Waterproof canvas is suggested for the bag, not to protect the utensils but because anything but waterproofed material will absorb moisture and become watersoaked in rainy weather, adding materially to the weight of the outfit.
One of the handiest aids to baking is the aluminum reflecting baker. An aluminum baker 16 × 18 inches when open, folds to a package 12 × 18 inches and about two inches thick, and fitted into a waterproof canvas case weighs, case and all, about four pounds.
Broilers, fire irons, fire blowers or inspirators, as they are sometimes called, and many other things that are convenient enough but quite unnecessary, should never burden the outfit. Even though the weight of some of them may be insignificant, each additional claptrap makes one more thing to look after. There are a thousand and one claptraps, indeed, that outfitters offer, but which do not possess sufficient advantage to pay for the care and labor of transportation, and my advice is, leave them out, one and all.
Outfitters supply small packing bags of proper size to fit, one on top of another, into larger waterproof canvas bags. These small bags are made preferably of balloon silk. By using them the whole outfit may be snugly and safely packed for the portage.
In one of these small bags keep the general supply of matches, though each canoeist should carry a separate supply for emergency in his individual kit.
In like manner two or three cakes of soap should be packed in another small bag. Floating soap is less likely to be lost than soap that sinks.
A dozen candles will be quite enough. These if packed in a tin box of proper size will not be broken.
Repair kits should be provided. A file for sharpening axes and a whetstone for general use are of the first importance. Include also a pair of pincers, a ball of stout twine and a few feet of copper wire. A tool haft or handle with a variety of small tools inside is convenient. Either a stick of canoe cement, a small supply of marine glue, or a canoe repair outfit such as canoe manufacturers put up and which contain canvas, white lead, copper tacks, calor and varnish will be found a valuable adjunct to the outfit should the canoe become damaged. This tool and repair equipment should be packed in a strong canvas bag small enough to drop into the larger nine-inch waterproof bag.
A small leather medicine case with vials containing, in tabloid form, a cathartic, an astringent (lead and opium pills are good) and bichloride of mercury, suffices for the drug supply. Surgical necessities are: Some antiseptic bandages, a package of linen gauze, a spool of adhesive plaster and one-eighth pound of absorbent cotton, wrapped in oiled silk. In addition most campers find it convenient to have in their personal outfit a pair of small scissors. These are absolutely necessary if one is to put on a bandage properly. The regular surgical scissors, the two blades of which hook together at the center, are the most convenient sort, both to use and to carry, and have the keenest edge.
A pair of tweezers takes up but little room and is useful for extracting splinters or for holding a wad of absorbent cotton in swabbing out a wound, as cotton will, of course, become septic if held in the fingers.