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THREE LITTLE TENTS ALL IN A ROW:



HOW BIG A TENT?:



Rarely should you consider anything bigger than the two-man tents.



You're not trying to take a seven room house to the woods when you

go camping. You're looking for compactness, easy portability,

warmth, and cosiness in cold weather. Even more rare are the

circumstances where you'll need anything bigger than a three-man

tent. So rare, indeed, I can't think of any. Yes, but what about

the kids?



Kids go for tents like bees in basswood. Think back to your own

childhood, when you were forever busy crawling into little houses

or making a brand new one by hanging a blanket over the table or a

set of chairs. Kids like tents so much they'll even camp out in the

backyard at home.



How young can you start a child out in his or her own tent? Reasons

of parental convenience, such as responding to calls for milk or a

less soggy diaper in the middle of the night, may dictate three in

a tent.



But our daughter Genevieve, presented with the opportunity of

sacking out in one by herself when fourteen months old, seemed to

view it as a cosy little nursery, apparently with much more

interesting walls, doors, and furnishings than the one at home.



Needless to say, when camping with young children, separate tents

should be within easy reach & hearing distance of each other - no

matter how tempted you may be to pitch yours at the other end of

the lake.



HOME IS A LAKE:



The most elementary tent is a tarp. This is simply a waterproof

square of material usually somewhere between 9X9 feet and 14X14

feet in size. It can be slung between 2 trees etc. The new types

are made of nylon which make them very light and fitting for your

pack. They MUST be coated with polyurethane to repel water.



If you use a tarp you'll need also a ground cloth (simply a sheet

of plastic) or use your poncho. You'll also need a strong nylon

line about 15 feet or more. A second item, not indispensable, but

very handy, particularly if your tarp lacks sufficient ties and

grommets, is the tarp garter, or Visklamp.



It looks like a combination jacks' ball and shower curtain ring and

works on the same principle a garter does. Ask your wife! You put

the ring flat against the tarp wherever you wish to attach a line,

then you push the tarp through the large end of the ring with the

ball and slide the whole thing up to the slim end. Then you just

tie your line onto the large ring, lead it to the rigger point

you've picked out, and your set.



THE TUBE:



At last a disposable tent, weighing just over a pound, good for two

weeks in the wilds, and costing no more than a pizza pie back home. 

It will probably not be with us long, however. Like so many other

good things, it is too easy to abuse.



The usual tube tent is nine to nine and a half foot long, with an

eight foot circumference for the one-man model, a 12 foot

circumference for the two-man version. Get one made of 4 mill or

thicker plastic. Get an opaque-coloured one rather than clear. You

won't walk into it at night as readily. The tint will also reflect

solar radiation, keeping the inside cooler in warmer weather.



There are two things to REMEMBER besides NEVER leaving your torn

tent behind in the wilds. NEVER NEVER close off the ends of the

tube.

 

Plastic cannot breathe. If it is sealed off, neither can you.

Secondly, during heavy rain, water will tend to splatter in at the

base. To minimise the effects of this, stand your rucksack up at

one end about ten inches inside the edge, place a log or similar

object the same distance from the other end, then lift the plastic

up like a doorsill against them.



A couple of doubled-over pieces of cloth adhesive tape, or even

Scotch tape, which clings like a demon to polyethylene, attached as

loops to the ends of the tent before you set out on your trip, will

permit you to anchor the sill easily after you've climbed into the

tent.



A more permanent version of the tube tent is the Trail-wise fabric

model made by Sky Hut.  It's made of urethane-coated nylon & has

the added benefit of a stronger floor. Tapered towards the rear, it

has hooded eaves at both ends, making it more of a tent than a

tube. Still, if it's your first time out and you're not planning to

rough it, you should probably consider something more substantial

than even a modified tube tent.



A TUB FOR A FLOOR:



The floor of a real tent should be of the tub, or wraparound,

variety and preferably seamless to eliminate the possibility of

ground leaks. A tub floor comes up and around to form the lower six

to twelve inches of the tent sides. This waterproof sill prevents

seepage if your gears or sleeping bags happen to touch the lower

walls.



It also keeps raindrops splattering off the ground from saturating

the tent itself, which is not and should not be  waterproof. A

waterproof tent & there are some being made will raise a small

rainstorm inside the tent while you sleep.



Moisture from your breath and body rises to the roof, can't go

through, condenses, and drops back over your sleeping body, turning

your abode into a miniature cloud chamber.  The moisture involved

is not just a few drops, incidentally, but up to a full quart per

person per day.



A RAIN FLY FOR THE ROOF:



But if a tent isn't waterproof how is it going to keep you dry?

Simple. You cover the tent with a second roof, one that is

waterproof and appropriately named a rain fly. This is suspended

anywhere from three to six inches above your tent.



Water bounces off this top layer, while inside moisture passes

through the tent itself into the space between and then out at the

sides. The double layer also keeps a tent considerably cooler

during the day and warmer at night.



FOREST TENT:



There are several one man tents available. They are rarely used,

since even most loners will lug the minimal extra weight of the 2

men tent model just to have the additional space. There are many

types but there is one tent that is close to perfection. It's the

Draw Tite developed by Robert Blanchard.



Working with lightweight heat treated aircraft aluminium tubing he

designed a self tensioned tent frame from which the tent itself was

tightly suspended by means of hooks and shock cords. The exterior

frame literally pulls the tent out in all directions, eliminating

sagging & flapping completely. 



In addition to ALWAYS giving you a smooth surface, it minimizes

wear, since stress is evenly distributed. And it provides &

entranceway & interior entirely free of clutter. For years we used

a 2 men Eureka Draw Tite. The modern camper may cringe at 13 pounds

which is what a two-man tent weighs.



But for any other form of camping it's unbeatable. The same

exterior frame that keeps the tent walls free of ropes and stakes

also permits you to set up the tent on sand or solid rock where

other tents are difficult, if not impossible to erect.



And pitching a Draw Tite is simplicity itself. Identical aluminium

sections slip together to make the frame from which the tent is

suspended. There are no lines to set or adjust. The whole thing can

literally be done blindfolded. This tent again proves its worth in

storms because of its being so stable & ventilation is excellent.



The only draw back is the metal zippers which should be switched to

self-repairing snag-proof nylon ones. Now there is also a nylon

model which will save on weight.



WHAT MAKES AN ALPINE TENT: 



True mountain tent, designed not only for windy high altitude but

snowstorms as well, have several features not usually found in

forest tents. Yet they add much weight and expenses as well. There

are 5 ESSENTIAL modifications that distinguish the alpine tent from

others: cook hole, exhaust vent, frost liner, tunnel entrance &

snow frock valance.



There are several good ones: Among the best: Gerry's Himalayan,

Sierra Design's Glacier and North Face's St. Elias; which is the

lightest one of the lot. 



THE COOK HOLE AND EXHAUST VENT:



A zippered opening in the tent floor, set well away from the wall

for fire safety & convenience, permits access to the ground below

an alpine tent. If you MUST cook in the tent this is where you will

set up your store, it will also be your garbage pit.



"Cook-King" in your tent is a practice not recommended except in

really extenuating circumstances, better to munch on cold gorp. Any

extensive inside cooking will cause moisture condensation in the

best of tents. To minimise it, alpine tents have a small hood

closable tunnel vent half a foot or more in diameter or near the

cook hole to permit an up-draught exhaust of the moisture laden

air.



THE FROST LINER:



In weather below 20 F. frost lining becomes an ESSENTIAL part of a

tent. The removable frost liner is cut from light cotton fabric and

attached as an inner wall. In some cases nylon is used, although

lighter it is far inferior for this purpose since it holds

comparatively little moisture.



Ice crystal forming from tent moisture condenses on the surface of

the liner during the more extreme temperature conditions rather

than falling on your sleeping bag especially at night. At a

convenient moment you take down the frost liner and shake it off

outside the tent.



If you don't get a chance to do this before the tent warms up, the

ice crystals will melt. But the frost liner will then absorb the

moisture rather than letting it drip down your back.



TUNNEL ENTRANCE:



It is another ESSENTIAL in the Winter camping conditions the alpine

tent is designed to meet. Zippers are prone to freezing, jamming or

breaking in extreme cold weather rendering the usual tent flaps

worthless. Also a flat vertical entranceway is more readily blocked

by snow than a tunnel. 



With the tunnel extended it's not difficult at all to enter a tent

unaccompanied by blowing snow even in a determined blizzard. As a

rule, a tent tunnel entrance is roughly 3 feet in diameter with a

3 to 4 foot sleeve that can be pulled out and suspended to a guy

line or attached to the tunnel entrance of a second tent to make a

cosy set of twins during long heavy rains or severe storms. It

certainly makes for easy tent keeping.



THE SNOW FROCK VALANCE:



A last modification found is the exterior snow frock valance or

flaps. Pieces of coated fabric of some material as the floor

extended out from the base of the tent to life flat on the ground.



Usually about a foot wide the flaps can be covered with a thick

layer of snow & then stomped down thoroughly to keep the wind from

slipping under the tent floor. Not only do they add warmth, but in

case of a severe gale they prevent your tent from breaking its

mooring and drifting off to no-man's land.



MAYBE A VESTIBULE:



An additional plus you may want to look for in alpine tent is a

vestibule or two. One or both ends of the tent, instead of being

made flat are curved out to give you an extra cooking and

maneuvering room when you're tent-bound.



AVOID tents with floored vestibules unless they have skills to keep

the dirt from being tracked into the main part of the tent. If a

sill is provided, the bare ground vestibule makes an excellent cook

hole.



CHECKING OUT A TENT:



The thread used to stitch a tent together should match the material

nylon thread with nylon, cotton thread with cotton. Cotton is

really the best of all threads because it swells when wet, sealing

the stitch holes.



However, when it is used on nylon tents, owners tend to treat the

whole tent as if it was synthetic and do not take the time to let

it dry out as well as if it was a cotton tent. This induces

premature rot in the cotton thread materially lessening the seam

life of the tent.



Seams preferably should be lap felled & double stitched for maximum

strength, particularly with lightweight fabrics.  Horizontal seams

should lie so that the folded over part drips towards the ground on

the outside. Otherwise the seam will tend to hold water like a rain

gutter. The stitching should be evenly spaces and neat. REMEMBER

neatness does count.



Nylon, even ripstop, is susceptible to unravelling. All nylon edges

should be heat-sealed. Most tent makers hot cut their fabrics,

effectively binding off the edge as they snip, all in the same

process. Peaks, corners, pole sleeves and particularly pullouts and

grommets should be reinforced. 



Any part of the tent to which a line is going to be tied should be

strengthened with a patch to spread the stress. Set the tent up and

check all stress points while it's raised. That's the way you'll be

using it.



Zippers are best made of nylon. The coil variety being the most

desirable of all, with nylon teeth in second place. Following those

are the old brass zippers. Aluminium teeth come in a far distant

forth. Check out not only the quality of zippers, but their

arrangement as well- ALWAYS with these questions in mind:



How convenient would this particular setup be for me & my gang when

we are inside? Is the door easy to work? Can the window be closed

if the gear is at the back under it? Etc.



TENT ACCESSORIES:



The whisk broom is not a fetish. What makes it so IMPORTANT is the

nature of modern fabrics and the almost universal acceptance of

floored tents.



Ripstop nylon does not tear readily. But the shell of a tent is

sensitive to small punctures Pine sap turns into cotton candy. It

doesn't accept water repellents readily, but it greets dirt with

open arms. And rolling up pine needles, burrs, and sand in your

tent when breaking camp will reduce the life of the tent by half.



MENDING A TENT:



Speaking of water, any tent can and may develop a small seam leak,

particularly along the edge of the floor and in corners. A little

squeeze bottle of Neoprene sealer complete with pointed nozzle

should be kept in your tent-bag to remedy the situation quickly &

painlessly. Make a mental note of any spot that leaks when it

leaks.



Otherwise you may not find it till the next rain. Seal it before

you leave the tent for the day, first making certain all possible

vents are open. Sealer sure doesn't smell like pine boughs, and it

can give you a nasty headache as well. But after two or three hours

the smell will be gone along with your leak.



Besides sealer, a small repair kit put together with your

particular tent in mind is handy, indeed ALMOST ESSENTIAL. Canvas

tents will rip on occasion. The new nylon tents are very

susceptible to fire damage. They won't burn. They simply melt.



ZIP ZIP ZIP ZIP:



Metal zippers are definitely out for either sleeping bag or tent;

they jam, freeze, and break too easily. Nylon toothed zippers are

good, particularly if the teeth are large. I've got one last

thought on zippers. The longer, the better.



ONE SHIRT, TWO SHIRTS, THREE SHIRTS, FOUR:



Layering is the basic principle of dressing for the outdoors. A

cotton shirt, a chamois shirt, and a wool shirt or a sweater, one

on top of the other is as warm in winter as a heavy lumberman's

jacket. Though one jacket sounds preferable to three shirts, in

fact it's not.



You'll be amazed how warm you get carrying a pack or even just

plain moving about. Wearing layers of clothes, you have a readily

controlled thermostat at your finger tips. As you warm up during

the day you remove one layer at a time and at night you reverse the

process. The best outer layer (not counting rain gear) is 100

percent wool. The shirt often sold under the name "Alaskan" has the

advantage of being quite tightly woven and thus more resistant to

wind than a sweater.



It also has button-down flap pockets for keeping sundry small

things, like a pipe and tobacco, an extra bandanna, the flashlight,

or the waterproof matches, handy. Kept away from moths & sparks, an

Alaskan lasts forever or at least twenty to twenty five years,

which is good enough.



My wool layer is usually a battered V-neck sweater I've had for

fifteen years and am sort of attached to. The best of all sweaters,

if you don't mind the bulk and really want to keep warm. They shed

water and will keep you as dry as a sheep during drizzles.



The preference for wool is no sheepshearer's public relations plug.

Wool is simply the best material for warmth, resilience, and

durability. Even when damp or wet, wool retains its bulk, and thus

a large part of its warmth. Down, on the other hand, will clump up

when even slightly moist, losing all its insulating quality.



FROM SEVEN LEAGUE BOOTS TO BARE FEET:



When you start looking for footgear, keep saying to yourself," an

ounce on my foot is like a pound on my back." At all times you

should keep your footgear as light as the terrain will allow.



Even when wearing boots-and the two activities for which they are

ESSENTIAL are mountain climbing & skiing, stick with the

lightweight models. When it comes to canoeing, I would no more wear

boots than anchors on my feet.



For that matter, NEVER wear a new pair of any kind of shoes

camping. That goes for surplus US Army Tropical boots and Reichle

climbers right down to moccasins. Now I'll be the first to admit

that on occasion, when I didn't have the time to break in new

footwear, I've broken this rule. And I've gotten the blisters to

prove it. Shoes need breaking in. The trail is no place to do it.



SOCKS, THE HEIGHT OF LUXURY: (Sock it to me baby!)



The standard saying is that shoes will make or break your walking.

I certainly would not minimize the importance of comfortable, well

broken in shoes, but without good socks too, you'd probably be

better off walking barefoot. Again wool comes out on top.



THE OMNIBUS BANDANNA:



If you think the old Western bandanna disappeared as Tom Mix rode

over the sunset, you have another think coming. It weighs next to

nothing and is as versatile as a sky hook. We usually take three

apiece, using them for anything from havelocks to potholders,

napkins, washcloths, towels, and handkerchiefs.



In mosquito country, a really great way to keep the bugs away

without soaking your face in insect repellent is to douse your

bandanna liberally with it and then wrap it around your neck. Easy

to wash and literally dry in minutes on a windy or sunny day.



STOVE YES! KITCHEN SINK NO!:



By all means plan to build a fire when it's possible, when you

really need one, when you really, really want one, but take a stove

along for most of your cooking even cook-king.



THE LITTLE STOVE THAT COULD:



The Optimus/Svea/Primus Brands of stoves, products of the

consolidation of Sweden's leading manufacturers in the field, are

the closest thing to Aladdin's lamp modern technology has to offer.



WHITE GAS STOVES:



The Primus 71, weighing twenty oz, & the Svea 123; 18 ounces, are

compact little stoves that utilise white or unleaded, gas and need

no priming. They are miracles of efficiency. We usually manage to

cook anywhere from four to eight hot meals on one filling of the

Primus's half-pint tank, depending on the menu, the altitude, and

the temperature.



Even eight hot meals, of course, aren't enough for most camping

trips. To carry spare white gas, you'll need one of the slim spun

aluminum bottles usually sold wherever the stoves are. These have

gasket screw tops. Although they may look as if they might leak,

they NEVER do at least not the first half dozen years. After that

I've found it best to replace the gasket.



