TENT PEG.
Tent peg.
Modes of securing tent ropes, &c.
Much of the efficiency of a tent depends on the way in which it is pitched. An experienced hand will so adjust his pegs and lines, that the gale of wind which prostrates the canvas houses of the inexperienced, passes his harmlessly by. Much has been said and written in praise of iron tent pegs, and, under some circumstances, they may be found highly useful, but there are very serious objections to their use in wild countries. If of sufficient size and length to be efficient, their weight becomes a matter of considerable importance. Their value to natives is so great that to prevent loss by theft is next to impossible; added to which, it is almost certain that one or two will be left in the ground, every now and then, on striking camp. We therefore prefer wooden pegs, made from some tough sound wood. Burn the points in the fire in order to harden them, and keep a good stock always on hand. The timber of the oriental plane makes excellent tent pegs. A strong and useful form of peg is shown in the annexed illustration.
TENT PEG. made of some heavy and hard wood, such as mimosa or baubul thorn. The handle should be made larger at one end than the other, so that it may be removed from the head of the mallet, just as the axe handles before described are separated from the blades. It not unfrequently happens, during tropical rains, or in sandy soil, that pegs driven in the ordinary way will not hold. Modes of securing tent ropes, &c. It then becomes necessary to dig a moderately deep pit at the point at which the peg should stand. Bind together a small faggot of brushwood, reeds, or weed stalks; fasten a loop of rope or thong to it long enough to come 3in. or 4in. above the level of the pit where the faggot is buried. Place your prepared faggot in the bottom of the pit crosswise, and then well stamp in the earth over it. A bag of sand, a stone, or a bundle of old hide answers the same purpose. In rough stormy weather, it is sometimes necessary to back your pegs; this is done by driving in an additional one in a line with the first, and then forming a couple of half hitches with the tent rope over its head. It was a common practice in the Crimea to employ an old Russian bayonet in this way, driving it into the earth until the curved neck alone remained above the surface for the hitch to pass round. All tent ropes should be relaxed on the approach of rain, or the tightened cord will, in all probability, draw the pegs, and thus allow the wet canvas to come flapping down about your ears, causing no end of discomfort and confusion. A tent may be securely pitched, even on the sands of the desert, by laying a waggon wheel flat on the ground, fixing the pole over the hole through which the axle passes on the head of a plug driven far enough into it to prevent the pole from passing through; secure your ropes to bags of sand buried in the manner before described, and no ordinary weather will blow down a tent thus arranged.
MODES OF SECURING TENT-POLE AND ROPES IN LOOSE GROUND.