Harper's Outdoor Book for Boys

by Joseph H. Adams

The fly is bound with rope all around the outer edge, from which ropes extend out from each end, so that in hot weather, if the sun plays on the tent, it may be kept cool by raising the outer ends of the fly and propping them up with poles at the four corners, and perhaps one extra one at the middle of each side. (See the illustration for the canopy over the table and seats, Fig. 10).

The ridge-pole to hold up this tent is of pine or spruce, ten feet long, one inch and a half thick, and four inches wide. The uprights are two inches square, with the sharp corners planed off, making them octagonal in shape, and they should be from seven to nine feet in length. The upper ends of the uprights are bound with cord or an iron band to prevent them from splitting when the iron pin is driven in place. They are to be bored to receive a half-inch pin, so that eight inches of it will project above the top of the upright as shown in Fig. 4. Five-eighth-inch holes are bored in the ridge-pole one inch and a half from each end, and through these the pins in the uprights will pass.

The stanchion-ropes are caught around the heads of long pegs or stakes, twenty-four inches long, two inches wide, and one inch in thickness, with a notch cut three inches from the top as shown in Fig. 5. Cleats four inches long, two inches wide, and seven-eighths of an inch thick are provided with two holes through which the stanchion-ropes pass, and they are used to draw the ropes taut, as shown in Fig. 5, where the strain on the long rope pulls the short end down and chocks the rope.

The stakes are to be driven into the ground so that but five or six inches of them project. The lower they are the better purchase they get in the ground and the more securely the tent is anchored.

The extra ridge-pole for the fly can be cut at one end so that it will lap in a corresponding manner on the front end of the tent ridge-pole as shown in Fig. 6. For long tents, where it is necessary to have the sticks in short lengths, for convenience in carrying them, the ridge-pole can be in two or three pieces, lapped together at the ends as shown in the figure drawing, so that the pin in the upright will complete the union.

When erecting the tent, dig two holes for the uprights to rest in, and embed them so that seven feet of pole will be above the ground, on which the ridge-pole will rest, and in turn the canvas covering. The stakes are driven three feet out on either side of the aprons so that the stanchion-ropes will line with the pitch of the tent.

A Large Camping-tent

For a company of boys numbering from four to eight a large camping-tent is shown in Fig. 7.

If it is made twenty feet long, ten feet wide, and eight feet high to the ridge-pole, it will accommodate six cots and two hammocks swung from the ridge-pole.

A plan by which to cut the cloth and make the tent is shown in Fig. 8, and in Fig. 9 the plan for the back is given. If an open back be preferred, the flaps shown at the bottom of Fig. 8 may be duplicated at the rear of the tent.