Additionally, you will need a doll sized funnel, preferably with a

fine mesh filter as an extra precaution against impurities. The

funnel enables you to pour gas from the bottle into the stove

without spilling.



A tiny shielded cleaning wire mounted on a flat aluminum blade

comes with each stove. Use it. Just poke it through the flame hole

once or twice each time before lighting the stove. That's to make

certain nothing has clogged this vital orifice.



Most of the small white gas stoves work on the self-pressure

principle. The heat of the flame expands the gas below, forcing it

as vapour up through the flame hole. If the hole is clogged, the

vaporised gas has to go somewhere else or the stove would explode

like a Molotov cocktail. To this end there is a safety  valve. 



However, I've NEVER had any problems with mine, nor do I know

anyone who has. To ready the stove, check that the valve is closed,

then fill the tank about three quarters of the way up with gas. 



NEVER fill it completely. There has to be room for the fluid to

expand into gas vapour. Otherwise the stove won't function well.

Next, take the cleaning wire and poke it into the burner hole a

couple of times to MAKE SURE it's clear. Do it even the first time

you try out a brand-new stove, just to get into the habit.



Another habit to get into is putting the cleaning wire back into

the base, lid, or wind screen of the stove somewhere, in other

words, where you won't forget it when you go to pack the stove up

again. The there's my way. I just pick up the stove, unscrew the

filler cap on the tank, and huff and puff until I've driven enough

fuel out the burner to get some down into the vaporizing

depression. Then I screw the filler cap back on.



This method requires cocking your head and keeping the stove

relatively vertical. Also, drinking gasoline is most unhealthy, so

don't let your mind wander and absentmindedly think you're holding

on to a canteen.



There is no reason why you should get gasoline in your mouth if you

are careful and no one slaps your back heartily while your huffing.

If you should spit it out. I am what I would call relatively

careful and have NEVER had a mouthful of trouble.



Butane stoves: are next to worthless below freezing, and at 15"F

the fuel turns to slush so you can forget about it altogether. High

altitude cooking with butane also does not work well.



WHERE TO BUILD A FIRE:



A fireplace is most safely built on a rock outcropping. A sandy

stretch or hard-packed, stony, or clay-like mineral soils are also

good. But building on loamy ground with a high content of organic

material, particularly in heavily forested country, can mean

igniting sub-terranean roots, which sometimes smoulder for weeks

before resurfacing, yards away from the original, long since

forgotten fire.



A tree will make a million matches, and it only takes one match to

destroy a million trees. You can NEVER be too carefully. Forest

fires are immensely destructive.



Several factors besides the ground conditions dictate the location

of your fire. 



There should be no overhanging branches lower than ten feet above

the flames. "Squaw wood", the dead limbs still held fast to a tree

which incidentally, make good firewood & whose removal does no

damage should be even higher.



Don't build the fire on a promontory or other exposed place. The

winds that spring up the moment you've got the fire going will fan

the flames, making them burn well too well. You'll use much more

wood than necessary; it will heat poorly, since cold air will

constantly replace the warm; and most important, you'll greatly

increase the danger of forest fire.



A good gust will not only pick up sparks and send them flying, but

sometimes carry off a two- or three-inch long twig or splinter,

whose weight has been almost reduced to nothing by burning, but

whose centre is still glowing hot.



A last consideration, one of comfort, is smoke. Here I'm supposed

to tell you to MAKE SURE the fire is so located in relation to your

tent that the smoke stays away. Good luck Charlie Brown!  I don't

ever seem to build a fire that sends smoke where it is supposed to.

Still, it's worth a try guessing in which direction the fickle wind

is least likely to blow.



THE FIRE PLACE: 



A camp fireplace serves two functions: to contain the fire and to

balance your grill or pan if your COOK-KING over it. Although there

are countless designs serving these purposes you are best off

sticking with either the U or the keyhole.



The keyhole fireplace is, again, just what the name implies. Round

at one end and tapering to a six- or eight-inch-wide slit at the

other. It is very functional. You burn wood in a circle. As coals

form, you poke them over into the slot. Your cooking is thus not

subjected to the vagrancy's of leaping flames, but has an even,

constant coal heat.



STARTING A FIRE:



If it's been raining heavily or you're in a swamp, you may have to

tuck some fire starter another small item to REMEMBER to stow away

in odd crannies of your gear inside the kindling. Either fire

ribbon or solid tablets like Hexamine and Heatabs work surprisingly

well. Leftover candle stubs will do, but they just don't turn out

the same BTU's.



Next you need some kindling because tinder will not generate enough

heat. Make a pyramid of those pencil-sized & slightly larger

branches to help your fire start burning. Leave some air space

between the tinder below and the kindling above, some more space

between the kindling sticks themselves.



If you want a rule of thumb, the distance between the two burning

pieces of wood, be they twigs or logs, should be about half their

diameter. This interval is vital not only to permit circulation of

the necessary oxygen, but also to reflect the heat back and forth

between the two sticks. It's very difficult to keep one log burning

well.



The flame from one log burning is about the same as the sound of

one hand clapping. Two of them with space in between will burn just

fine. A good camper should be able to get all the fire he needs for

these purposes from one large fallen branch.



Tinder from the twigs at its tips, kindling from the branchlets and

fuel from the main bough broken into 6 or 7 inch long pieces. Give

it a try next time. P/S: Don't forget to quench the fire!



THE OVEN:



On any long trip except a backpacking one, we take a reflector

oven. Ours weighs less than three pounds and supplies a seemingly

endless quantity of biscuits, trail pies, and even bread. Some of

the imported or ethnic-bakery pumpernickel and dark whole grain

breads will easily last two weeks on the trail.



PROVISIONING:  



What I do recommend - and it's caused more than one jaw to drop -

is that if you're a party of four or more heading for regions where

campfires are still possible. If you take a leg of lamb with you

for the first night's camp. Build up a good coal fire. You don't

want many flames, unless you like lamb black and cold and raw on

the inside.



The fat from the lamb will drip down, causing the coals to burst

into sputtering protest and smoke. But what a smoke, what an aroma.

It's like sitting around the steppes with Ghengis Khan waiting for

the feast to begin. You can't help but salivate a little. Your jaw

gets sharp and tenses and you turn the spit.

About the only equipment you'll need for this perfect meal is a

long wooden or metal skewer to drive lengthwise through the leg of

lamb so it's not too unevenly balanced.



If you use wood, it MUST be green. When you cut a spit in the

woods, do your chopping in a way that helps rather than damages

nature. Find two young saplings growing four feet or less apart. As

mature trees they cannot both survive.



As teenage trees their sibling rivalry will be fierce enough to be

detrimental to both. Cutting one down will do no harm. In all

probability it will help the survivor. But make your cut neat and

trim the whole thing flat, at or just below ground level. Don't

leave a sharp point remaining an inch or so above the fallen

leaves.



Not only is it unsightly, but you could walk over it a day or two

later & have that point driven painfully into your moccasins. So

could the camper following you. Leave a foot or two of the lowest

branches of a sapling spit, if possible. This will give you

something to prop another stick against to hold the lamb in place

while it roasts.



No matter how well you skewer it, perfect balance is almost

impossible to achieve. Try to peel the bark off. Not necessary, but

it makes things easier. You'll be hanging the skewer about a foot

over the coals on two Y-sticks. A third branched stick can be used

to brace the meat when you've got it turned on the spit. 



Use strong deadwood for the Y-sticks and keep them away from the

fire. If it gets very hot, sprinkle some water on them

occasionally. The leg of lamb itself we jag diagonally with a knife

all around, under the skin & fat, stuffing the slits with fresh

slivers of garlic. The sear briefly close to the fire to keep the

juices in. Spice to suit yourself. Hang the spit and roast the lamb

till you can't wait any longer.



BACON BEANS BANNOCK - AND VITAMINS: 



Tradition calls for the three Bs bacons, beans, and bannock, or

frypan bread in planning the wilderness menu. And with good reason.

They are easy to prepare, filling, provide complimentary proteins,

don't spoil readily, and just plain taste good in the wilds. The

woods made beans, incidentally, taste infinitely better than the

canned.



Another thing: Sweet teeth sprout like mushrooms after a summer

rain when you're camping. You're burning up more carbohydrates than

usual. One of the more readily available source of carbohydrates is

sugar so you begin to crave for sweets. Starches are another source

and another reason why the beans and bannock are there in the

traditional 3 Bs. Not Blond, brainy & beautiful!



MEAT:



There are numerous sausages that trek well. In fact, sausages were

probably man's first successful attempt to keep meat. The spices so

much in demand in medieval days were combined with salt, a natural

preservative, to keep it edible. If you access to a European meat

or food-speciality store, so much the better.



There you would be able to select such delicacies as Dauernwurst

and the flatter Landtjaeger, both expressly designed for the hunter

and the outdoorsman. They will last for months without

refrigeration. Next to sausages, the all around best meat for

camping is slab bacon. It supplies both meat protein and fat. 



The excess fat is useful for frying and amazingly tasty solidified

& spread on bannock or even just poured on bread as on a sponge.

Smoke-cured bacon was another successful attempt to prolong the

usefulness of meat.  Kept merely cool, slab bacon will last many

months without refrigeration, so have no fear about its lasting a

2 or 3 week trip.



In summertime it does not need to be kept out of the sun and in the

coolest spot available. The problem with bacon is that it molds.

You can just cut out the mouldy part if it offends you.



PEMMICAN:



Pemmican, the fabled wonder food of the trapper, consists of lean

dried meat beaten to a pulp and then mashed with fat into a

concoction about as durable as cannon balls. As romantic as it

sounds, it has some drawbacks. If you've NEVER eaten it before, a

diet of pemmican can be quite a shock to your stomach.



But nowhere near as much as to your nostrils. Pemmican made with

beaver fat can be sensed easily at the far end of the campsite,

even if you're upwind. Gagging before I even had a taste was rather

embarrassing until a trapper of thirty years told me nobody besides

the Indians could handle it.



But there is a modern-day pemmican with all of the good qualities

and none of the bad. Wilson's Bacon Bar is every bit as durable and

almost as concentrated. Its three ounces of compressed precooked

flakes are equivalent to a full twelve ounces of raw bacon.



Providing more meat, less fat than any other modern-day equivalent,

several of these are almost a MUST on any extended trip. Oriental

food shops are particularly good for browsing when you're looking

for lightweight dried foods.



CAUTION: BACON ATTRACTS BEAR CRAZY ITS A GOOD BAIT BUT DANGEROUS!



HOMEMADE JERKY!: DICK STYLE!



4 pounds flank steak / 3 cups red wine / 3 tablespoons salt / 2

tbs. garlic salt /1 tbs. black pepper / 1 tbs. Tabasco sauce / 2

tbs. Worcestershire sauce. Trim all excess fat from meat. Slice,

with the grain, into strips about 1/8 - to 1/4-inch thick. Mix

remaining ingredients in a large glass bowl.



Add meat to marinade, MAKING SURE it is well covered. Refrigerate

for 24 hours, stirring lightly every 4 hours during the day. Drain.

Hang meat strips over oven or pan rack. Set oven temperature

control on low (no higher than 150 F.). The meat should dehydrate,

not cook.



Prop door open an inch or so. Jerk for 24 to 36 hours, checking the

meat frequently after the first 12 hours.  Don't let it dry out too

much. Good jerky should be chewy & flexible, not brittle. Store in

a dry place.



Canning jars make fine storage containers if heated to ensure that

they are thoroughly dry before being filled & closed. For trail

packaging use plastic bags. If kept properly, jerky will easily

last a year at home and several months on the trail. Another

commodity that is best considered under "meats" is the

indispensable bouillon cube. As a hot drink or for flavouring stews

& casseroles, its weight-to-pleasure ratio is hard to beat.



CHEWING THE FAT:



To increase their fat intake, which is vital in cold-weather

conditions, many alpine and winter campers drink Sherpa Tea, a

mixture of heavily sweetened tea and milk with butter. The original

Sherpa Tea was served with rancid yak butter. (Yerk!)



Your butter may not be from a yak, but try the tea if it goes

rancid. Provides lots of long-lasting energy and a taste treat that

would wow them back in Katmandu. With fresh butter, the tea is

sweet and comforting as well as nourishing.



CHEESE:



Of all the dairy products, cheese has the best storage qualities,

and it improves with age. The one catch is to keep it from drying

out.



First, buy it in chunks, which will stay soft considerably longer

that the same version of the same cheese. Secondly, keep it well

wrapped.



OLD WAYS TO KEEP CHEESE:



In the old days this meant using cabbage leaves, with an outside

layer of cheesecloth. The moist cabbage kept the cheese pliable.

Today plastic is more or less the rule. It does almost as good a

job as the cabbage leaves. Almost but not quite you can't make soup

from plastic.



HIGH ALTITUDE COOK-KING!:



Altitude (feet)       Increase in Cooking Time



3,000               20%

4,000               30%

5,000               40%

6,000               50%

7,000               70%

8,000               90%



Over 9,000 feet a pressure cooker saves a great deal of time.



HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING!:



Altitude (feet)%    Less Baking Powder



3,000          10%

6,000          25%

10,000         30%*



* Add one extra egg if eggs are called for in recipe.



PASTA AND VEGETABLES:



The most filling thing you can eat is good old fashioned lie in the

belly like lead starch. Spaghetti is a MUST for at least one camp

dinner. Then there are noodles, in all shapes and sizes, and the

dried legumes.



We probably eat more beans than most folks do on a camping trip,

but before you shrug your shoulders and pass them by, consider the

variety of highly nutritious dried beans and peas available. There

are chick-peas, or garbanzos, green and yellow split peas, black

turtle beans, navy beans, pinto beans, blackeyes, cow peas, brown

and orange lentils, to name a few.



With the addition of a touch of spice, small chunks of sausage or

bacon bar, dried mushrooms, shrimps, and what have you! It is

probably possible to concoct a different bean dish for every day of

the year. These dishes are usually referred to as glop.



Each one is different, and each one is memorable. Why, I REMEMBER

one split yellow peas Wilson Bacon Bar bouquet garni glop we made

in Wyoming that would have soothed the soul of Escoffier himself.

And there's only one pot to clean for the whole meal.



BREAD:



There are numerous varieties of heavy dark European Pumpernickel &

rye breads that, unsliced, will stay fresh for two weeks. Of course

they bear no resemblance to the cellophaned cotton usually sold as

bread which, in case you were considering it, squashes into a gummy

mess about the size of a tennis ball in your pack.



But their heft is just what makes the dark breads so great. They

have substance, flavour, & nourishment and eating them makes you

realise that bread isn't' only a staple but a highly palatable

(edible) one as well.



TRAIL BISCUITS:



1.5 cups fine-milled whole wheat or all-purpose flour / 2 tbs.

brown sugar / 2 tsp. baking powder /1 scant teaspoon salt / 1

portion dried eggs (optional) / 4 tbs. butter / 1 cup milk

(approx.) 1/2 cup to as much as the dough will hold of freshly

picked, rinsed, and lightly sugared blueberries or currants if

available.



Get a hot campfire going you'll want the flame about the height of

your oven shelf. Set up the reflector oven and grease the baking

shelf lightly. Mix, sifting together with a fork, the dry

ingredients. Cut in the butter to a coarse cornmeal consistency.



Add enough milk to make a stiff dough that will hold its shape when

spooned onto the oven sheet, but just barely so, incorporating as

much liquid as possible since baking in front of a fire is a drier

form of heating than in the enclosed oven at home.



Work quickly, don't worry about small globs or lumps. Fold in the

berries with a few light strokes. Drop the dough from a spoon onto

the baking shelf of the oven. Set the oven near the fire,

controlling the heat by moving it closer to or farther from the

flames (6 to 12 inches) will be your probable range if you have a

good hot fire).



Bake, turning the biscuits around occasionally if they are rising

or browning unevenly, though this would not usually be necessary,

till done and toasty brown outside.



THE SPREADABLES:



Honey, jam, better yet, preserves, peanut or cashew butter will be

devoured with fervour in the wilds. The old sweet craving again.

Prepack them in Jerry polytubes before you go. Seated beneath blue

sky and scented pines, squeeze out on fresh buttered buns for an

energy-giving snack or lunch the likes of which will NEVER taste

the same at home.



One caution: For Winter camping you will have to use wide-mouth

polyjars instead, at least for the peanut butter, which tends to

turn halfway into peanut brittle when the thermometer scratches

zero.



DRINKS:



Coffee, cocoa, and tea are the big three. Our one-pound coffee can

that travels in the coffee pot lasts us about 10 days to two weeks,

depending on how many cups we squeeze out of the grounds and

whether we run into company or not.



