A good axe is almost indispensable. Although an experienced camper may learn to get along well no matter what is lacking, without an axe he is seriously handicapped for food, warmth and camp making and often protection from beasts and insects depend on the axe and the fire it makes possible. A gun may be dispensed with but never the axe. Don’t try to economize too much in its weight. For average trips and moderately cold nights a light belt axe of say one and one-fourth pound head is about right. It should have a long helve and it will then give greater power than a heavy one with a short helve. Pocket axes are not advisable.
If the nights are cold and you have to keep up an all night fire in front of the leanto, an hour’s work will enable you to spend the night fairly comfortable. You will need a large amount of good dry wood. To secure this the axe had better be a well tempered, light regulation chopping axe of say a two pound head and a thirty inch handle. Never take a poor axe into the wilderness where comfort and ofttimes life depend on it. Soft tempered edges bend where thin and if tempered too hard they will break in frozen wood or knots.
A small whetstone for sharpening must be with you. The combination coarse and fine carborundum sportsman stone is handy. A leather sheath will help to protect the axe edge from becoming dulled and the outfit from being cut. In use keep the axe clear of overhead limbs or brush which might turn it. Hold it rigid and learn to hit the spot aimed at.
The inclusion of fishing tackle depends on the nature of the locality you are to visit. Fish make an agreeable change from a bacon, biscuit and tea diet. Take a few hooks, a stout line, flies and spoon hooks and you can depend on improvising the pole where used. For bait you may be driven to bacon fat, frogs, grasshoppers or grubs from an old rotten log. If the prime object of the trip is for fishing purposes of course a more elaborate equipment is permissible. You really won’t much notice the extra weight of a fish rod.
When every ounce and square inch of duffel have to be debated over in view of the all important question of food supply and transportation facilities the addition of a small film camera bears few objectionable features. In no other way can a truthful record of vacation scenes be preserved. It truthfully portrays wild life in native habitat and is a great stimulus to personal observation. Almost any one can push the button and run a good chance of getting a clean cut picture, the clever thing is to amplify the camera’s working with one’s good sense in composing the picture. In woodland views when the sun is low expose to get the long shadows. In wild animal work get leeward to the trails. The lighting of your subjects should always come from behind the camera. Film must be protected from moisture and you can insure this in no way better than by getting the kind which is hermetically sealed as sold for tropical use and obtainable from the makers on special order.
CHAPTER VI
FOOTWEAR
THE most important requisite for the pedestrian is mobility. This in turn depends upon properly conditioned feet and a covering permitting the greatest ease in action and freedom from injury. So important is this physical item in the case of any one who walks that it may be taken as a criterion of one’s ability to cover ground. Granting other things equal, the successful army is the one which marches best; hence one of the greatest military problems of the day is a study of the proper care and housing of man’s pedal extremities. The measure of efficiency of the draft horse on icy pavements, of northern Indian packers over unbroken woods portages, and of the amateur pedestrian’s initial hike over interurban roads depends essentially upon being properly shod.
In a study of the foot we find it composed mostly of bones and that their movements are managed by a complex arrangement of muscles, in nearly every case by several sets working in unison. Any mechanical displacement of one bone throws not only all bones out of harmonious working order but also disarranges their accompanying muscles and the nerves attached to them, resulting in inefficient action and in radiating pains. The fleshy parts of the foot are at the sole, ball, on the bottom of the heel and along the outer border and they play the part of protection where it is most needed. The bottom flesh forms pads in walking and supporting the body, insuring springiness and lessening the jar which is incidental to locomotion. Shoes that do not fit the fleshy parts of the foot properly cause friction when walking and concomitant aches and pains.
