There is also an air pillow, felt covered, 11 by 16 inches, which is fastened to the bed with snap buttons and which is a part of this outfit.
The other device which we mention here is a light tent of the lean-to type with what is called the “Brownie Camp Pad” to support the head, shoulders, back and hips of the sleeper. The “Brownie Camp Pad” is an abbreviated air bed which is placed on the sewed-in floor of what is called a Utility Combination Tent. This is an air-bed combination for the fellow who goes “light but right” and who requires something light, strong, practical and inexpensive. The entire combination weighs only eleven pounds, and when rolled up makes a very small compact package.
When the motor tourist camps in one of the municipal camping parks he will seldom, if ever, [[153]]receive assistance in the matter of sleeping quarters, but these public camping sites are usually lighted with electricity, they have public comfort stations, and many other features which are detailed elsewhere. They usually provide, too, a degree of shelter against bad storms, which have a habit of coming up in the night to the dismay of the camper. These public camping places are not only sheltered from the wind, but are well drained and mostly wooded, so that in a night storm the camper has little to fear from the elements.
An auto camper who has been at the camping game for the past ten years, who has kept at week-end camping right along and who has crossed the continent a couple of times, camping along the route, has out of his long experience reached this as his standard outfit. He takes an “Auto bed” with a 7 by 7-foot tent; a six-pound cotton pad or mattress for the bed; a two-burner gasoline camp stove; one heavy double blanket; one wool-filled quilt; a blanket roll; two eight-quart milk cans for water; and a refrigerator basket. The whole affair packs into very small space.
The tent and bed appeal on account of the roominess of the tent and the spring feature of the bed. The outfit is heavier than some, but can’t be beat, he says, “for sleeping comfort.” He considers the bed and tent the main part of any auto camping outfit, as an uncomfortable selection of either one will probably do more to discourage the new camper than anything else. The outfit, bed, tent and pad, [[154]]fold into small space. Everything is carried clamped to the running board and weighs about seventy-five pounds.
This camper uses half of the double blanket under the sleeping pad, then the bed is made up and the other half of the blanket is pulled over the top. This makes a sort of a bag and prevents the clothes pulling out at the foot. One wool blanket and a wool-filled comfort he has found to be warmer and less heavy than two blankets.
For a blanket roll he took a piece of heavy canvas about seven feet long by thirty-five inches wide and sewed lighter pieces or wings on each side and end, then waterproofed the whole thing. The blankets, folded lengthwise, will just fit in the center when the roll is spread out. Then the sides can be folded over and the ends rolled up. A couple of small pillows can be carried inside. It has been found that this roll keeps dust and wet from bedclothes better than any other way.
The other items of this veteran camper’s outfit consist of a tin cooking set which nests into a six-quart pail and is somewhat heavier than an aluminum outfit, but was chosen because the wife preferred it with its steel frying pan. For a table he used the rack, which is under and supports his rear seat cushion, for a model, and cut a new one out of one-half-inch board to take its place. It has folding legs of three-eighths-inch iron rods sharpened at the end so that they can be pushed into the ground. For chairs he uses the cushions. [[155]]
An extra plug socket in the tonneau makes an easy way to get a connection for a trouble light to hang up in the tent at night. An extra rear view mirror is clamped to the rear top bow and serves as a toilet mirror. Other units which this camper advises, but which he does not always bother with himself are vacuum bottles, folding canvas pail for wash basin, and a roll of paper towels. These towels may serve as napkins, and a strip utilized as a table cover.
Rainy weather and chilly nights drive flies into the tent in swarms which prove a great nuisance in the early morning when the camper is trying his best to sleep. The best way to get them out is to darken the tent as much as possible, open the entrance on a wide crack and shoo them out, using towels vigorously for this purpose. This is fine exercise and is recommended as a substitute for the “Daily Dozen.”