Campers who cross paths in the wilds are a gregarious lot. You'll

be left alone if you want to be. If not, there's bound to be a long

chat and swapping of route information over endless cups of coffee.



Instant is popular among backpackers, but personally I wouldn't

touch it. When I need to save weight, I take tea. Tea is a fragrant

wonder of the woods. Black teas, green teas, breakfast teas, and

numerous especially spiced blends will carry you off to the high

plantations of Assam on their steamy mist.



Cocoa and Ovaltine are excellent camp drinks combining the gifts of

energy, warmth, and satiation of the sweet craving. They are

particularly good for children if they do not take to powdered milk

served straight. Bouillon, a staple of many European coffee breaks,

is making rapid inroads on the American coffee routine.



(Our apologies for bringing up the subject of the office you left

behind.) 



A good hearty cup of beef or chicken bouillon often hits the spot

while you're waiting for the main course to cook outdoors. Instant

soups like Lipton's ever popular Chicken Noodle, Knorr's Leek, &

Maggis Oxtail are even better.



If my previous comments about vitamins haven't entirely put your

mind at ease, most of the instant breakfast drinks, fruit or juice

crystals, are lightweight and supplied with vitamin C. On the other

hand, true fruit syrup concentrates, again available through food

speciality stores and European provisioners, are in my opinion

infinitely superior.



They do weigh more, but by repacking in poly bottles, the weight

differential is cut down considerably. Flavours, ranging from

raspberry or strawberry to loganberry, are fantastic, almost like

those of the fresh berries the wilderness may proffer.



Great on pancakes which reminds me of the time, on one long rainy

canoe portage, Susan and I guzzled down almost our entire hip flask

of maple syrup for energy and warmth. Concentrated grenadine syrup

also makes up into a refreshing drink.



CONDIMENTS: SPICES:



Herbs and spices do even more to sparkle up a meal in the woods

than at home. They supply more flavour for their weight than

anything else. If you want to try new ones, however, do so at home.

I think dried dill is great, but you may not agree, and when you've

just seasoned a big pot of glop on the trail with it is no time to

find out.



Besides salt and pepper, we take bay leaves (for spaghetti sauce),

rosemary (for fish), cumin (for dehydrated pork chops), dill (again

for fish), & sage for just about anything. Anyone of these plus a

few others may tumble into the glop du jour. The bay leaves travel

in a Baggie. The rest, individually or as bouquet garnish, used to

go in little plastic pill jars from the local drugstore.



DESERTS, GORP, AND CANDY:



Others like to take along instant puddings, which are easy enough

to make in a wilderness kitchen. The instant fruit soups, from

Europe, are a little known boon to campers here. Available from

gourmet shops and health food stores.



Rose Hip Soup, extremely high in natural vitamin C, and Blueberry

Soup, both by Ekstroms of Sweden, and Bergene's Mixed Fruit Soup,

from Norway, are about as tasty ways to end a meal as I can think

of.



Serve hot or chilled in a mountain stream. For stream cooling,

anchor the pot firmly with rocks lest it floats away. It has been

said that camping involves eating only  one meal a day.  The meal

begins when you get up and ends when you go back to sleep. This is

pretty true when you take into account the trail foods and candy.

During heavy paddling and long treks, a handful of GORP.



GORP:



GORP THE TRADITIONAL TRAIL FOOD COMBINATION OF DRIED FRUITS, NUTS

AND/OR CHOCOLATE PICKS UP YOUR ENERGY TO AN AMAZING DEGREE.



There are as many recipes for GORP as there are campers. Some like

peanuts. Some like chocolate. Others don't like either. Some insist

using tropical chocolate is the way to keep it melting in your

mouth instead of your hands, but there are just as strong advocates

of candy covered M&Ms.



The only way to satisfy yourself on the subject is to experiment &

make your own mix. A few campers eschew GORP altogether, sticking

with just plain candy for energy. Most candy, however, doesn't have

the protein content of a nut filled GORP, and we find it less

satisfying.



A good compromise is marzipan, which is ground almonds, sugar, &

sometimes egg white, giving you the best of two worlds. Mint cakes

a la Kendal are a mountain climbing tradition, even more so since

being gobbled on top of Mount Everest.



RICHARD'S GORP!: Dick' Special du chef! Oui, Oui!



2 pounds raisins / 1 pound dried currants / 1 pound dried apricots

/ 1/2 pound whole shelled hazelnuts /1/2 pound whole shelled

almonds / 1 pound pitted prunes or dates (optional). Mix well in a

large bowl. Then pack by the cupful into individual Baggies. Eat

out of hand whenever you need a quick energy boost.



A WORD OF CAUTION: GORP is not suitable trail food for desert

country, since it tends to make you thirsty!



FREEZE DRIED LARDER:



And so we come to the wonder food for today's backpacker! At least

that's what everyone tells me. True! Once per ounce there's no

lighter food you can take with you, even if sometimes the packages

are absurdly ungainly. It is also nourishing! (Surprise!) 



Considering the weight saving it is sold without water, which makes

up 96 % of something like cucumbers-it is not even all that

expensive. But there remains the issue of TASTE!?! And here it

comes several notches below TV dinne-herrrs! Dine-errors Helas!

Even Dine-her roars!



Yet it does Save as much as 80 % yes 80% * of your provisioning

weight. When it comes to mountain climbing and back pack-king!?!

And providing and that it is a BIG??? QUESTION if you are assured

of plenty of water, so that you don't have to lug any of that

along.



In snow season, the problem solves itself, although you may have to

melt a lot more snow, MAKE SURE, you don't scorch it! (Burn it?).

As strange as it may sound, it's quite possible. Melt a little bit

first over a not too hot a flame, so you get a light layer of water

in the pan, before you really go at it. The most popular brands in

freeze-drying are Chuck Wagon, Mountain House, Rich Moor, Seidel,

Tea Kettle, & Wilson's.



One LAST Warning about freeze-dried products.



Their packagers are either midgets or on an extended diet. The so

called 2 men serving will hold me for a couple of hours. I have

seen and eight years old kids knock down one of the two man dinners

& still have room for 1/2 dozen rolls & a 4 men serving of freeze

dried fruit cocktail. Check out your appetite  against the

manufacturer's before you set out with freeze-dried food in your

pack.



INSTANT CEREALS:



Heavier than freeze dried foods but almost as convenient are the

supermarket instants. Look over the breakfast cereals, instant

oatmeal and the like Fini are high on our list of staples gravy

mixes, flavoured rice, mashed potatoes, puddings and quick cooking

dinners.



BABY FOOD:



What the baby's eating at home will be the natural guide for what

to feed him or her in the wilds. A baby still nursing is a joy to

the cook because that's half or so of the menu already taken care

of.



To supply the iron that growing infants need, instant baby cereals

are usually iron fortified. Barley is one of the best. High-protein

varieties sometimes comfort mothers.



Stock up and repack in Baggies to save weight. Add instant milk and

hot water and you have a warm meal. Most powdered milks supply

vitamin D, something a baby probably won't lack in the sunny

outdoors, But you'll be reassured on the matter.



Vitamin C may be a problem on extended trips; Rose Hip Soup, a nice

baby-food consistency anyway, is one of the best solutions. Brown

sugar or honey will sweeten things; most of the freeze dried meats

mash well for baby protein courses; and the fruits do likewise when

well reconstituted and thinned with milk.



The dehydrated soups cooked up for the rest of the family make fine

baby food. Just give the littlest camper a large share of

vegetables and meat bits mashed in the broth. Babies who have

sprouted teeth can probably graduate to your regular camp fare,

served in small pieces they can handle.



Probably the only special item you'll have to lug around is vitamin

drops. For adults the vitamin situation is not vital. In the case

of a baby, however most pediatricians recommend vitamin supplements

even in their normal environment.



If you have questions, check with your paediatrician when you're

making out the provisions list. The best advice is that of a

professional who knows your particular child.



GARBAGE:



There's no garbage pickup in the real wilderness. If you pack it

in, pack it out pack it all out. Food scraps, if there are any, are

the only thing that can be safely left behind. But don't just

scrape them out at the edge of your campsite. Carry them back into

the brush and scatter them around.



KEEPING THE FOOD FOR YOURSELF: 



Although they may not eat everything you take along, animals will

make a beeline for the camp kitchen at night. In Bear country it's

ALWAYS a good idea to hang your comestibles well out of reach. Put

them all together in a waterproof duffel or stuff sack, attach a

line to the bag, and throw the line over a large tree branch.



It should hang out as far from the trunk as its weight will permit.

I used to pull our gear up seven or eight feet in bear country. Now

I make it twelve if I can. This past summer a grizzly that MUST

have been trying out for the Olympic basketball team tore the

bottom out of our pantry even though it was almost 9 feet off the

ground.



WARNING:



NEVER NEVER under any circumstances keep food in your tent when in

Bear country.



Even in regions where bears have definitely been driven to

extinction, it's still a good policy to hang your food away from

the tent.



FOOD FROM THE WILDERNESS:



One of the joys of camping is going out in the morning to pick

blueberries for the breakfast pancakes, fresh mushrooms to go with

lunch, or some of the other gifts of nature discussed further on. 

Don't count on the wilderness feeding you there are too many of us

for that now. But ALWAYS keep your eyes open. Often you'll stumble

across unexpected delights.



TOOLS OF THE TRADE:



The first tool most people think of when their planning to go

camping is a hatchet or axe. Now a hatchet is a dangerous thing.



When you consider a hatchet, consider the fact that the popular

term "hatchet job" didn't originate with Lizzie Borden's forty

whacks, but refers to the poor quality of work and frequent self- 

mutilation that usually occurs when the instrument is used for

chopping wood.



The standard recommendation is to take along a Hudson bay style

single bit axe with a two to 2 1/2 pound head and 28 inch handle,

preferably one of hickory for strength. I have no quarrels with

this; it's probably the best all-around axe you could get. The

question is, should you have an axe along in the first place? The

answer in most cases is no! Axmanship in camping is dying. Which is

all to the good.



Unfortunately many city dwellers & suburbanites going out to the

woods with an axe in hand seem to run amok, chopping here, chopping

there, as if they were somehow conquering nature. Felling a living

tree simply to satisfy an urge to chop something down is no

accomplishment, but rather a sign of lunacy or inability to keep

destructive urges under control.



CHECKING OUT AXES:



If you are going to be camping where an axe is needed, select one

with care. The handle, preferably of hickory, should be

straight-grained, with the grain running parallel to the blade, not

diagonally against it.



As with any other piece of wood needing structural integrity, AVOID

cracks, knotholes, and other deformities. Also AVOID wood with a

grain of sharply contrasting colours; even small streaks may mean

a weak handle.



Because of this,  although axes painted along the shoulder and top

of the head are more visible, this is a safety feature you should

apply yourself if you want it. Quite often a painted handle has a

fault to hide. Check to MAKE SURE the axe is well hung. This can

mean one of two things, depending on whom you talk to.



Either that the handle is straight, which you can check by sighting

down from one end of the handle towards the head. Or that when the

axe is held bit and knob against a flat surface, the bit touches at

about the midpoint. Both factors are important. But the first is

more so, since chopping with a crooked handle is like shooting with

a bowed gun barrel---dangerous.



The handle should feel comfortable in your hands when you swing it.

A rule of thumb for length is that when you are standing erect,

holding the axe in one hand, head down, & letting swing back and

forth across the floor without bending your arm, the blade should

just miss the floor.



CHOPPING WOOD:



Like all real skills, chopping with an axe is considerably more

difficult than it appears when done by an expert. That doesn't mean

you can't do it. It just means that unless you chop wood on a

regular basis, you should MAKE SURE you're extra careful when you

do.



When you're splitting wood the only task you'll use the axe for,

since cutting down trees is verboten--stand with your legs spread

but comfortable. 



Check to MAKE SURE the axe head is still firmly attached to the

handle.



Check too that there are no overhead branches or other obstructions

including people anywhere near the axes arc as you swing it from

behind, above your head, and down to its target on the chopping

block. 

Children are best taught to keep their distance from the chopping

block routinely. Chips fly. Place the log you're going to split on

end so one of its flat surfaces will be at right angles to the

descending axe blade.



NEVER put a round log on the block lengthwise and attempt to split

it that way. If you weren't to hit it just right, the axe would

glance off and you could be in real trouble. Bring the axe over

your head from behind your shoulders your near hand down towards

the fawn's foot as well when the axe arches overhead.  



As you bring the axe forward & down for the chop, REMEMBER it's the

momentum of the axe head that does the work.  When the head is just

about to hit the log, your arms are loose, merely to follow the arc

of the swing. Don't lean into the blow.



It doesn't add any efficiency to the chop. All it does is add a lot

of wearing vibration through your arms. Keep your eye on the log,

not the axe head, when you're chopping. Don't aim dead centre.

Splitting is easier if you hit closer to the near edge. Don't aim

for the far edge either. If, instead of the blade, the handle

should strike the log, it will snap.



To tackle a thick log, dig the axe in toward the edge, turn the log

and take a crack at the opposite edge, aiming so the two cracks

will eventually  meet. Then keep digging in closer to the centre

until the cracks are one. On a big log the first split is ALWAYS

the hardest. Once you've broken the log it becomes much easier.



SAWS FROM JACK TO BUCK:



For all the axe's woodiness, I usually take along with me only a

saw. A lightweight folding saw will handle almost all the ground

and squaw wood you find. Branches, even ones three inches in

diameter, need not really be split in order to burn in a hot fire,

and you're not going to find anything much larger. Most of these

branches can simply be broken by hand or by a hefty wood stomp.



But where the wood is still quite springy, a lightweight saw

simplifies the job of reducing whole branches to convenient fire

lengths. It also means less wood burned, since you won't be tossing

in four-foot-long pieces that wouldn't break easily. As a last

thought, a saw is not dangerous even in inexperienced hands.



The lightest and least bulky saw made is a quarter-ounce twisted

toothed wire with finger rings at each end. An item for the

emergency kit perhaps.  Outside of that, it is simply too

inefficient. For cutting any considerable amount of wood, it would

be quicker to convince some local beavers to give you a hand.



The next size up is the handy jacksaw, its 8 to 15 inches blade

folding into a wooden or high-impact plastic handle in the fashion

of a pocket-knife. Get one with at least a 10 inch blade or the

strokes will be too short to be effective.



It's hard to beat a bucksaw. Although it will weigh over two

pounds, a folding version is the best thing to have along if you

expect to do considerable sawing. Unlike the triangularly framed

version, a bucksaw permits full-stroke cutting of up to 12-inch

diameter logs without frame interference. It also permits team

sawing, which cuts the work more than in half.



SAWING:



If you look at a saw blade you'll see that the teeth are angled out

from the blade itself. This is the set of the teeth.  Teeth lose

their set when squeezed or pinched in a log. So the only thing to

watch for is that you don't flatten the angle. If you do, your

saw's efficiency will fall drastically.



 Let the log extend over whatever you're bracing it across, another

log, for instance, then saw beyond this point. The weight of the

overhanging part of the log will widen the cut the deeper you go,

keeping the blade from pinching. You don't have to bear down on the

saw when you're cutting.



In fact you shouldn't, since this will also tend to make it bind

and lose its set. Just pull and push, back and forth. With a

bucksaw two people set to on the job, each one pulling in turn

towards his own direction. This is by far the simplest way, since

pulling a saw through wood is much easier than pushing it.



ALWAYS A KNIFE:



If an axe or even a saw are not necessary on most camping trips, a

knife is almost ESSENTIAL even on a weekend stroll.  Which really

doesn't need saying & certainly doesn't need explaining, as almost

everyone instinctively takes one with him.



But, and here's the rub, a large number of the knives taken to the

woods should have been left behind. Malayan throwing knives, Bowies

big enough to kill an elephant in hand-to-hand combat, and commando

knives suitable for a submersible attack on Manhattan not only look

absurd, but they are impractical and in some cases useless.



If you feel you need a sheath knife, keep it small & simple. One of

the best all-around models is a skinning knife used by Canadian

trappers known by the name of its designer, Russell.



You may not find it at a local store unless you're in trapping

country, but you can get an excellent Nova Scotia-made one with a

smooth rosewood handle and first-class Swedish steel blade by mail

from the Ski Hut or Eastern Mountain Sports.



The Russell has a slightly offset 4 inch long beaver tail blade

with a curved handgrip. This means there's no hilt or crossbar

needed at the end of the blade, making it a lighter knife. The

hilt's sole purpose, in case you're interested, is to keep your

fingers from sliding forward and cutting themselves when you stab

into something, somebody or an animal.



