It is the result of an experience of over twenty years, during which the writer has spent many months in the woods, and fitted out many other parties for their summer vacations. Over the camp fire, while discussing methods with other campers, or instructing the learner “how to do it,” he has been asked many times to put his ideas into shape for publication. Here they are, and it is his hope that everyone who takes this little book with him to camp, may enjoy himself to the limit.
Frank A. Bates.
CAMPING
CHAPTER I
CAMP OUTFITS
A camping outfit should be light and compact with all unnecessary articles eliminated and all needful ones included. That reads a little funny, but it is the gist of the whole question and the biggest question that was ever presented to a man. That is, you will think so when you are trying to get a 100-pound outfit over a swampy carry on a rainy day and while laying up over a spell of wet weather afterward. In the first place, you wonder why you brought so much truck, and in the second place, why you did not bring many other things. So it seems needless to say that the composition of an outfit depends, to some extent, on the individual taste of the camper, and more upon the character of the trip.
No sane man would carry the same amount of “duffle” on a walking trip that he would if he went with a team, or if he was to be in a permanent camp during the whole of his trip. Hence, I propose to classify them into two sorts—walking trips and permanent camps. But before I set down the list of impedimenta I want to moralize a little.
I confess that I enjoy the comforts of life, and as many of the luxuries as my purse or circumstances will allow; and while I have enjoyed many tramps with nothing but what I could easily carry in my knapsack, I enjoy one much better if I have more conveniences, and very few vacationists care to “rough it” too much in the short time they have for their annual trips, and there is no need to do so.
One of the finest woodsmen and grandest of men, “Nessmuk,” has written a book which is a criterion for the man who can stand that kind of trip; but what sort of a vacation do you suppose a city clerk would have if he patterned his trip after this model? The question was not needed; he simply would not try it; for the average city clerk is not so big a fool as he appears to the average country dweller. So let it go at that. To get back on our trail again. A party would not need the same outfit in July that he would require in October—and while there is no sense in sleeping cold at night because of a lack of blankets, there is also no use for a sleeping-bag for a July camping trip, and in this judgment of the actual necessities is where the average camper fails.
The majority of camping parties occur in the warm season when game birds and animals are protected by law, and there is no need for a gun, but most men will confess to a feeling of greater security when there is a firearm in camp. A light revolver will serve all purposes to drive away marauding animals or to while away a dull hour at target practice, and a little practice will render it thus available.
In the fall of the year the fishrod will be replaced by the shotgun and rifle, but it is always well to have a line and a few hooks in the ditty bag. A few fish will make an acceptable change in the diet, even if a deer hangs at the tent door.