blankets, circulation, etc. [[152]]There is one opening only, which is closed by snap buttons and an overlap. While cold and weather-proof, it allows for throwing the pocket open for airing. An extension flap at the head, 25 by 36 inches, may be used as a wind-shield, storm hood or head covering. The inside air bed is made with a patented longitudinal device which prevents the “rolling” sensation common in old-style air beds. The inside air bed is four feet long, four inches thick at the top, gradually diminishing toward the foot. There is no abrupt drop at the end. A pump is not needed as lung power is sufficient to inflate the bed. As an added protection, the air bed is inclosed in a felt sub-pocket.
There is also an air pillow, felt covered, 11 by 16 inches, which is fastened to the bed with snap buttons and which is a part of this outfit.
The other device which we mention here is a light tent of the lean-to type with what is called the “Brownie Camp Pad” to support the head, shoulders, back and hips of the sleeper. The “Brownie Camp Pad” is an abbreviated air bed which is placed on the sewed-in floor of what is called a Utility Combination Tent. This is an air-bed combination for the fellow who goes “light but right” and who requires something light, strong, practical and inexpensive. The entire combination weighs only eleven pounds, and when rolled up makes a very small compact package.
When the motor tourist camps in one of the municipal camping parks he will seldom, if ever, [[153]]receive assistance in the matter of sleeping quarters, but these public camping sites are usually lighted with electricity, they have public comfort stations, and many other features which are detailed elsewhere. They usually provide, too, a degree of shelter against bad storms, which have a habit of coming up in the night to the dismay of the camper. These public camping places are not only sheltered from the wind, but are well drained and mostly wooded, so that in a night storm the camper has little to fear from the elements.
An auto camper who has been at the camping game for the past ten years, who has kept at week-end camping right along and who has crossed the continent a couple of times, camping along the route, has out of his long experience reached this as his standard outfit. He takes an “Auto bed” with a 7 by 7-foot tent; a six-pound cotton pad or mattress for the bed; a two-burner gasoline camp stove; one heavy double blanket; one wool-filled quilt; a blanket roll; two eight-quart milk cans for water; and a refrigerator basket. The whole affair packs into very small space.
The tent and bed appeal on account of the roominess of the tent and the spring feature of the bed. The outfit is heavier than some, but can’t be beat, he says, “for sleeping comfort.” He considers the bed and tent the main part of any auto camping outfit, as an uncomfortable selection of either one will probably do more to discourage the new camper than anything else. The outfit, bed, tent and pad, [[154]]fold into small space. Everything is carried clamped to the running board and weighs about seventy-five pounds.
This camper uses half of the double blanket under the sleeping pad, then the bed is made up and the other half of the blanket is pulled over the top. This makes a sort of a bag and prevents the clothes pulling out at the foot. One wool blanket and a wool-filled comfort he has found to be warmer and less heavy than two blankets.
For a blanket roll he took a piece of heavy canvas about seven feet long by thirty-five inches wide and sewed lighter pieces or wings on each side and end, then waterproofed the whole thing. The blankets, folded lengthwise, will just fit in the center when the roll is spread out. Then the sides can be folded over and the ends rolled up. A couple of small pillows can be carried inside. It has been found that this roll keeps dust and wet from bedclothes better than any other way.
The other items of this veteran camper’s outfit consist of a tin cooking set which nests into a six-quart pail and is somewhat heavier than an aluminum outfit, but was chosen because the wife preferred it with its steel frying pan. For a table he used the rack, which is under and supports his rear seat cushion, for a model, and cut a new one out of one-half-inch board to take its place. It has folding legs of three-eighths-inch iron rods sharpened at the end so that they can be pushed into the ground. For chairs he uses the cushions. [[155]]
An extra plug socket in the tonneau makes an easy way to get a connection for a trouble light to hang up in the tent at night. An extra rear view mirror is clamped to the rear top bow and serves as a toilet mirror. Other units which this camper advises, but which he does not always bother with himself are vacuum bottles, folding canvas pail for wash basin, and a roll of paper towels. These towels may serve as napkins, and a strip utilized as a table cover.
Rainy weather and chilly nights drive flies into the tent in swarms which prove a great nuisance in the early morning when the camper is trying his best to sleep. The best way to get them out is to darken the tent as much as possible, open the entrance on a wide crack and shoo them out, using towels vigorously for this purpose. This is fine exercise and is recommended as a substitute for the “Daily Dozen.”
Mosquitoes seek shelter from the hot sunshine by day, when the camper is in a region where these winged creatures abound, and are drawn by artificial light by night. It is easiest to get them out in the early morning, as they are highly sensitive to light and atmospheric conditions. In the early morning, too, after having dined well upon the camper by night, they feel more like taking the air. But, seriously speaking, always remember that mosquitoes prefer cool, moist air and dim light rather than darkness or sunshine. If there are any lurking inside during the day to avoid the hot sunshine they [[156]]may be driven out just at dusk without much trouble—in fact, they will go out voluntarily if an opening is provided. But they are more stupid than flies and need some gentle persuasion to start them moving and aid them in finding an exit. Some importance attaches to choosing just the right time for this operation and closing the exit before twilight, when it becomes a matter of indifference to the mosquito whether he is indoors or out. [[157]]
CHAPTER XI
PRIMITIVE CAMPING
How Two Adventurers Can Rough It—Simple Supplies—Making One’s Own Coffee Pot—Plentiful Food in the Wilds.
Although most campers prefer some of the comforts of civilization even when in the wilderness, there are adventurous souls who like to reduce the trappings of their everyday life to a minimum. This chapter is written to indicate how the woods can be made to yield nearly all that the camper may require if he is sufficiently ingenious, informed, and anxious to rely on his own resourcefulness.
A couple of husky young fellows need take nothing more with them than a couple of pup-tents, or hammocks for beds, or, again, if they have a flivver they can sleep nicely in a bed arranged over the seats of a touring car or sedan. In fact, by hinging the front seat-back of a touring Ford, and piecing out the car cushions with a suit case or two, it is possible to make out quite comfortably without any further sleeping equipment aside from blankets or comfortables. Another way to go it cheap is to have a hammock apiece to swing from the car to a near-by tree. A canvas fly stretched from the top of the car to a tree or trees sufficiently near, and over the hammocks, will serve to keep off the rain. [[158]]
These several suggestions might be multiplied indefinitely, and they go to show how infinitely various are the simple arrangements that may be made by the economically inclined motor camper.
If the husky young fellows already mentioned wish to go it wild as well as cheap, if they are willing to hustle and rough it a little, they can camp almost anywhere east of the Rocky Mountains, and in most sections of the Pacific Slope, and live off the land without other supplies. Of course, they will have to be somewhat resourceful, and not too much of tenderfeet.
Here is how to do it. For simple equipment they will naturally require blankets, ax, hunting knife (Boy Scout knife will do), skillet, tin pail, tin plate, knife, fork, and spoon apiece.
As for safety’s sake it will be best to drink boiled water, it will be well to take a supply of ground coffee in tins. Most people find boiled water taken in the form of coffee more palatable.
If not sufficiently sturdy to make a fire without them, matches in a waterproof container should be included. However, the real pioneer can make out without pail, skillet or matches. If he is doubtful of his skill at making fire without matches, he may provide himself with one of the fire-making outfits sold for about a dollar by the Boy Scouts’ supply house in New York. This outfit will enable him to make a fire from two pieces of wood in about a minute. If the motor camper has to make his own fire with pieces of wood, he will be better master [[159]]of his fire, will use it more skillfully, and extinguish it more carefully.