My only objection to the Russell knife is that the point is not

sharp (a sharp point is no good when you're scraping off fat off a

pelt, you might cut it). However, it's simple enough to sharpen it

up.



ON THE SUBJECT OF MACHETES IN CONIFER FORESTS:



Although Army & Navy surplus stores list a great variety of

machetes in their catalog, there's no possible use for machetes in

temperate climates except for trimming a lawn if you like to do

things the hard way.



A machete is an excellent jungle knife, ESSENTIAL for hacking

through dense but tender underbrush. In lush tropical areas, where

the water content of most plants is considerably higher than it is

up north, it's most effective. If that's the direction in which

you're heading, by all means take one. Otherwise forget it Rambo!



Also forget, if you do have to use a machete, about those old

Jungle Jim movies where they slash once to the right and once to

the left, then move forward three or four steps and slash again.

Swinging a machete through really dense undergrowth is good hard

work!



If you're stubborn enough to want to get through, you may proceed

at a rate of fifty feet or so a day. That's why river travel is so

popular in jungle regions.



THE SHOVEL:  To Shove IT! or Not!



A shovel presents more of a problem. Not in choice of models, but

in deciding whether to lug it along or not. It's useful for burying

human waste and garbage. But it's not ESSENTIAL.



Our decision is usually based on whether our shovel is required in

the area to which we're heading. If the fire rules demand it, we

take a small folding entrenchment camp shovel; if not, we leave it

at home.



PLENTY OF ROPE:   



Almost any camping trip calls for a length of rope at one time or

another to hang your food up with, to rig a tarp tent, to tow a

canoe, or even just for games of tug of war among the kids. On most

trips 50 feet double that figure for canoe camping or tarp tenting

of 8 inches nylon rope is just about right



It has a breaking strength of 400-800 pounds, depending on type &

manufacturer, which is sufficient for most purposes. Quarter-inch

nylon has a breaking strength of 1,200-1,800 pounds, which you'll

need to tow or track a canoe.



Braided nylon "parachute cord" with a 500 pound breaking strength,

available in hundred foot skeins, is good for all around suspension

work from tarps to clotheslines. Nylon rope gives a bit, which

means you have to check it occasionally when using it for hitches.

But you should get into that habit anyhow.



Its strength is two and a half time that of hemp; it frays less;

it's easily whipped by holding a lit match at one end, melting it

a bit; and it's hardly susceptible to mildew. Even so, keep it dry

& clean, and coiled when in storage around camp or at home.



SAFE-KEEPING THE TOOLS AROUND CAMP:



Probably more people are injured by carelessly stored tools than by

using them. Don't lay your saw down on the ground or prop it next

to the chopping block when you are through cutting wood.



Hang it on a small branch stump protruding from a handy tree & if

you're camping with kids, hang it high enough so they can't reach

it. Any loose rope that is not in use or packed away should also be

coiled and hung. Tripping over it with a hot pot of stew in your

hands is no way to wash your face.



Although it looks nice and woodsy to leave your axe or sheath knife

stuck in a chopping block or log, sheath it.  Put the axe safely

away in your tent, the knife in your pocket. Not only is the habit

an accident preventative, but it's better for the tools.



Dew in the morning will rust your blade. If an axe sits out in the

sun all day, the handle will tend to warp & dry out so the head

loosens. If you are in porcupine country, you may wake up some

morning and find half your axe handle chewed into toothpicks. 



It's not that porcupines are particularly fond of axe handles, or

even in need of toothpicks. They crave salt. And putting any kind

of work behind your wood chopping will build up sweat, turning the

axe handle into a tasty porcupine pretzel stick.



THE RUCKSACK VERSUS THE PACKSACK:



At the risk of setting myself up as a target for slings and arrows

of derision from backpackers and campers across the country, I will

say right now that in my opinion the frame backpack has been

oversold.



On trips lasting three or four weeks without a chance to

reprovision, the backpacks larger capacity can be a plus. But for

general outdoor use it has some practical drawbacks. Let's look at

it closer. The first thing you see prominently displayed in the

sales literature and books on backpacking is a panting and

exhausted hiker carrying the old-fashioned low-slung rucksack.



He's leaning over as if he were charging into a tornado. Next to

him is another camper with a high-riding, hip-belt-supported frame

backpack, walking bolt upright like a Prussian general, but still

managing to look relaxed and cool.



Next, vector lines are drawn in to show how the rucksack

distributes its weight further back than the pack, so the wearer

has to compensate for it by leaning forward. Thus he wastes energy.

This is true.



The point is, however, that although it takes a bit more energy to

carry a rucksack, its advantages far outweigh, if you'll pardon the

pun, this one disadvantage. The backpacks disadvantages, on the

other hand, are pretty hard to ignore.



For instance, let's try on the backpack. Although it's cumbersome,

it is also comfortable, just as the manufacturer said. And the hip

belt does pull the weight in, making a load easier to carry. (You

can get hip belt for a rucksack, but it's not as efficient.) Of

course since the load rides so high on the pack frame, it's a bit

clumsy to put on, but you're good at balancing. Besides, it's a

minor point.



Balancing on the trail, however, is another matter. For example,

there's that icy cold glacial stream with a convenient log spanning

it to cross by. The log's a bit slippery from dew and moss. Still,

under normal circumstances it would not be difficult to walk.

However, your centre of balance is now up on your shoulders,

instead of your hips as nature intended.

 

Luckily, you do have a long six-foot hiking staff that's been

getting snared in the woods all day along with the top of your

high-riding pack, which ALWAYS seems to be reaching out for

low-hanging branches so you think about balancing yourself across

the log with the staff plunged into the river bed.



Unfortunately, this would mean bending over rather steeply, which

turns the balancing act into something for the Great Wallendas. In

the end, you take the pack off and inch it across the log like a

toddler with his push toy.



Once you get it to the other side you put the pack on and stride

away, nice and upright again. There are a couple more balancing

feats to conquer during steep ascents & descents but nothing

serious.



WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A RUCKSACK:



Several large outside pockets 3 or 4 is the standard. With these

outside pockets you can pack your gear so that everything you might

need quickly is easily accessible during hiking. Another thing to

look for is leather good, tough, durable and waterproofed on the

bottom also for the shoulder traps and accessory straps on the top

flap or sides of the back. The shoulder should be padded. All

fitting should be of leather.



You also want good tough fabric, high quality duck or heavy nylon

for the rucksack itself. For maximum stuffability the flap should

have 2 straps instead of a single centre one. Most rucksacks have

a frame either contoured metal bows or tubular ones to help make

them ride more comfortably on your back.



If you try a rucksack MAKE SURE that it is not empty so that you

will have a good idea of how it feels on the trail. Probably the

best of the lot are the Linchenneiger and the Mountaineer made by

Class 5 which is 30% larger than the first they are excellent

modern rucksacks. Second in line is the French La Fuma.



Incidentally a waist strap keeps a rucksack closer to your body

thus improve your balance on the trail. The old Bergans are

classics if you can find them go for it. One of the most important

things to keep in mind when buying a pack is getting one of the

right size.



Don't get one too large for comfort. More difficulty is encountered

by carrying too large a bag than by any other single factor. A pack

frame should be body contoured for comfort and is best made of

lightweight tubular aluminium alloy, preferably with heli-arc

welded joints.



Stay away from angle iron construction, it twists out of shape very

readily. Most people agree on a strong, abrasion resistant nylon

bag. However it has to be waterproofed on the inside. The bag

should have a minimum number of seams and be reinforced at all

major stress and attachment points. Clevis pins are easier to work

with to attach the bag to the frame. Carry a few extra ones along.



MAKE SURE that zippers are nylon rather than metal. The harness for

a pack including a hip belt as well as shoulder straps should be

fully adjustable in all directions. The hip & shoulder pad should

be firm.



WHAT TO PACK IN THE PACKSACK BESIDE YOUR COLOUR TV, PC & VCR: 



Beside the rucksack, sleeping bag and tent or tarp with ground

cloth here are the:



MOUNTAINEER'S 12 ESSENTIALS recommended by experts of all types:



1)   AT LEAST ONE COMPLETE CHANGE OF CLOTHING including extra for

such      contingencies as rain & cold weather.



2)   EXTRA FOOD. Include extra rations in your minimum. This is

your insurance policy in case      something goes really wrong.



3)   SUNGLASSES.  Every time you set out for a strange area it's

good to have a pair along.



If you are planning on desert, alpine or winter camping, it's a

rare occasion that you will not need them. Even Eskimos worry about

snow blindness.



4)   A KNIFE. A substantial pocketknife is the order of the day. No

need for Bowie knife and the big   sheath knife for those who are

out to tackle bears with bare hands. A good Swiss army knife is  

excellent or a Buck for bigger job.



5)   FIRE STARTERS; jelly, ribbon, tablets or impregnated peat

bricks. There are emergencies      where a fire is both necessary

and difficult to start. Every kit MUST include a supply of starters

     of one kind or another.



6)   EMERGENCY MATCHES. Fire starters alone don't a fire make. You

need matches. Long  wooden ones are best & soaked in wax to make

them weather proof and keep them in a   waterproof container.



7)   A FIRST AID KIT. See the proper chapter on how to build

one.***



8)   A FLASHLIGHT. Everyone should carry his own and add extra

batteries & bulbs just in case.



9)   MAPS. You should have a map when going to all but the most

familiar places. It's not only a   safety factor but can add a lot

of enjoyment to your trip, helping you to find the best spots and

     sights.



10)  A GOOD QUALITY COMPASS even two might help in case the first

one goes berserk.



11)  A SPACE BLANKET. It did not exist in the first writing up of

this list. Today it's an      invaluable safety precaution.

Weighing only 2 ounces it opens up to a full 56"X84".



It reflects up to 90% of a sleeper's body heat while at the same

time keeping out rain, rain and snow.



Not to be used as camping blanket but ESSENTIAL as emergency gear

for all kinds of use including signalization



12)  THIS BOOK! THIS BOOK!



ODDS AND ENDS:



Bring your toilet kit cut in 1/2 and don't forget the TOILET PAPER.

Also your suntan lotion and insect repellent and this book!



PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:



Pack everything you need into your rucksack, then unpack it. Pack

it again. Everything in its place and a place for everything so

that you can find anything blindfolded.



Putting the most needed things in the most accessible places &

keeping the heaviest objects in the pack closest to your body so

they will bear down less on your shoulders but not so close they

poke into your back. Lash your sleeping bag to the outside frame.

Rolling your clothes takes up less place. Waterproof Matches in

many places.



CAMPING WITH BABIES & KIDDIES:



No, you will not be locked up for child abuse. Children have not

ALWAYS been raised with central heating & supermarket around.



With today's high-quality camping gear it is very easy to care for

kids in the wild. There are 3 types of classes, carry along,

anchors and catch me if you can. Infants ride and even fall asleep

in a Gerry or similar kiddie pack with such an ease you almost have

to force yourself to REMEMBER they are there. Your partner will

REMEMBER better since he or she is carrying most of the gear for

all three.



Anchor stage is the only one that limits your mobility to any real

extent. Between the ages of 2 to 5 they become too heavy & too

restless to be carried for a prolonged period. It's then a great

time for base or canoe camping but not for backpacking. In the last

stage start by letting the child assume some responsibility for his

own gear and anytime a child takes initiative encourage it.



Channel their collecting habit in the direction of gathering twigs

for the fire, picking up berries, cleaning up the camp site etc. It

has been noted by camping parents that kids almost invariably seem

to make a leap forward in development both when they arrive in the

wilds and when they return home. With a little care & planning, it

will be a great experience for all of you.



Start out with short trips before tackling long ones. One more

point easily overlooked, backpacking a baby usually lulls the

little tyke to sleep So you may have to remind yourself to check

that he's not getting too much sun or wind back there and don't

forget the diapers. OOPS's!



As for the bedtime comes along it won't be a problem if you have

taken along the favourite lovey, teddy bear or blanket or toy.

Letting a baby or young child sleep in his own bag at home for a

couple days before you set out will convince him he's got the real

thing with him when he hits the road.



FINDING A CAMP SITE: *



Choosing a camp spot requires a bit of  observation. More so if

you're off the beaten track than in a national park or forest,

where locations are usually restricted to fixed campsites.



Even there, when on remote trails and waterways, away from these

fixed sites, the considerate camper picks a previously established

location wherever possible, in order to minimize man's intrusion

into the wilds.



Not only does this practice preserve the same unspoiled beauty that

you find for those who follow and who in turn are followed, in most

cases it also assures you of one of the best spots available.



The campers of the past the woodsmen who unleashed their weapons

upon arriving to make tables, dingle cranes, kitchen racks, bough

beds, and sapling tent poles, all from native material seem in the

camping world of today very destructive indeed, but fools they

weren't.



They picked the best spot to be found within any given area

sheltered, close to water, and usually with the grandest view

around as well. The only problem is that the natural advantages of

these spots often lead to their becoming mini-slums.



Without trying to sound like a platoon leader assigning KP, let me

suggest that if you come to a campsite where the previous occupants

apparently revealed in leaving paper, cans & other garbage

scattered all over the floor, help clean it up.



It only takes a couple of minutes, and it isn't asking much in

repayment for the free use of nature. Hopefully, if everyone does

the same, in a few years they'll be no need to continue the pro

bono publico cleanup.



DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE: (Nice old song?)



One of the keys to a comfortable, nay even bearable campsite is

water. There are other things to be said for camping some distance

from streams, rivers, & even lakes. They do rise unexpectedly. Most

of the time you can spot the high-water mark by mud and other

stains on nearby trees. But there's no such thing as the ultimate

flood record.



For the same reason, although that grassy sandbank with a cosy ring

of little pines in the middle of the river may seem the perfect

place to pull the canoe in for the night what could be better than

one's own island? It could be mighty dangerous.



A fine place for lunch, but not for an overnight stay. Although the

rise in water will be small in most places, given the right

conditions, water levels have been known to rise five or ten feet

over night. Also, keeping away from the very edge of the water, and

preferably up from it as well, lessens discomfort from mist,

dampness & often mosquitoes.



FINDING WATER:



There are no handy kitchen faucets in the wilds except in the

larger campgrounds with their trailers & recreation vehicles bumper

to bumper, & six-man tents guy line to guy line. If you're not in

one of these, and don't happen to be hiking along the course of a

river or canoeing over chains of lakes, where do you find water?



Your map will help if it's detailed enough. Almost any water source

of any size, including annual spring freshet, will be marked on a

geodesic map. Even so, it's a good idea to be aware of where water

is most likely to be found, just in case you left the map at the

last log rest stop.



Besides, knowing nature, being familiar with its habits, gives you

a real sense of understanding & accomplishment that is very much a

part of the joy of camping. In mountainous and forest regions such

as Eastern and Western Canada, & the USA and most of Northern

Europe, water rarely presents a problem.



Almost any downhill country, be it a long slow valley or a deep

gorge, will lead to it. These natural formations developed through

water erosion, and the sculpture tells the tale. As you walk, keep

your eyes open for a change not only in terrain but in vegetation

as well. If you see a crooked line of willows or willow like trees

in the distance:



IT'S ALMOST A SURE BET YOU'LL FIND A STREAM WHEN YOU GET THERE.



The mountain ahead is bare, with no water or greenery in sight. One

side comes down steeply to a heavy rock formation; the other side

slopes gently down to a valley and gently up to another mountain.

Head for the sloping side rather than the steep escarpment. It has

a much slower run off larger surface area, and thus a greater

likelihood of retained water. Cottonwoods in arid country serve

much the same purpose as willows in country more hospitable. 



A chain of cottonwood in the distance indicates a river bed.

Whether that bed turns out to be wet or dry is another question.

But if it's dry, examine the ground by one of the largest and most

ancient of the cottonwoods, on the inside bank of the old river's

curve; you will usually fund a small pool of water.



At least there should be enough ground moisture so that if you

really need water you can dig down a foot or so and find seepage.



REMEMBER THOUGH THAT USUALLY IT DOES NOT PAY TO DIG FOR WATER.



With the amount of energy used the moisture lost in sweat usually

far exceeds that gained from the hole you have dug. Any lush

vegetation in arid terrain indicates water in one form or another.



Birds, such as Doves** or Blackbirds, in flock on the ground, quail

in any quantity, are other signs of a water source nearby. You will

need 2 quarts a day under average conditions but in the desert or

during periods of heavy activity this rises to 4 quarts or more per

person per day.



WATER PURITY:



Once you have found a water source, you have 2 old drinking rules

to choose from, depending on how healthy you are, how cautious you

are and where you are. The first is, when doubt about water, purify

it. The second is, a lively bubbling stream cleans itself in 30

feet of flowing over rocks and sands. 



Or as one old codger I know, referring to the same quality of

stream bed, puts it succinctly, "If the cow's around the bend, the

water's fit to drink." Which rule you follow is up to you. We tend

to use the second when in mountainous, wooded country.



Our stomachs might not be cast iron, but they are pretty resistant

to Montezuma's Revenge and La Turista. Yet as pollution increases

we lean more & more to the first rule. Boiling takes a lot of fuel

and a lot of time to cool off but in dangerous regions it is better

to drink a lot of tea rather than wait for the water to cool off.

Halazone 1 tablet per pint of water or 2 if in ANY doubt.



You MUST still let it stand 1/2 hour or more to be safe to drink

but taste funny like a swimming pool. Yet aerating the water by

pouring it back and forth between two containers several times will

eliminate most of the chlorine taste. This chemical is quite

volatile and if you hold your breath while drinking it, you will

hardly taste a thing.



LAY OF THE LAND * WHERE TO CAMP BEST:



The 3 traditional requirements for a campsite used to be Water,

Wood & a flat area on which to lay out your sleeping bag or pitch

your tent. Wood is no longer a prerequisite, with the handy and

convenient stoves on the market. Water is still necessary.



So is the relative flat stretch of ground. Flat ground can be as

difficult a thing to find as water, if not more so, particularly in

the  mountains. There you may have to settle for a spot that

slopes.



If you do, MAKE SURE you set up the tent or lay out the bags so

that you will be sleeping with your head up. Sleep with your feet

higher than your head, and you will wake up in the morning feeling

you have a nasty hangover.



Sleeping sideways on a slope will have all the occupants of a tent

piled on top of each other on the downhill side before the night is

halfway through.



If you are not in a tent, you don't know where you will wake up.

The only certain thing is that it will be far from where you fell

asleep. So why not pitch camp at the bottom of the hollow? Well,

usually because that is the wettest, coldest, foggiest spot around. 

In the case of heavy rain it usually also means the morning will

greet you with a small quagmire all around.



The top of knoll AVOIDS these problems. Its more positive advantage

is ventilation. A good breeze will keep the bugs to a minimum.

Speaking of BUGS *there you are in the middle of a beautiful

mountain meadow, fragrant summer blooms swaying in the breeze. A

perfect spot.



No! For several reasons. Tall grass is there the chiggers,* ticks

and other bugs like to camp. Also alpine meadows are fragile.

Setting up a tent there for a week may leave a visible scar for

years. For your own comfort and that of the meadows, pitch your

tent at the edge instead of the middle. It will be as fragrant and

the view will be better.  At the edge of a meadow is also where you

find bushes and trees to provide wind shelter and shade for the

heat of the day.



FOR BEST RESULTS, PITCH THE TENT OR LAY OUT YOUR SLEEPING BAG ON

THE EAST OR NORTH SIDE OF SHADE TREES.



This way you will be greeted by the warmth of a cheering sun in the

morning. Yet during the heat of the day you will be shaded from its

harsh rays. If prevailing winds are known, take them into

consideration the same way.



Camp on the lee side* of rocks and trees when it's cold & you need

protection. When it's warm, make camp on the windward side so the

breezes help cool your wilderness home. But check the trees out.

NEVER camp beneath a lone tree if there is any chance of

thunderstorm.



With its limbs reaching higher in the sky than anything else

around, it makes a natural lightning rod dear Mooses. Dead trees

are also a hazard, the heavy waterlogged birches in particular. One

moment they stall tall & serene in the sky.



The next moment, sometimes without even the lightest zephyr having

whisked across the ground, they lie uprooted and prone. Should your

tent have been pitched beneath, well... The same holds true, if to

a lesser degree, for dead branches. Don't camp beneath them.

Chances of a dead branch killing you in its fall are very slim

indeed. But an injury is far from out of the questions, and the

least it will do is ruin your tent.



MORE CAUTION:



When pitching your tent above the timber line in Mountainous

regions, look up before you set up. Landslides are not a common

occurrence statistically.



But why become a statistic? Slopes of loose rock, slabs, round

boulders, or what looks like a frozen stream of smooth rocks down

a gully may decide to move during a heavy rain or in the alternate

freezing and thawing of the cold of night and warm of day. Give all

of them a wide berth.



DO PICK A SPOT THAT IS SHELTERED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE FROM THE WIND:



A firm outcropping of rock or large, well entrenched boulders are

probably the best shelters you will find to pitch tent behind. But

take advantage of whatever you can. A determined mountain gale may

hit a hundred and fifty to 200  miles an hour.



A good campsite is not that difficult to find, I hasten to add

before proceeding with one more small caution: know what Poison Ivy

& Poison Oak * look like.



SETTING UP THE EASY WAY:



To really enjoy camping, the trick is to make it as little work as

possible. In pitching and breaking camp, each person doing specific

task is the KEY TO SUCCES. When you find a campsite, you divvy up

the jobs and go to it. One pitches the tent while the other gets

the fire going or in reverse depending who's in the mood for what.



Certain tasks are primarily in one or the other's domain. If you

have not camped before, to make your fist night on the trail the

pleasure it should be instead of a trial & error of a guessing

game. Go through the whole routine of setting & breaking camp in

your backyard before you leave.



If you are gearing up for extended camping, take a couple of

overnight break-in trips. They will more than pay for themselves by

instilling a rhythmic efficiency in your camping party. Don't leave

out the kids. Making them part of the team is worth more than

having a free rein. It also helps wear them out. Of course it may

not ALWAYS save time. 



Genevieve started helping to pitch the tent when she was 14 months

old. Getting the tent up took 3 times as long, but she was proud as

could be. Camping with 5 years old and up, take a night off

occasionally and let them do all the work while you sit back and

relax. (MMM!)



It is amazing how much a young child can handle in the wilds and

what a sense of accomplishment it gives him. By the way one of your

practice runs should include a crack at setting up camp in the dark

with a minimum amount of light. That is one flashlight or less.

Once you have done it a couple of times setting up camp at night

becomes automatic. 



REMEMBER that no matter how well planned a camping trip is, at one

time or another you are going to reach your campsite after sunset.



PITCHING THE TENT:



Clear the spot for your tent of any sharp rocks, twigs or other

debris. If a live root pokes somewhere, don't try to dig it out.

The more you dig, the thicker it ALWAYS seem to get and the harder

it is to break. 



Sawing in a hole is not only difficult, but you usually damage the

blade as well. You won't injure the tree much by pruning a root,

but you will certainly wear yourself out. Better to move your

future tent location a bit. If that is not possible, set the tent

up so that the root is where your sleeping bag won't be & pad it on

the inside if you are likely to crawl over it.



Next if you have a self supporting tent of the Draw-Tite variety,

all you do is roll it out, put the pole sections together, and lift

the tent into place on them. If you have a peg and pole tent, you

start the same way. Roll out the tent. Stake down the 4 corners,

making the floor snug and squaring the corners.



Position the poles and stakes out the guy lines, leaving enough

slack so you can make the fine adjustments with the line tighteners

later. Next stake out the side pull-outs. Once the lines are all

out, adjust them so the tent is taut and wrinkles free.



The KEY is balanced tension, not just tension. Although the lines

should be taut excessive tension deforms the tent adding

unnecessary strain If you are using a rain fly, lay it over the

tent poles. Stake it out, unless it's the exterior frame supported

variety, so it does not touch the tent itself anywhere or it will

cause capillary leaks. You can tie the end lines of your fly to

your tent stakes.



But on windy days it is an added safety factor to use separate

stakes for the fly. 



By the time you're done with this your partner should have dinner

well under way. Lay out the sleeping bags so they can maximize

their loft before you crawl in. Then hit for chow.

SANITATION:



If you are in an established campground with latrines, use them. If

as is more likely, there are none around, head for the woods. Go a

reasonable distance from camp & dig, scratch or kick a hole in one

of the less accessible spots where you would not normally be

walking.



The hole need not, in fact should not be deep. Most bacterial

action occurs in the top 6 inches of the soil. So although a shovel

might be handy it is not really necessary. Cover everything well

and stomp it down. If you are squeamish about stomping it down you

have not covered it well enough. (OOPSS SHIITTT!)



For a party of several people on an extended stay, a longish trench

again only 6 to 8 inches deep, is usually gauged and agreed upon

spot.  As it is used, it is covered with dirt bit by bit. Leave

toilet paper hung on a branch, an empty coffee can over it to keep

it dry and conveniently nearby.



BASE CAMPING:



You wake up at sunrise and the campsite looks even better than it

did before. It is a beautiful day and with some regret you think

about breaking camp and moving on. Why? Why not linger awhile

instead. The go-go-go of the urban living is hard to leave behind.

You are not in a race so relax. Keep coool. 



SITTING ON A LOG ART OF HUNTING:



This mysterious old art of hunting recommended so highly by old

hunters is a hard one to perfect. Yet is one of the best way to

learn the woods and see the animals. It consists of obviously,

sitting on a log. But not just for a full minute's rest, nor on

just any old log. Once you learn how to spot an animal runaway,

choose a log a couple feet from it.



If you're just starting to learn the woods, pick a log close to a

stream, or an inlet on bog pond. In either case, take a pair of

binoculars if you have them. Sit yourself down-for a couple of

hours. Don't smoke, don't make any noise and move as little as

possible.



Simply look around. Traditionally 4 o'clock or so is tea time for

many animals which would be unseen a thousand yards away in the

bush if you were strolling along, will sometimes walk by only a

couple of body lengths from you.



Their sense of smell and sight and sound are as keen as ever. But

somehow they refuse to believe that a human being can sit still

like a bump on a log. And indeed most of us can't any more. Keep

practising. As you do, look about you, watch the leaves in action,

the insects, the birds, the movement of the wind. Smell the damp

earth, the pine needles.



If you sit by the side of a young mushroom for the better part of

a dewy night which is surely the ultimate test in log sitting

endurance, you can actually see it growing.



COME PADDLE YOUR OWN CANOE:



From spring break up of the waterways to winter freeze up, canoeing

is the best way to escape into the wilds that I know. The American

Indian craft, fleet of keel as its designer was fleet on foot, goes

where the city mortal dare not, and his motorized transport cannot.



Although one can be a traditionalist, when it comes to canoes the

birch bark canoe went out of commission with the rest.  I almost

ALWAYS use an aluminium one. It's a matter of upkeep, care and

weight.



A canvas canoe is not as fragile as you would think, and for those

whose travels are limited to lakes, they are the most beautiful and

silent craft devised since the Indians ruled the American

waterways.



They take the battering of rivers, rapids, rocks much more gamely

than suspected. Still there comes a time when they MUST be

recanvased a task that is arduous and demands skills. So with the

wistful hope that the wooden canoe will ALWAYS be around for some

braver soul to lug and for me to admire, I have deserted beauty for

functionalism.



We use a Kinabaly Queen which is 18 foot lightweight Grumman

painted dead-grass green and complete with carrying yoke and

gunwale covers, it weighs 67 pounds. The main objections to

aluminium have been its colour, heat problems & sheer noisiness.

Shiny aluminium  stands out in the wilds like a nude at the

Vatican.



And if your paddle hits the gunwales as you stroke, it is about the

equivalent to hitting the Liberty Bell with a tennis ball. The

paint and gunwale covers don't solve the problems completely but

they do minimize them. 



Fibreglass would seem at first glance ideal for canoe construction.

But when it comes to synthetics the aluminium canoe is still way

out front in popularity. This is mostly a matter of craftsmanship

too many poorly designed & constructed fibreglass models have

flooded the market in the early days and canoeists became wary of

the stuff yet we MUST add that things have improved considerably

since then.



BOTTOMS UP:    (DICK- HIC!)



Viewed from the bow (or stern for that matter) a canoe hull has one

of two distinct looks: flat bottom or round bottom. The sides of a

flat bottomed canoe rise vertically or sheer in slightly in what's

called a tumblehome.



Those of a round bottomed canoe usually flare out slightly. Again,

the round bottom is fine for racing. For canoe camping, where

shallow draft, stability and carrying capacity are important, the

flat bottom is much preferred.



THE KEEL:



Most canoes have a straight line keel, which is what you want for

canoe camping. A rocker keel line curves up, and again is designed

for white water racing. Its maneuverability is excellent, on a

windy lake, however you are hard put to keep it from drifting

sideways.



Keels become MOST IMPORTANT on the high-riding lightweight

aluminium canoes, whose side drift in a gale can be disastrous if

the canoe is not loaded. The standard centre, or straight line,

canoe keel is from half an inch to an inch deep, and anywhere up to

3/4 inch thick.  It should run the entire length of the canoe.

Bilge keels are common on wooden canoes.



They are in addition to not substitutes for, the centre keel.

Mounted on either side of the bottom in the proximity of the chine

line, and running for about 5 or 6 feet. They aid in protecting the

canvas when the boat is dragged over beaver dam and other such

obstructions. They also make the canoe turn like a water-soaked

log. The shoe keel is flatter, broader version of the standard

centre keel. 



It makes for a quite #manouverable# canoe with lateral stability

considerably above that of keelless or rocker keel models.  At the

same time it affords hull protection over a broader base, making it

excellent for white water.



HOW LONG:  JOHN?



Within reason, the bigger the canoe, the better. The longer it is,

the easier it is to paddle. A 15 foot canoe is the minimum

practical length for 2 persons. The same holds true for one person,

if you discount the small duck shooters intended only for paddling

short distances in the marshes.



And which I would heartily recommend a 17 or 18 footer instead, the

15 foot model has one distinctive advantage in portaging.

Surprisingly enough, this advantage is not its weight, the real

advantage is carrying comfort. Once your party goes beyond 2, a 17

or 18 footer is unreservedly the best.



Not only will it cut through the water more easily, it will have

plenty of room for passengers and gears without lowering your

freeboard. The distance between the waterline and your gunwale at

its lowest point, that is the amount of free and clear of the water

to dangerous proportions.



The minimum freeboard advisable is 6 in. & 8 in. on a choppy lake

certainly does help.



WHAT TO PADDLE WITH:



Synthetic materials have made definite inroads on the traditional

wooden hull. When it comes to paddles, however nothing beats good

old fashioned natural maple or ash. Maple is the heavier of the

two, also stronger. Both are springy, as they should be. Your

choice can and probably depend on which of the 2 is more readily at

hand.



Advice on paddle length is usually rule of thumb: eye level from

the floor for the stern paddle and chin lever for the bowman. If

you have to have rule, this one is about as good as any, though in

doubt you should choose a longer paddle over a shorter one.



The basic thing is to feel comfortable with it. To this end,

renting a canoe and testing out various paddles before you buy it;

is a very good idea. Finding the paddle width comfortable for you

is the same sort of thing. The wider the blade, the more energy it

takes to stroke with it.



A parallel observation; the wider the blade the faster you will get

where you are going. (Home Jamesss!) That does not mean you should

use a snow shovel for the job. But do get a paddle that takes a

decent bite. The beaver tail and Maine guide have a rounded bottom

edge.



Most other paddles are nearly squared off. Squared off paddles

tend, although not infallibly to stand up to more abuse without

major damage. Speaking of which when you go to buy paddles, buy

two. That paddle we're talking about is going to be in your hands

a long time once you hit the water, so check that the grip fits in

your hand comfortably. It should not be varnished.



You will be raising blisters on your hands easily enough the first

time out, varnish on the grip will only help them along. The blade

of the paddle, however should have a light coat of protective

varnish. Not paint. A painted paddle is covering up something

usually a fault in the wood.



Sight your prospective paddle for straightness. Check to see that

the length runs with the grain and that there are no knots or

burrs. The blade should be evenly feathered. If it is thinner on

one edge than the other, you will have extra kindling before the

trip is over.



A YOKE FOR THE TENDER SHOULDERS:



Well, just call me a kid. I would not own a canoe without a yoke.

After you have taken a couple of portages, in all likelihood

neither will you. The yoke is by no means a necessary appendage.

But it is certainly  a comforting one to have between thwart (rear

seat) and shoulder. 



And somehow I have yet to manage to take a canoe trip that does not

require at least one portage. On most canoes the yoke is simply

bolted onto the centre thwart, (seat) which is the natural balance

point for the canoe when carried.



Probably the most predominant yoke is the double square pad made by

Grumman for its canoes. The bolsters are serviceable but not

entirely comfortable. The edges tend to dig in. So I drape a shock

absorbing horse collar in the form of a heavy shirt or jacket

around my neck before I loft the canoe.



I suppose as an alternative I could gain a bit of weight so my

shoulders would be less bony. A quite efficient temporary yoke can

be made by lashing the paddles blade end to the centre thwart in a

wide V, leaving room between them, obviously, for your neck.



The blades are broad enough to distribute the weight well. Wear a

heavy shirt, though for the carry. Lashing paddles in place takes

a bit of time. So does unlashing them at the other end. Also,

although in all likelihood you will NEVER fall when portaging, with

this yoke you nevertheless have a pair of sharp paddle edges at

your throat.



The most comfortable yoke I have ever seen was a home-made one of

fibreglass. The owner had a friend make a plaster cast of his

shoulders. From this he moulded a yoke in fibreglass, then added an

Ensolite lining. With this rig, carrying an 85 pound canoe was

easier that toting home the groceries.



CASTING OFF:



Once you have picked out your canoe, you have got to get it into

the water and then you into it. Then, provided you are both still

intact, you want to propel yourself some place with the paddles.

Not too far, probably the first couple of times out.



A CANOE MUST BE FLOATING WHEN IT IS LOADED:



That means loaded with you, as well as with your gear- in order for

the weight to be distributed both for balance and to AVOID damage

to the hull. If you are beached, ease the canoe into the water

slowly and bring it around broadside, but not too close. You want

to step into it without letting the bottom scrape the beach.



This is easier said than done, & you will no doubt get at least one

foot wet. I usually take off my shoes, & roll up my pants, weather

permitting. Starting from a dock is much simpler. You just step in.

Standard rules call for stepping right on the centre line of the

canoe and lowering yourself gingerly into a sitting position.



Now caution is rarely a dangerous commodity, but too much has been

reiterated about the instability of a canoe. I would not advise

anybody to try standing in a kayak. But in a canoe why not? Lots of

people do it safely all the time. At first of course, you want to

develop a feel for the canoe from the orthodox sitting position.



And when a storm springs up, it's best to kneel for added

stability. Do so in front of the seat, resting your rear on its

edge. By all means put some padding beneath your knees. But for a

start, the object of the game is to get a comfortable feel of your

craft on the water. Period.



You will NEVER get that while sitting ramrod straight in the middle

or kneeling in fear all the time, as if you are on a log about to

roll over. Hang loose.



So there you are, or there the two of you are, sitting in a canoe,

two paddles apiece at hand. The old saying about being up the creek

without a paddle has its origin in the fact that a paddle will

break at the most uncalled for times. Knowing this you ALWAYS carry

a spare for each man.



HOW TO PADDLE BEST:



Pick up a paddle, one hand over the grip, the other around the

shaft a short distance above where the blade flares out. Keep your

hold relaxed. Reach forward with the lower arm. The upper arm

should also reach forward, but not as far, keep a bend in the

elbow. Now dip the paddle in the water, and pull the lower arm

back, keeping it semi-rigid.



At the same time, push the upper arm forward. To get the most out

of the stroke, your torso should follow the upper arm forward

slightly. The main force comes from your upper arm and you back.

Keep the paddle vertical, don't bring the shaft in over the canoe

like an oar.



That's it you are paddling. Remove the paddle from the water reach

forward... This is what is known as the cruising stroke & is the

one used almost exclusively by the bow. With two to a canoe, the

bowman sets the pace, one that is comfortable for the stern as well

and paddling is done in rhythmic unison.



After a while you find yourself falling into a natural temp with a

fractional rest break between strokes, just before you plunge the

paddle back into the water. The whole thing becomes as unconscious

as walking. Switch sides every now & then; you will soon be able to

flash the paddle across without breaking rhythm or missing stroke.

It's best to get into this habit early. If you don't you will find

that as time passes you develop a distinct preference for paddling

on one side. Not a serious problem, but somewhat limiting.



GOING STRAIGHT:  BEST PADDLING METHOD:



RUPERT HOUSE CREES STROKE OF GENIUS" (50% FASTER)



You would NEVER think there was as many different ways to paddle a

canoe as there are. Actually the number of the strokes are simply

variations on each other. But this past summer I discovered an

entirely new one which to me as far as I am concerned, relegates

the "J" stroke, the pitch stroke, and most of the rest of the stern

strokes to oblivion.



I just named it after the people who showed it to me, the Rupert

House Crees of Hudson Bay. It is so simple it is obvious. One of

those things you keep saying "but of course" to and wondering why

you NEVER thought of it.



This stroke consists of digging the paddle with a blade at a slight

outward angle to the direction of the pull rather than

perpendicular to it, as is customary. This automatically

compensated for the torque normally produced by the stern paddler's

thrust being offside.



And it does so without the slightest bit of drag, since the paddle

is not trailed as a rudder. Unlike all the other torque

compensating strokes, this one delivers nothing but power.  It is

also the most difficult of all strokes to master and I admit I

still have problems with it on and off. Since the blade is at an

angle while passing through the water, it tends to slip constantly

sideways. 



HOWEVER IT IS WELL WORTH PRACTISING TILL YOU CAN CONTROL IT FOR IT

IS PROBABLY 50% FASTER THAN THE STANDARD STROKES WITH NO MORE WORK.



The most common stern stroke is the J. After the paddle has been

brought in the water, the blade is turned & pushed away from the

canoe, the full stoke forming the characteristic "J" pattern. This

of course produces drag, which slows down the canoe while  steering

it.



As far as I am concerned, once you master the Rupert House Cree

stroke, all other strokes or combined propulsion and direction

maintaining stern strokes becomes superfluous, not to say

inefficient. However there are some steering strokes for rapid

maneuvering which you should master before you ever venture off the

lakes onto even mildly turbulent river water.



STROKE TO STOP A CANOE BY:



The simplest of these is the backwater stroke, used to stop a

canoe's forward motion or to reverse its direction completely. All

you do is paddle backwards. Almost equally effective in stopping a

canoe is the jam stroke.



In reality it is no stroke at all, since it consists merely of

thrusting the paddles into the water with the blades perpendicular

to the direction of progress and keeping them there.



Both the jam and the backwater stroke require strong arms, wrists

and back if the boat is well under way. Practice them at slow speed

first to get a feel for what is happening to the canoe and your

muscles. If you are going full steam ahead and apply the jam stroke

for the first time you will probably find yourself paddleless, with

a bruised wrist to boot.



SLIDING OVER:



Now that you have the canoe going forwards and backwards, its time

to consider going sideways. Paddling down river, it is necessary to

keep the keel of the canoe ALWAYS almost parallel to the water

flow.



If the stern swings too far from this direction, the current will

grab it and turn the whole canoe around. And should there then be

a rock in your path while you are travelling broadside, you will

end up with U shaped canoe.



The two most used lateral  pulling strokes are the draw & the push.

A couple of moderately experienced people using the draw stroke can

slip a canoe sideways over the waters 10- feet in 10 seconds.



If stern and bow paddler stroke on opposite sides of the boat

simultaneously, they can literally turn on a dime. All you do is

reach straight out with your paddle as far as you can and dip into

the water with the blade parallel to the keel. Now pull the boat

over to the paddle.



The push stroke is the reverse of the draw stroke. You start with

the paddle next to the hull and push the boat away.  Since it is

easier to pull than push in the water, however, the draw stroke is

the more effective of the two.



An easier to handle modification is the pry stroke. When the paddle

is put in next to the hull, the shaft is brought to rest against

the gunwale. Then the grip is pulled sharply inboard, the gunwale

acting as a fulcrum, the blade consequently pushing out with more

force & setting the canoe over.



Wherever possible, stick with the draw stroke. The pry stroke is

easy to master but because the gunwale acts as a fulcrum, you are

actually pushing the canoe down into the water as well as sideways.

This considerably reduces the efficiency of the stroke in relation

to the amount of energy you expend. Also since the gunwale fulcrum

is much stronger than your grasp can possibly be, it's an easy

stroke with which to snap your paddle.



THE BOW RUDDER:



A last stroke is the bow rudder, used for swift turns. Again

something to be practised many times in a slow moving canoe till

you get the feel of it and learn how to gauge your strength. As its

name implies, this particular manoeuvre is performed only by the

bowman. You thrust the paddle, its blade vertically, into the water

"in front" of the canoe.



Set it roughly at a 30 degree angle from the keel line, with the

blade not dug in fully. Hold it tightly in this position; the

flowing water will do its work. The paddle will try to pull out and

push back into your chest, or even your face if you are short, so

hang on.



For extra support, with both the bow rudder and the pry stroke, I

wrap the fingers of my lower hand around the gunwale as well as the

paddle shaft. Watch it so you don't pinch yourself.



TIP A CANOE AND RIGHT IT TOO:



If you can, take a few days to practice your strokes and get a

general feeling for the canoe before setting out on a long trip. To

do a really good job of it, put on a bathing suit, find a sizable

lake to launch the canoe in, paddle out a ways from the shore, and

lean and twist in your canoe until it capsizes.



You will find it's a lot harder to upset than you thought. Loaded

with gear, the craft will be even steadier.  Meanwhile you'll know

how your canoe responds. You'll be confident and hopefully not

overconfident however.



It's often recommended that when a canoe capsized, you should right

it first and then bail it out with your hands while treading water

next to it. I am all for righting it. But unless I was several

miles from shore, I would tow it to the beach rather than try to

bail under those conditions. In any event, don't panic and leave

your canoe behind if it capsized.



Canoe are either naturally buoyant or equipped with flotation

tanks. Either way they will keep you afloat. Yet everyone who goes

canoeing should know how to swim.



POLING:



The canoe honestly and truly is not the skittish, difficult craft

of its undeserved notoriety. Obviously a broad beamed rowboat is

more stable. But the old maxim about NEVER standing up in a canoe

is just so much bilge. Poling although not used often, is a method

of propelling the canoe which definitely has its place.



And to pole you have to stand up. Like all other canoeing skills,

furthermore, poling is an acquired one, demanding more than a

little practice. So get your sea legs in a canoe. Ash poles 12 to

14 feet long & about an inch and a quarter to an inch and three

quarters in diameter are traditional.



One should also strip them from an accommodating tree along your

way. Fibreglass are not only good they are even better. To grip the

river bottom firmly, a canoeing pole is often shod with a cast iron

shoe. On a wooden pole, this serves the added function of keeping

the pole end from fraying or brooding out.



A pole shoe is either cup-like or spiked at the end to aid in

grasping submerged rocks. The bit of extra weight also helps the

pole balance and sink. The top of the pole may or may not have an

elongated knob. It's primarily to remind you, when you are intent

on the water, that you've reached the end of your pole.



To pole a canoe, trim it that is, distribute the weight. So that

the downstream end, bow or stern depending on which you're heading,

ride a bit lower than the upstream end. This gives the canoe a

tendency to align with the current flow. 



In addition, angle the side of the canoe opposite that from which

you are working the pole slightly into the current, to compensate

for the side thrusting of the pole. Set the pole into the water

just behind where you are standing, at your normal paddling place

if there are two of you, almost amidships if you are alone. Then

push down.



The pole will flex and the canoe moves forward. Feed the pole back

by going up hand over hand until you run out of pole. Finish off

the dig by bending into a slight crouch & giving a firm but smooth

shove. Then retrieve the pole, without dragging it though the

water, and start over. Bracing one calf against the rear seat or

thwart add stability to your thrust.



Both parties pole on the same side, usually alternating thrusts so

that while one is completing a push  with a momentary halt to hold

the canoe in place. The second member digs in and starts pushing

before the first man retrieves his pole.



TRACKING:



When you reach a set of rapids your aren't sure you can handle

don't try. The usual alternative and the one I opt for is to

portage. Nevertheless, much has been said about tracking but I have

NEVER seen anyone do it.



Tracking takes 2 people. Tying a line to the bow & another to the

stern of the canoe, each man tending one line, you walk along the

shore etc. and guide the floating canoe through. But it is easier

to portage.



CANOE SAILING:



Although not often used in camping unless one expects to cross long

lake after long lake, a sailing rig, available with many models

makes a canoe more versatile for weekend use. The canoe week-end

use. Most canoes rigged for sailing use either a *gunter or a

lantern* single-rig, with leeboards* and a tiller arrangement*.



We've often made a temporary square rig with a tarp for a lazy

day's downwind run, and it's a good thing to keep in mind as a

break in pace. Our latest improvisation on this theme occurred

during Genevieve's initiation voyage in Laverendrye, when after a

week of rain we finally had a sunny day with a good snapping wind.



We tied Genevieve's diapers, washed but undried because of the

continuous downpour, in a four-to-sail pattern & lashed the quartet

between two six-foot paddles. With the paddles held upright between

my feet and the stern seat or thwart, we gurgled along at five or

six knots averaging four dry diapers to every 15 minutes.



PORTAGING:



When you can not paddle, pole, float or maybe even track a canoe

any farther, there is nothing left to do but carry it. The very

word "portage" seems for some reason synonymous with hard labour.

Yet it's really not that bad.



Besides, it gives you a certain feeling of accomplishment. And I

NEVER cease to get a kick out of the strange walking on the moon

feeling you have after putting down an 80 pound canoe you have

carried for a mile or two. You are walking on clouds.



A portage trail usually begins by a natural mooring spot-some

submerged logs, a clearing, a sandbank. In Canada established canoe

routes often have signs at a portage. Once you have nosed into the

mooring, unload the canoe before beaching it. If there are two of

you, travelling light, you can make a portage in one trip.



Over long portage, or if we ran aground on blueberry bushes, one

would keep a sharp lookout for suitably forked trees to park the

canoe in. A portage trails often too narrow and twisting for you to

comfortably put the canoe down to rest. Besides if you put it down,

you have to pick it up again.



To AVOID this, if you find a tree forking out at about the 8 to 10

feet level, all you have to do is approach it slowly, raise the bow

of the canoe until it's even with the V, and prop it there, bow in

the wedge, or stern on the ground. Bend down and walk out from

under the canoe. When you're ready to move on, just duck under the

canoe, stand up and back out.



HOW TO PICK UP A CANOE FOR PORTAGING:



The basic principle is not pick it up, but to literally throw it

onto your shoulders. With a bit of practice, you'll find it takes

surprisingly little effort. There are 2 ways to properly heft a

canoe unto your shoulders.



The first, the shoulder hoist, is the easier but can only be done

comfortably if the bow thwart of the canoe is so spaced that when

the yoke is resting on your shoulders, your outstretched hand will

just reach and be able to grasp thwart.



This happy conjunction of measurements generally occurs on a 15-16

foot canoe if you are roughly between 5' 8" tall and 6 foot two. To

proceed, put the canoe on the ground lying as if it were in the

water. Stand beside it slightly behind the bow thwart and facing

the stern. Bend down. Take hold of the bow thwart, placing your

hands close to the gunwales.



Then in one swift, continuous operation, yank up hard, swing the

canoe onto its side, over & up, bend your knees & twist so you're

now facing the bow. With the aid of the momentum from the original

yank, the bow of the canoe has swung over on top of you.



Duck your head as it drops down on your shoulders, yoke in place.

The stern will now lift off the ground. Don't stop halfway through

the sequence to think about it. The whole pickup is one fast,

smooth movement culminating the first time in surprise that the

canoe is actually sitting on your shoulder and it all happened so

quickly.



It's much easier than it sounds. Just REMEMBER you're literally

throwing the canoe around. A longer canoe say 18 feet will react

differently. Instead of the yoke landing neatly on your shoulders,

the inside hull will land on your head, that confounded yoke

somewhere uselessly behind you. Some people do manage to use the

shoulder hoist on the larger model.



They'll rest the canoe lightly on their head as it swings over,

stern still resting on the ground, switch their handhold from the

thwart to the gunwales. And then inch back into the yoke by sliding

their hands down the gunwales. It's nowhere near as graceful, but

it can be  done smoothly.



The other way to hoist a canoe is the knee roll. Standing midway

between bow and stern of your beached canoe, roll it into its side

so the keel faces you. Now reach over it for the centre thwart,

placing the far hand around it by the gunwale, the near hand

grasping the near gunwale.



The hand grasping the far side should twist your shoulders slightly

so your back is turned partially towards the bow. Bend your knees

slightly, just enough so they dip under the keel of the canoe,

still lying on its side.



Roll the canoe onto your knee by pulling up with the far arm and

pushing away with the near one, give the canoe a slight shove with

the knee and literally throw it upwards and over. Again duck your

head under and into the yoke as the canoe swings over your

shoulder. Grab the gunwales as it comes to rest on your shoulders,

and you are all set.



Here again the procedure sounds much more complicated than it is,

and here again, the whole secret is to hoist it in one continuous

swift movement. Oh yes, about putting the canoe down when you get

to the end of the portage: just reverse the pick up procedure.



