Part 4 (1/2)

Guying the Tent

One of the troubles with tents is their remarkable proclivity for tightening and slackening with the varying conditions of the weather. This means a constant loosening or tightening of the guy ropes, and the longer the guy ropes the more they will shrink or stretch according as they are wet or dry. This may be overcome to some extent by using very heavy corner posts securely driven into the ground and spiking a pole across them, and very short guy ropes fastening to this pole. (See page 47.) A shower, or even ordinary dew, will cause the canvas to shrink, therefore be sure to slacken the guys, or you may have a torn tent or broken ridge pole.

Trenching

Dig a trench around the tent and do it before you have to. If you have ever gotten out in the middle of the night when the rain was coming down in torrents, to dig a ditch or trench, you will appreciate this bit of advice.

Warn the boys not to touch the roof of the tent on the inside when it is raining, for it will surely leak wherever it is touched.

There is a right and a wrong way of driving stakes into the ground. Study ill.u.s.trations, p. 47.

Peg Wisdom

In taking down the tent, don't pound loose the tent pins or pegs, but with a looped rope and a pull in the direction from which they are driven they can easily be removed.

Conveniences

After pitching your tent, put everything in order. Run a stout line, either of rope or rustless wire, between the two upright poles, about a foot below the ridge pole. A very convenient thing to throw clothes over.

In some camps they have a shelf suspended from the ridge pole, divided into compartments, one for each boy in the tent. Nails driven in the upright poles afford convenient pegs to hang things on. Be sure the nails are removed before taking down the tent or a rip in the canvas will be the result.

A bundle of elder leaves in a tent will keep away flies. If ants show a desire to creep into your tent, dust cayenne pepper into their holes and they will no longer trouble you.

When there is no wooden floor in the tent, strew small hemlock twigs. They make a fine carpet and the odor is both pleasant and healthful.

In addition to the different styles of tents shown in the ill.u.s.trations on page 43, the following description of how to make a ten-foot teepee is given by Charles R. Scott in his Vacation Diary:

Making a Teepee

Sew canvas together making oblong ABCD 20 by 10 feet; with E as centre and EA as a radius, draw half-circle AFD. From remaining canvas cut smoke flaps LKCM and ONBP. Sew piece of canvas at C and B making pocket for ends of smoke poles. Sew ML to HI and PO to GJ on one large piece of canvas.

Sew lash to E to tie teepee to pole. Sew 6 or 7-foot lash to K and N to set smoke flaps with. Make holes in pairs from L to D and O to A for lacing pins. Ten poles 12 feet long are needed. Make tripod of nine of these and tie teepee at E to pole two feet from top and place over tripod.

In ”Recreation,” April, 1911, in an article on ”Tent Making Made Easy,” H.

J. Holden tells how to make ten different tents with but one piece of canvas.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Ten Foot Teepee]

Tent Wisdom

The best type of tent to use in a permanent camp is a wall tent, either 12 x 14 or 14 x 16, which will accommodate from four to six fellows. An eight ounce, mildew-proofed duck, with a ten or twelve ounce duck fly will give excellent wear. Have a door at each end of the tent and the door ties made of cotton cord instead of tape. Double pieces of canvas should be sewed in all the corners and places where there is unusual strain. Manilla rope is best for guys, and metal slides are preferable to wood. If the tents are made to order, have a cotton cord about two feet long sewed in each seam just under the eaves, so that one end shall hang down inside the tent and the other outside. The walls of the tent can then be rolled up and tied so that the tent will be thoroughly aired. Make sure that the end of the ridge pole and of the upright poles have iron bands to prevent splitting of the poles.

Bed on Ground

For a short-term camp, pine boughs make the best kind of a bed (see chapter on Tramps and Hikes for description of bed). Sometimes a rubber blanket is spread upon the ground and the boys roll themselves up in their blankets. An old camper gives the following suggestion to those who desire to sleep in this fas.h.i.+on:

The bed should be made in the afternoon while the sun is s.h.i.+ning. To make the bed, clear the ground of twigs and stones. The s.p.a.ce should be about 6 x 3 feet.

A ”Hip Hole”

A shovelful of dirt is removed, making a shallow, transverse trench, about midway of the bed. This trench is the ”hip hole” and the making of it properly is what renders the bed comfortable. In making the bed the following order should be observed: