Camping and camp cooking

by Frank A. Bates

There now remains the question of food, and it is the most difficult of all to handle, since there is such a diversity of taste. I have endeavored to apportion the ration to a healthy man’s appetite and have considered that there will be more or less fish, game, berries, etc., gathered by the party. If there is no one who can cook, of course food must be procured already prepared. But it seems very improbable that some of the party will not take sufficient interest in this most important requisite of camping to secure information from his feminine relatives or friends, and practice sufficient to enable him to make a good cup of coffee, a respectable flapjack and to fry a pan of fish. With the materials set down in the list, with what fish, etc., will be brought in, an ordinary camp cook will, in a permanent camp, supply a different menu nearly every day in the week. For instance, a party of three would be provided with 18 pounds of meat for ten days; this would include 3 pounds ham, 4 pounds bacon, 5 pounds salt pork and 6 pounds corned beef. The pork would be used in baking beans and frying fish, and the others for broiling and hashes, while flapjacks, johnny-cakes, pan-cakes, rice and fruit puddings could be concocted from the list.

CHAPTER II
CAMP SHELTER

One of the foremost considerations which confronts the camper is shelter; for upon it depends, to a large extent, his health and comfort. Of course, the character of this shelter depends upon many things: individual preference, location of the camp and facilities for transportation. But the first consideration is a tight roof and protection from cold winds.

He is a poor woodsman, indeed, who in a forest cannot provide himself with protection from the weather. But every man who wishes to camp is not a woodsman, and is the man who is looking for advice. Woods frequenters sleep many nights with nothing but the blue canopy of heaven for a roof, and men have camped for weeks with only a square of canvas for a “dog tent.” But although I have tried both plans and thoroughly enjoyed myself, I must confess that I hanker for a good wall or shanty tent when the winds blow cold or the rain falls wet, and these things we must always expect.

THE WALL TENT.

Wall tent

If camp is located where transportation by team or water is available, when the temperature is above freezing, carry a wall tent, with a fly. It admits of better ventilation than an A tent, gives more head room for the sleeper and weighs but a trifle more. By all means do not omit the fly. Without this, in a driving rain, the water will beat through in a fine spray and dampen everything inside. Moreover, it is almost impossible to avoid hitting the canvas, sometimes, and the result is that whenever the wet cloth is touched from the inside it will start a leak unless the canvas is very thoroughly waterproofed.

In pitching a tent, select a suitable site, on top of a little knoll if possible, with the ground as level as may be. Do not under any circumstances pitch it in a hollow or gully where the water will run in. Clear off the brush, remove all bunches from the ground and carefully pitch the tent. See that all is clear before raising and that the guys hang evenly and run smoothly.

Next, dig a trench about six inches deep all around the outside, and about six inches from the canvas. Be sure not to neglect this precaution or you may awake in a puddle of water, which is not conducive to a happy frame of mind. Also remember that dampness will contract the cloth and ropes; so before you go to bed, slacken the guys a little or, if it rains in the night, you may awake with a tent pin flapping about your ears, the cloth torn or the tent blown down.