Plan to roll it off your knee so the bow lands in the water if

you're going downstream the stern if you're going upstream. The

current will swing whichever end hits the water first downstream.

Bow first?  You're headed in the right direction for going down the

river. Stern first! The current will swing it downstream, directing

the canoe upstream.



STOWING THE GEAR: 



Canoe camping allows more flexibility in gear than, say,

backpacking or ski touring. There is no reason to set off without

a reflector oven for instance. In fact there may be good reason to

have it along if you're going to be out of buying distance of a

loaf of bread for a long time.



Don't get carried away even though a sturdy 17 foot canoe can carry

between 8 and 1200 pounds REMEMBER the portage. Try to keep the

cargo down to the point where you can portage everything in one

carry, or at least a maximum of two.



Once you have assembled the gear you want along, you're faced with

the question: to waterproof or not to do so. Even without spilling

the canoe, a certain amount of splash and drip will find its way

into the bilge.  Voyageur Enterprise makes a waterproof

polyethylene bag with a sliding bar closure that conveniently seal

the package at any height.



Ranging in size from 22 to 36 inches to 24 by 60 inches, these

versatile envelope bags not only keep your equipment dry, but will

float should you capsize. A common waterproofing procedure is to

lay a tarp over the gear & lash it down.



I go one step further, laying the tarp out along the bottom of the

canoe on a bed of spare paddles spread lengthwise across the ribs

as an extra precaution against bilge flooding in heavy rain. The

paddles can be pulled out easily enough if needed as long as the

cargo is not too heavy.



After packing in the gear, I fold the sides and corners of the tarp

up & over the thwart like a Christmas package, and batten it down

with some rope. Keeps everything dry from all sides.



CANOE PACKING TIPS:



ALWAYS pack the gear so that the centre of gravity is kept as low

as possible and most of it is a amidships. NEVER pack a canoe that

is not floating. It won't break the back of an aluminium of

fibreglass canoe, but it's a poor habit to get into.



If you're expecting to run into white water, the load should be

tied down securely once everything is in place. Lashing it all to

the canoe may be cumbersome and time-consuming. On the other hand,

trying to find a soggy sleeping bag somewhere along shore down

river is much worse.



A COUPLE OF WORTHY EXTRA ITEMS:



Who would ever take a sponge canoeing? Well it doesn't take up much

space and weighs nothing. Mighty handy for mopping up the bilge.

Being more or less flat, the bottom of a canoe is hard to scoop up

water from unless it's ankle deep.



Outside of this one homely little item and some extra quarter-inch

nylon rope for a painter, towing and such about a 100 feet should

do, there is no special equipment needed beyond a good canoe, spare

paddles and a repair kit.



REPAIRS ON THE RIVER:



Neither aluminium nor fibreglass is indestructible. Aluminium one

will acquire small dents while banging into rocks and boulder.  The

larger ones can be pounded out by a hard rubber hammer or wooden

mallet methodically wielded. If you don't carry either, put a heavy

rock inside your shoe and pound with the heel.



Tap firmly but gently on the inboard side of the hull using a sock

or similar sack filled with sand to cushion & spread the load on

the outside. Most small dents are best left till you get home. To

mend a break in an aluminium hull, first pound out the dent that

accompanied it. Then apply some epoxy and an aluminium patch over

the break till you can rivet a patch on permanently.



If don't carry a patch kit and there is really no need to unless

you're going to slop around in some mighty rough white water. An

unexpected crack can be filled quite satisfactorily with a gob of

pine sap and some needles from the same tree.



Fibreglass boats usually come supplied with a small cloth and epoxy

repair kit able to solve most of the problems you will encounter.

If you somehow manage to stove in the whole side, repairs will have

to wait till you get home.



ON THE RACK FOR THE WINTER:



Your chances of damaging an aluminium or fibreglass canoe while on

the water are slim. The chances of damaging it at home are great.

Probably more canoes are ruined by careless storage than by any

other factor. The best place for a canoe is upside down on the

rafters, if you have rafters in your garage. The second best place

is upside down on sawhorses in your basement.



WEARING A KAYAK:



Canoes were designed to transport freight, food and passengers

across the watery web of North America. Kayaks are designed to

carry one hunter out to sea in search of game, whale, seal etc.



As a hunting craft on turbulent, ice-choked oceans, it had to be as

agile and fast as its target & so it became a craft one literally

wears. A kayak will turn you into a mermaid of the waves, taking

you down remote rivers inaccessible to any other craft. You will

probably want to start your inland nautical career in a canoe.



But after a while, no matter how fond you are of it, you will begin

thinking about switching to a kayak. It's not as stable as a canoe,

generally speaking. You'll have to cut down the bulk of your

camping equipment. And although there are two man models, it is

primarily a one passenger craft, which usually means each man for

himself.



On the other hand a kayak is swift, incredibly maneuverable and

seaworthy. Dr. Hans Lindemann sailed a Klepper across the Atlantic

in 1956. And since you're wearing it instead of sitting in it a

kayak gives you a feel for the water no other craft does.



RACING AND TOURING MODELS:



They come either in fibreglass or with folding rubberised hulls. 

For camping and touring the folding model is the roomiest with the

added advantage of being the only boat a city dweller can dock in

a closet. The selection of a folding one usually means a Klepper.



It's the oldest and best made of the folding boats, it's also the

only one available in many regions. Built-in-air filled sponsons

make the craft much more stable than most kayaks, and thus ideal

for the beginner. Packs into three bags. Assembles in less than

half an hour, no tools needed. They sound so fragile but it is not

the case unless you are really unlucky.



THE PADDLE:



A kayak paddle is double bladed and usually feathered; that is the

blades on both ends of the shaft are set at a right angle to each

other. If they were set parallel, when one was in the water, the

other would be exposing its flat side to the wind, causing a not

inconsiderable amount of wind drag as well as steering difficulty.



The blades themselves may be either flat or lightly spooned. The

spooned blades look racier and are a bit faster. On the other hand

it's more difficult to brace with them. Also reverse paddling with

spooned blades is more complex, less effective.



Paddles range in length from about 82 inches for white water up to

102 inches for cruising. Sometimes the paddles are jointed in the

middle of the shaft so they can be disassembled for storage and

transportation.



However this joint is a potential weak spot. A happy combination is

to use a one piece paddle and carry an easily stored jointed one as

your spare.



PUTTING ON THE KAYAK:



The first time I climbed into a kayak, I was on my own for less

than 10 seconds with he inverted boat floating rapidly down river.

The second time it was still well under thirty seconds. Later we

became partners.



To MAKE SURE you get into a kayak dry, squat down beside the

cockpit, facing the bow, the long double paddle horizontally across

the deck of the kayak behind you.



Grasp the paddle shaft and cockpit rim together in one hand. Now

lean the kayak and the paddle slightly towards shore so the paddle

touches ground, making a brace.



Shift one leg over the gunwale into the boat, MAKING SURE you keep

the weight distributed slightly towards the shore side so the

bracing effect of the paddle remains. Shift in your second leg,

followed by your seat. You're in.



PADDLING:



Since the kayak double-bladed paddle is a two cycle engine, so to

speak, the stroking pattern used for canoe propulsion is

inapplicable.  The basic kayaking stroke uses a considerable amount

of wrist action because of the feathered blades.



And much the way canoeists tend to favour one side for stroking,

kayak paddlers favour one wrist. Usually the right if they are

right-handed as fixed hand.  It's the one that keeps a firm grip on

the shaft, setting the angle of the blades for each stroke.



Starting on your fixed-hand side, as you dip the blade into the

water, the wrist is bent slightly upwards. When the stroke is

completed as you're switching to the alternate side, the wrist

drops down, rotating the paddle ninety degrees so the opposing

blade will now dig cleanly into the water.



Meanwhile the other hand holds the shaft, but loosely enough to let

the paddle twist freely. Watch out for blisters your first couple

of times out. The shaft should be roughly 45 degrees to the horizon

during a power stroke, the blade fully submerged.



Back-paddling is the reverse of forward. There is no need to

reverse the blades.



Practising back-paddling is important, not only to master the

manoeuvre itself, but to help you develop a feel for setting the

blades quickly. The strokes used primarily for white water include

such advanced strokes as the Duffek besides modification on the

draw, the sweep and others.



However, white water kayaking really MUST be learned visually. You

can work on it yourself once you have watched it. The best thing to

do is search out one of the numerous clubs founded by river runners

and learn from them. Pass your swimming test before you go.



MANEUVERING:



The simplest way to change directions in a kayak when all that's

needed is a broad arc to drag the paddle as a rudder at the

completion of a stroke, one the side you want to turn towards. For

an abrupt change in course use the forward stroke on one side and

the backward one on the other. With practice you'll just about to

be able to make a right-angle turn.



THE BACK BRACE:



It may not be walking on water but it's as close as you'll get.

With the back brace you're actually leaning on the water. It can be

used as a maneuvering stroke.



But its primary function is to enable you to brace yourself against

capsizing particularly in turbulent waters where an eddy will

suddenly sweep towards you sidelong.  Its secondary function is to

get you cutting straight into the eddy. Hold the paddle shaft at

waist level directly in front of and close to you.



The blade on your leaning side should be slightly behind you flat

on the surface of the water with its leading edge slightly higher

than the trailing edge. What you have then is ESSENTIALLY a water

ski as an outrigger. And as a water ski can support your weight, so

can the paddle blade.



There are 2 variable that dictates how much the back brace can

bear; the speed of the water and the distance of the paddle blade

from the hull. The farther out the blade planes, the greater the

leverage action. The faster the water speed, the more support it

offers.



Back bracing will help you keep your balance when you first start

out kayaking. Any time you feel yourself tipping just push yourself

upright again against the brace.



Once you're whizzing along with real momentum, even on a quiet

lake, because of the aerodynamic properties of your hull the back

brace can also be used for turning while at the same time giving

you something of a feel for the rakish angles of a white water run.



As the blade planes across the water or slides just below the

surface and you lean with it, the kayak hull candles out of the

water so it rides asymmetrically on the water surface. Now the

current pulls at the hull on the side opposite that on which the

paddle is brace. You swivel around the paddle almost as if it were

nailed to one spot in the water.



THE ESKIMO ROLL:  (OVER BEETHOVEN?) 



It may sound like an Arctic breakfast bun but the Eskimo roll is a

vital part of kayaking one that puts you underwater and out again.

It is very difficult to perform in the sponson supported Aerius, on

the other hand the stability of this craft practically eliminates

the need for it.



Should you feel yourself tipping in the Klepper boat, a simple back

brace will set things properly.



Still if you get a get a chance to practice the roll in a racing

kayak, not only it is fun, but it is a challenge that will give you

an immense amount of satisfaction & boost your kayaking confidence

as well.



Before you begin practising the manoeuvre we're certainly

presupposing you can swim by now, capsize your kayak a few times as

you would a canoe, to get a feel for its stability.



Theses upsets will also relieve you of the nagging suspicion that

you get trapped in the snug fitting boat if it overturned.  



So automatic it is to fall out of a kayak when it spills, you'll

have to work at staying in long enough to practice your Eskimo

roll. In an Eskimo roll, as the kayak tips over, say to the left,

instead of struggling to restore your craft's balance, you help it

along until you have turned all the way upside down.



Then, with the aid of the momentum gained in going that far around,

and with the flat of a paddle blade extended out perpendicular to

the kayak for maximum leverage you pull yourself.



With what almost amount to an upside-down brace, the rest of the

way around on the right side until you are upright again. If at all

possible, learn the roll from someone experienced in the maneuver.



It is difficult to figure out from a book, more importantly, it is

very difficult to analyze your own moves as you go around

underwater.



A pair of snugly fitting goggles, which offer less water resistance

than a snorkel mask. And a nose clip will help a bit too, making

you more comfortable and permitting more careful study of your

underwater antics.



But first, to visualize the maneuver, picture a large clock in

front of you. Sailing in the clock as if it was sunset in a kayak

and its paddler. Let's say he is rolling over to the left or port

side. His kayak's tipping toward the horizon call it 9 o'clock.



Now he leans from the waist in the opposite direction, to the right

as he goes over. Once he submerges, he starts straightening out his

back. By the time he reaches 6 o'clock, the completely upside down

stage, his back should be straight. Now he begins to lean to the

left.



As his torso begins to reemerge from the water, he leans to the

right again, if he's leaning properly, from the waist, his hip

motion is pushing the kayak further upright. That takes care of

swinging his torso around. Now about his head. 



For maximum momentum & smooth rolling, it's important that the head

be the last thing to leave the water, not the first as it is

instinctive. The paddler waits till his body is almost clear of the

water to snap his head up, straightening his back and returning to

an upright position.



Now you do it. As you perform the stroke, relate all movements to

your own body, not up or down. While you're performing this double

sideways jackknife with your body, you will be using the paddle to

pull yourself around with.



As you capsize, let's say to port again, slide you left hand along

the shaft till it reaches the left blade. Twist the shaft so the

right blade is feathered, ready to slice through the water rather

than fight it, by the time your head is at 6 o'clock.



Now reach out with the right blade till it lies horizontally on the

surface of the water somewhat towards the bow of the kayak. In

effect this gives you an upside down brace. Pull the extended

paddle towards you as quickly as you can. It should make a wide arc

from 3 to 4 o'clock, and from somewhat in front of you to slightly

behind you.



By the time the paddle has completed this arc, your body will be

out of the water, only your head still submerged.  Keep the back

braced, and using hip action pull your head out. Resume normal

paddling position. Your circular momentum may be surprisingly

strong, however. 



Be prepared to brace on the port side to keep from rolling over

again & again & again... Verbal description makes the Eskimo roll

sound much more difficult than it is, not to mention agonizingly

slow.



Which is why, although you can learn to do it yourself, it's best

to see it in action & to have some help around the first times you

try it. 50 years ago the roll was considered a feat almost

impossible to perform unless you were an Eskimo and your survival

depended on it.



Today it's a stroke every kayak racer can perform, strenuous but

not impossibly difficult.



STRAIGHT ON: *



THE PRIME RULE IN RIVER RUNNING IS ALWAYS TO REMAIN RELATIVELY

ALIGNED WITH THE CURRENT.



In a one man kayak you're on your own; keeping your bow to stern

line parallel to the water movement is thus easier.



In a 2 man kayak or canoe, the paddlers MUST operate in unison.

Good communication, good rapport, and experience as a team are

ESSENTIAL. It's particularly important for the bowman to REMEMBER

that he has a whole long canoe following him.



Under the pressures of trying to read and follow a swift following

river, it's all too easy for him to think in terms of the boat's

bow, and maybe a couple of feet behind him, clearing an

obstruction, forgetting about the rest.



All rules have an exception. When running over the haystack or big

standing waves, that form when large amounts of water drop over a

ledge or boulder, don't head straight into the waves. Take them at

a slight angle, to keep the bow from burying itself in each

successive wave flooding the boat.



READING WATER:



The only way to learn how to run a river is to run one. Obviously

you start with the easiest rivers, sometimes going over them time

and time again to gain confidence and skill, until the roaring

siren of spray lures you on to ever more difficult waters.



There are however several basics to take into account before you

set out, things to watch for or to learn from. First, know your

canoe or kayak. Secondly, know your river. It's sound practice to

walk the banks before you shoot wild rapids, mapping out which

route you intend to take



You can ALWAYS change your mind once you're on the water if for

some reason you need to. But by having your actions planned in

advance, you have something specific to deviate from. This makes it

much simpler to respond.



Grade 1 & 2 rivers, classified by local clubs and usually marked on

canoeing maps, need not be inspected before you descent. However,

if it's your first run, you may want to pull over to shore

occasionally to give yourself time to think?? Running rapid calls

for a lot of split second decisions.



REMEMBER that water flowing in a channel is slowed by friction at

the sides and the bottom. That means your fastest current is at

surface centre.



However obstructions such as boulders, drops and ledges introduce

hydraulic phenomena which vary this centre flow from spot to spot.

Also there's the fact that when the channel narrows, the water

speeds up, when the channel fans out, the current becomes more

sluggish.



There is an old maxim that in order to stay on course your boat

MUST be travelling faster than the current. It is not even

necessary to paddle to maintain that speed, though you'll probably

be doing so.



Merely by floating on the fast centre of the stream, you are

already exceeding the speed of the remaining flow of water & thus

have some control. To fully utilise this differential in

maintaining direction and stability, you should leave a paddle in

the water between strokes that are spaced out, to act as a brace

leeboard or rudder in the slower current.



CHANNELS: (TV?)



