On chilly nights in addition to the heated ground beneath the bed you can build a big camp fire six feet or so in front of your leanto shelter and the heat will be reflected down upon the sleeper. You must have a windbreak of cloth leanto, boughs, or rocks. The fire should be kept going all night and for this one needs a lot of wood, so carry a larger chopping axe if you are to encounter very low temperatures. Even with this fire it is hard for one man to keep warm and get a good night’s sleep. Two men, however, can change off, watching the fire and sleeping.
The warmest and most portable bed then is in reality patterned after the one of civilization. Essentially it will keep the sleeper high and dry by means of the waterproofed cloth over browse or the filled browse bag and it will keep the body warm by the woolen blanket rolled snugly about you.
CHAPTER X
CHOOSING THE LIGHT WEIGHT MESS KIT
THE light weight mess kit combines the fewest utensils with which a person can prepare his own meals from the raw materials. It must nest compactly, have as few component parts as possible, be comfortably carried on the person while en route, contain space for a lunch or emergency ration and possibly have provision for carrying water. To meet these demands one may well include the following articles:—a fry pan (possibly rigged up as a baker also), a stew kettle, a cup, a light fork, spoon and knife and a canteen. Most of the so-called light weight individual outfits center around the above as the essentials with variations in shape to best suit the particular outfit for easy nesting.
The preparation of food by frying is not the best thing for the stomach, for the average bit of fried stuff is enveloped in tough greasy coating. However most cooks use this method to some extent, so provision for frying must be made. The frying pan is preferably made of steel and in use is to be rested on a bed of coals raked to one side of the cooking fire. If one prefers to utilize the big open fire the fry pan handle should have a square socket into which one may fit a stick to extend the handle, the same to be newly fashioned at each camp. For the lightest kits use a small No. 0 pan with a socket.
The component parts of any outfit will vary according to the condition and temperament of the user and the nature and locality of experience. He has to choose from a multitudinous and confusing array of impedimenta offered by well meaning and alluring advertisements.
The camper who is choosing his light individual mess kit has the privilege of gathering together those utensils selected along lines above suggested and easily procurable at any store or of getting through the regular sporting goods dealers some specially made kit whose greatest recommendation is compactness with lightness and utility. It must have a pot and a fry pan and these with a pocket or hunting knife and a pointed or flat stick answer all purposes. One must compromise between weight and comfort.
Many cook outfits offered by sporting goods houses are too complete for a place in the hiker’s kit, in fact their very completeness renders them impractical because of weight, bulk and the number of utensils to be kept track of. They are made more in answer to the call of city sportsmen with fastidious trend of mind who as a rule favor more elaborate equipage throughout.
In choosing a cooking outfit weight is the first consideration. One does not wish to carry heavy stove utensils nor are such needed. They must be strong enough, however, for hard service. In the second place compactness is a desideratum, for here we must reduce bulk. The common utensils of the shop will not nest well for they are all spouts, bail ears, handles and cover knobs. One can reduce the bulk by getting such articles as nest into one another. In making up the light weight mess kit the nesting idea should certainly be carried out but never at the cost of utility.
Of materials tin and iron are the cheapest and they may be light enough. Here their merits end. Iron will rust and neither iron nor tin will stand rough handling. Utensils of such material are hard to clean when greasy and if the joints be soldered one is kept in mortal fear of their early destruction. The so-called armorsteel which is strong stamped steel with heavy tinning is quite good if one can get nothing better.