Woodcraft

by Elmer Harry Kreps

OUTDOOR FOODS

That foods for outdoor men should differ from those eaten by people who work indoors may appear strange to some of us, but it is a fact that foods of the same class are not, as a rule, practical for both outdoor and indoor consumption. The requirements of people who work in the open air differ but little from those of the indoor workers, but it is mainly the source of supply that necessitates a different class of foods.

The indoor man lives in the midst of plenty. Almost anything his appetite demands he may have. The telephone makes it unnecessary for him to go to the store to place his order and the delivery man brings the goods to his back door. His better half or perhaps a hired cook, prepares the food for him and he need not even worry about the time required for cooking or the work necessary to prepare and place the viands before him.

But with the outdoor man, by which I mean woodsman and others who are employed outdoors and do their own cooking far from a base of supplies, the conditions are altogether different. Perhaps the outer has carried his food a long distance on his back or it may have been brought to his camp in a boat or canoe, or by team over a long and rough road, or even packed on horseback from 50 to 100 miles into the rough mountains. In either case it was necessary for him to select foods having certain qualities. In order to keep the bulk and weight down to a reasonable level all bulky, heavy, watery foods had to be eliminated. Such foods as would freeze in cold weather, decay, become rancid, or otherwise spoil if kept a long time without special care, had to be kept out of the list. Also such articles as do not contain much nutriment must be avoided, as well as those which are apt to prove harmful when used regularly. Not only that, but the entire outfit of food must be "well balanced," that is, it must have about the right proportions of the various food elements required by the human body. Too much salt pork and other preserved foods, with too little fresh food, may cause scurvy; various articles which are known to be difficult of digestion may cause chronic dyspepsia, while many constipating foods may in a different way lead to the same trouble. In addition nothing should be taken which is difficult to transport or apt to get broken and cause trouble while en route.

To sum it all up, the requirements in outdoor foods that are to be taken some distance to camp are as follows: First, reasonably light weight and small bulk; second, good keeping qualities; third, a high per cent. of nutrition; fourth, balance and total absence of injurious properties; fifth, adaptability to packing and transportation requirements. We might add to this the quality of being quickly and easily prepared, for, while this is not required in all of the food, it is necessary for all outdoor men to have a number of articles which may be prepared on short notice.

Breakfast in the woods is usually an early meal, in winter being invariably eaten before daylight, and this requires either quickly prepared foods or very early rising. Often, too, the woodsman comes in from a tramp long after dark. He has had a long, hard journey, perhaps having had only a lunch since daybreak, maybe not even that, and the cold, along with the exertion, has given him a marvelous appetite. On such occasions every minute that can be gained in cooking a nourishing meal is that much to the good. But short-order meals are not the thing for regular fare, for in time they will ruin any stomach.

Considering the first requisite, light weight and little bulk, we may include in our list as meeting these requirements, all kinds of dried fruits, vegetables, and meats, tea, coffee and condensed foods. Fresh vegetables and fruits are excluded from the list, for they are heavy and bulky and fail also in the second requirement, for they freeze easily in cold weather and sometimes do not keep well when it is warm. To make up for the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables we must take plenty of the dry kind, and it is also a good plan to have in the outfit a bottle of vinegar or fruit juice — lime juice is an excellent tonic for use in the woods and is a sure preventative of scurvy. Vegetables and fruit in tin or glass are also prohibitive except in a small way, as, for instance, the fruit juice, vinegar, pickles and condensed milk, all of which may be taken in small quantities. In general, however, canned goods should be avoided unless the trip is made by wagon or other means that does not prohibit taking heavy goods, in which case a quantity of food in tins may be taken. Eggs and other ultra-perishable goods are strictly prohibited. The taking of eggs and food in glass also violates requisite number five, for all such articles require far more care in handling than is practical on the bush trail.

Not only does the woodsman have to consider cooking and eating in camp but he must think as well of the many days that he will spend on the trail and there his food must be of the most condensed, light, nutritious and otherwise perfect form. He must therefore take with him to his home camp sufficient of this quality of food to fill his needs when he makes his long trips away from camp over the trap line or elsewhere, but always carrying with him his equipment and food for the trip.

A man can depend to some extent on game and fish, but if he is going far back into the wilderness where he cannot retreat in a day or two to civilization and a source of food supply he should be very sure that the game and fish are actually found in the place where he is going, that such game and fish will be available at all seasons, and that there will be no uncommon difficulty in securing it. Some kinds of big game animals migrate periodically or spasmodically; fish are sometimes hard to find in winter, and the hunting equipment may for one reason or another go wrong. For instance, the capsizing of a canoe may mean the loss of the only gun or all the ammunition in the party, and even a broken gun mainspring may cause great hardship. Of course a resourceful and expert woodsman would not starve even if turned adrift in the forest without food or gun, but few care to make the experiment or to risk going hungry. Therefore I advise taking enough food, so that it will not be necessary to depend on game. If there is game to be had it should, of course, be secured, for fresh meat is a great relief from the everlasting bacon and bannock and it tends to neutralize the constipating properties of such food. It is possible for one to live indefinitely on fresh meat and fish alone if forced to it; but the civilized appetite does not accept gracefully any such radical departures from what has now become the natural line of food. Moreover, the man who elects to live on game and fish alone must of necessity go hungry for long periods, in fact may be forced to face starvation when game is scarce and for one reason or another difficult to secure. Therefore the woodsman should not attempt to live wholly on fresh meat or to make so much allowance for game that he will suffer from hunger if the game is not procurable. No such sacrifice should be made merely to reduce the weight of the outfit.