Camp chests in which to store food or other articles are carried by some canoeists, but they add considerable weight to the outfit. The best and most serviceable camp chest is one of indestructible fiber. One with an inside measurement of 18 × 24 × 12 inches weighs twenty pounds.
[CHAPTER VI]
THE PORTAGE
There are several types of pack harness offered by outfitters, but it is generally conceded that the best method of carrying heavy or medium-weight packs is with the tump line. In tump line carrying the pack is supported by a broad band of leather passed across the head—high up on the forehead—thus throwing the weight upon the strong muscles of the neck, with no shoulder straps or other support.
Canadian voyageurs, Hudson's Bay Company packers and Indians use the tump line to the exclusion of all shoulder-carrying devices. Indeed, by no other method would it be possible for them to transport upon their backs through a rough country the heavy burdens which they are called upon to carry. Experienced packers with the tump line will sometimes portage loads of upwards of four hundred pounds. In tests of skill I have seen a man carry in a single load the contents of three barrels of flour—588 pounds.
The tump line consists of a broad piece of leather some eighteen or twenty inches in length (known as the head strap or headpiece), with a leather thong usually about seven feet in length attached to each end, the total length from the tip end of one thong to the tip end of the other thong averaging about sixteen feet.
Sometimes the two thongs are sewn to the headpiece, and again the line is a single strip of leather, broadened in the center to form the headpiece. The best tump lines, however, have the head strap as a separate piece with a buckle at each end by which the thongs are attached. This arrangement admits of adjustment, if necessary, to suit the individual after the pack has been made up.
There is a knack in tump line carrying, but the following directions for making up various packs will give the novice sufficient insight, with a little experience, to enable him to acquire the art.