The strongest current usually leads to the most open channel, and

the best.  If a river fingers out, the channel that begins to drop

the soonest is generally the least violent.



Those that look smoother and seem to have less of a drop to them

are apt to end in one large, abrupt plunge. REMEMBER they all have

to reach the same level. The one that starts first has the smallest

gradient. Water in a channel will run faster as the banks narrow.



The main chute is usually marked by a tongue of relatively smooth,

swift surface water rippled by small standing waves.



Those are the ones that seem to remain in the same spot relative to

the riverbank. The more even the pattern of standing waves, the

more clearance your hull will have. Since the widening out at the

end of a channel reduces the water's velocity, the fast flowing

channel water itself runs smack dab into a much slower current

below it.



This cause large standing waves or haystacks. Fierce in appearance,

they are an indication of good depth. Small broken waves are not.

The same principle holds true when a river fans out into shoals.

The largest waves are produced in the deepest channels.



RIVER CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM: (INTERNATIONAL STANDARD)



Grade 1) Very easy. Clear passages. Small regular waves.

Obstructions include sand banks and     bridge    piers. (Grade 1

and 2 are for beginners)



Grade 2) Easy. Clear if somewhat narrow passages. Small ledges.

Enough spray to ship some water.



Grade 3) Medium. Passages clear if sometimes only one canoe's

width. 



High degree of maneuvering skill and teamwork needed. Backwash

eddies, rocks, high waves. Spray shield recommended for canoes.

Visual inspection needed.



(Grade 3 to 5) Experienced only Crash helmet necessary.



Grade 4)  Difficult. Extended rapids. Wave boiling high and

irregular. Rock obstructing passage. Pre shooting inspection and

spray shield ESSENTIAL.



Grade 5)  Very difficult. A ladder of violent rapids. Sharp drops,

whirlpools, obstructions like      those of a pinball machine.



Powerful crosscurrents. Steep gradient. PRE-SHOOTING INSPECTION

ESSENTIAL often dissuading.



Grade 6:  Good luck Charlie Brown. Beam me up Spock. Even Rambo

says no go!



ROUND THE BEND:  



The deepest channel is ALWAYS on the outside of a bend in the

river, but that is also where erosion is the quickest. And

crosscurrents and water rolls flowing under the weakened banks can

cause many a quirky current with fast flow.



Often these crosscurrents together with centrifugal force can suck

your craft up against the outer bank. 



To AVOID ramming, you have to keep the boat as close to the inside

of the bend as possible.



There are 2 ways to handle the curve itself. There's the

hell-bent-for-leather paddling forward approach where you swing the

bow in the direction of the curve, your craft's trajectory being

similar to that of a racing car.



This method is exciting, flashy and gives you not time for

mistakes. Hold off it till you become more experienced. What might

be called the Bank of England turn is more sedate, gives you time

to rectify mistakes. 



Sober but safe. Paddle backwards with enough force to keep the

stern ALWAYS angled slightly towards the inside of the curve. Your

hull will then be more or less parallel with the current it does

not go around the curve the way a car would either.



OBSTACLE COURSES:



Solid obstructions like rocks and water-permeable ones like trees

have very different effects on the current. A boulder will deflect

enough water to form a cushion between your boat and itself. This

deflected water also helps you skit the obstruction.



A fallen tree will stop your canoe as effectively as a rock.

However, water ducks under it and flows through branches as if they

were sieves. So there's no water bed to land in. Because of this

you MUST take evasive action much sooner than with a solid object.



If you do run into a tree, once you're broadside, the canoe will

almost certainly capsize, by the undertow along the tree's trunk.

Grasping at a branch only aggravates the problem.  Bracing well out

on the side away from the tree will sometimes offer relief. But the

best solution is to AVOID the problem by giving it wide berth.



SETTING:



So there's a huge boulder or a tree right in your path and you've

been to told to stay away from it. What do you do, stop and get out

of the canoe? Not quite but almost. You stop the canoe's forward

movement by back-paddling.



Then you cross the river, canoe or kayak set at a fractional angle

away from the steam flow, till you get in a line that clears the

obstruction. After all that hurried back-paddling, however you may

need a brief rest. In rough water, it may not be possible to reach

shore. So you find a nice little eddy to park in for a while.



Any obstruction that breaks the water's surface has an eddy behind

it. 



Very roughly the eddy is twice as long as the obstruction is wide.

And in the eddy the water flows upstream at a mild speed. Set your

canoe into it stern first - or you will spin around, executing a

manoeuvre similar to that you used to AVOID an obstruction dead

ahead.



Besides serving as a rest spot, eddies have another practical use.

They are equivalent to the old locomotive roundhouse turntables.

The occasion may come when during a manoeuvre your stern swings out

of line far enough so you can't keep control. The current sweeps it

around till you're descending the river broadside in a suicidal

fashion.



In this case it's easier to continue the swing by paddling forward

until your bow is facing upstream. It's embarrassing to shoot a

river backwards but it can be done. Broadside it cannot.



Once you have realigned your reversed canoe or kayak with the

current, find a large eddy to pull into if you can. Then nose your

bow into the current upstream, keeping the stern in the quiet eddy.

Just as the bow enters the current, which will head it downstream,

lean and brace to the inside of the turn to AVOID capsizing.

Several maneuvers like this and you will eat hearty and sleep well

come evening.



SELF PROPELLED BIPED: (WALKING TRICKS!)



The concept of walking any distance has almost vanished from urban

man's existence. In the woods there are a few tricks to help along

and particularly handy if you are carrying your home on your back.



YOU GOTTA HAVE RHYTHM:



To get back in the wild for a while one needs training to get

himself back into shape. Swimming is one of the best as well as

good walking. A dozen or so week-end hikes preferably with a

rucksack will do wonders in building your stride and endurance for

that 3 week excursion into the Sierras.



Besides they will just make you feel great. Start out with a light

pack load, just a fine picnic lunch, a tarp and a sweater. Graduate

to heavier gear each time. Forget about the charts that say so and

so many miles an hour is good for desert country, and x numbers if

you've had a double serving of breakfast.



Like anything else walking can be turned into a fetish with

schedule 10 minutes breaks exactly every 50 minutes for 150

calories' worth of GORP to recharge the old batteries. You are out

to enjoy yourself, not to become an automaton. So taking up a few

minutes after you think you need one is about the right pace.



REMEMBER THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE:



Although I am convinced that everyone has a natural walking rhythm

that comes to the fore given half a chance, the same can not be

said for speed. Revved up by urban living as we are, and eager as

we are to get away from it through camping, we have a tendency to

start out too fast.



A dashing charge for the first mile or so of backpacking trip can

destroy most of what follows. Start out at your normal pace,

consciously reminding yourself that you have all day, so what's the

rush?



And by all means slow down when the ascent begins. The classic

concept here is to try not to expend much more energy on the

upgrade than on the flat ground, which means slowing your pace in

direct proportion to the gradient. If the climb gets really steep,

of course, this may make it mathematically impossible to go on at

all. Still it's a good idea to bear in mind.



LIMPING ALONG:



When you see a backpacker limping down the lane, it usually doesn't

mean he has sprained his ankle. Chances are he's just doing the

limp step, or doggie drag or Sierra Shuffle. Designed to relieve

the knee- the joint that takes most of the strain and vibration of

walking - of some of its pressure, it consists of simply limping.



As you put forward foot down and just before you shift your weight

onto it, you relax the leg completely for a second or two. Relaxing

the trailing leg instead for a second before carrying it forward is

just as effective, and for some people and easier habit to acquire.

Half a dozen limps does a lot to relax your knees.



THE INDIAN STEP:



MORE EFFICIENT & SAVE ENERGY A LOT. ***



If you want to take the trouble of learning to walk all over again

from scratch, like a baby, you can switch to the Indian step. I

would recommend it more highly than I do except for the fact that

it really does mean developing a while new walking habit, one that

becomes hard at that. 



Still it deserves mention because it is so much more efficient than

our usual stride.



Step forward with one foot, at the same time swivel that hip

forward from the waist and lean into the step. Now do the same with

the other foot. And so on. The feet should come down one in front

of the other as if you were walking on a log.



The Indian step tends to develop a longer stride, but more

importantly, when you are using it, that bounce often associated

with walking disappears, it means a lot of energy saved lifting

your pack up & down.



SLOSHING ALONG:



Water is vital when you`re exerting yourself. Any appreciable

activity, including walking with a heavy pack, will cause you to

perspire much more than in your every day humdrum existence. You

can only compensate for this by drinking proportionately more.



Since you will surely get thirsty so take advantage of that urge

but REMEMBER to do it slowly. Sip your water, don't chug it,

particularly if it's from a cold mountain stream. Ditto for ice and

snow in wintertime. Salt tablets are usually recommend for extended

trips involving continuous strenuous activity.



END OF THE TRAIL:



Falling into the sack after a day`s hiking with a pack is no

different from any other camping bedtime except that you have to be

more careful how you do it.  No one would take a racehorse directly

from a long run on the track and put him in his stable. First he

would be walked to bring down the sweat and keep the muscles from

stiffening. Maybe you couldn't care less about the perspiration,

but watch those muscles.



Walk about packless for at least an hour, it's a good idea to have

along a light pair of camp moccasins to cool your heels in - before

you go to bed your first day out. Otherwise you may decide to skip

the 2nd day.



UP AND DOWN:



The old " because it's there" syndrome seems to be pretty deep

rooted in man. But even if we have the urge to go over rather than

around the cliff.



REMEMBER THAT IT TAKES MORE ENERGY TO GO OVER THAN AROUND MOST OF

TIME AND IS MUCH MORE DANGEROUS.



However as long as a mountain can be walked up, all that is

required is common sense caution, stamina and an awareness that in

many cases it will be more difficult to come down than it is to go

up.  Knowing that, you will want to conserve your strength as best

as you can.



One way to do so when you MUST constantly take large climbing steps

is to use your hands for extra body leverage. After raising one

foot, place your hands on the forward knee and push, thus helping

your second foot to lift the weight of your body and pack.



AT ALL TIMES WATCH YOUR BALANCE AND REMEMBER THE PRINCIPAL RULE OF

HILL CLIMBING: KEEP AS VERTICAL AS POSSIBLE.



The force for your feet will then be straight down. If, instead,

you scramble uphill, your weight is distributed back and out, down

the face of the hill. On loose soil or talus, this can mean

starting a slide. On firm rock face, as long as your shoes are

gripping the surface, everything is all right, should they slip,

you may well end up with some nasty abrasions or break.



Technical rock climbing is what we all think of as real mountain

climbing. Walking up somehow does not count. If you enter the world

of technical rock climbing, you'll become acquainted with such

equipment as swami belts, ascenders, wedge nuts, pitons and

carabiners not to mention the all-ESSENTIAL rope. (NOT DOPE)



However, you can not enter this world alone or with a book.

Personal teaching is the only passport. In many areas there are

professional climbers who will give you lessons. Such climbers

usually post their notices on the bulletins boards maintained by

most mountaineering and camping equipment shops.



Eastern Mountain Sports has one of the best known climbing schools

in the country offering courses for the beginners as well as

intermediate and advanced climbers. Do take them, your life could

be on the line. With proper training all should go well.



GETTING LOST AND UNLOST:



Any camper who tells you he's NEVER been lost is either lying or

hasn't ever been off the beaten track.  The great art, of course,

is finding your way again.



And the only real danger is panicking, and not being able to think

what to do. A little preparation will go a long way towards

ensuring your safety in the wilds. As for the sense of direction it

does not really exist even in those who think they have it.



Tests have demonstrated time and time again that the most

experienced guide will walk around in an ever tightening spiral

when blindfolded and let loose on a flat field on a cloudy windless

day offering nor external clues as to his direction of progress.

This phenomenon of circle walking has NEVER been explained.



What people with the so-called sense of direction have are powers

of observation honed far beyond the average individual's and a

certain familiar feeling for the terrain, that's all. This means

you too can have a sense of direction.



DEVELOPING A SENSE OF DIRECTION:



The first thing to do when trying to get the fell of an area is to

stop, look and listen. Look at how the vegetation changes as it

goes up or down a valley, becoming sparser or lusher, the trees

taller or shorter, which species grow where and so on.



Observe which way the fallen trees lie usually the direction of

prevailing winds. Check how a stream has cut its gorge, to see the

thickness of the soil layer, the direction of rock outcroppings,

and variations in plant life.



The moss growing on the bark of that tree over there, is it really

on the north side as legend as it? Well, yes and no. If the tree is

blocked from the sun by others, there will be more moss on the

northern side. Then again it may well be all the way around the

trunk. And there's a lichen that looks almost like the moss in

question, but which grows on the sunniest side, which may or may

not be the Southern side.



Find a trail, look for animals tracks, figure out why the animal

chose the run that way, where it was going, where it was coming

from.



Now listen. Close your eyes, so you focus your hearing more.. What

does the stream sound like when your back's to it? When it's at

your side?  Rub your feet across the gravel, sand, a mossy surface,

leaves. When you can tell the difference in the sounds immediately,

you're well onto the way of laying down some rudimentary sensory

paths in your mind.



Listen to the rustling of the birches. Strange, it's louder when

the wind blows up the valley then when down. Cup your hands behind

your ears to simulate an animal's way of hearing, and you'll be

surprised how many more sounds you pick up.



Touch a boulder on the sunny side. On the shady side. Of course

there's a difference in temperature, but you want to be so

intimately aware of it that when you're climbing up a hill hand

over hand, passing from shade to sun to shade, your fingers

register it as automatically as your eyes, or the back of your

neck.



Feel the bark of a pine, of a birch, of a maple, of anything you

can get your hands on. Register as much texture, temperature, shape

and size as you can.



Take a series of short sniffy breaths. Gracious, it's really smelly

out. There's a musky scent from the river, a dry, acrid one from

the oaks by your side, even a burning smell, the campfire way on

the other side of the ridge.



You had not thought it possible to smell it all the way over here

& so it goes. Soak & saturate the sense till the wilderness, at

least the part of it where you are, becomes second nature to you.

Pick a path running from your camp to a landmark a couple of

thousands feet away, a large boulder, a lone tree, a bend in the

creek or a rotting log. Walk slowly towards your object.



Look behind you frequently to see how landscape features changes as

you approach, pass and go on. Get rid of that urban tunnel vision.

Look up into the trees, down that path, to the side, but not just

at eye level. Check things out from ground to sky. What's that

growing over there? 



And is that a bird's nest up by where that fluttering sound comes

from. Walk the same trail in the morning, on an afternoon and at

night without a light. Approach your goal from different

directions, fanning out in an arc from left to right.



Soon that little patch of ground will be familiar to you as a walk

down your own street corner. In all probability even more so. Fine,

you're well on the way to developing a sense of direction for that

type of terrain. Now as time passes & you camp elsewhere, do the

same thing again & again. Observe! Focus!



Forget everything but your 5 senses in relation to where you are at

the moment - slowly you'll build up your 6th sense. 



YOUR FATHER THE INSTRUMENT:



A feeling for the wilds is best communicated from father to son,

companion to companion. But how many of today's campers have an

intrepid Indian guide or trapper for a father?  Yet technology can

come to your rescue here. For ex. How cold is it, is probably one

of the most frequent asked questions in the woods.



A metal cased Taylor pocket thermometer measuring from -30 to + 120

is only 5 1/2" long, weights an ounce and half and clips onto your

shirt pocket like a pencil. One can ALWAYS count cricket chirps

too, of course, if they are around. Take the number of chirps to

one minute. Subtract 40 from that number. Divide what is left by 4.

Now add 50 and that's the temperature almost to the degree. 



(Next time check your thermometer or turn the radio on?) You will

also find that it's a full 10 degrees cooler down by that tiny

creek than up on the hillock only a 100 yards away.



ALTIMETERS:



If you go camping in mountain then it is a most useful pocket

instrument to bring along with a geodetic map, its couple of extra

ounces might be worthwhile.



2 expensive models to look for are the German Lufft and the

Swiss-made Thommens which are temperature compensated. You can use

to sharpen your sense of weather forecasting as well as determining

altitude.



If your altimeter takes a nose dive, it's not the mountain

collapsing but merely the barometer rising, indicating a fine day

ahead. Yet in the desert it's useless instrument



EYE EXTENDERS or BINOCULARS:



Binoculars can be a real help in mapping out a route visually from

high vantage point to AVOID dead-end canyons and difficult fording

and to pinpoint helpful landmarks. 



For camping purposes, a lightweight is best. Not an opera glasses.

You need both fairly decent magnifications & a respectable

light-gathering lens. 



When you look for a pair of binocular, you'll see numbers like

6X25, 7X35 etc. stamped on the casing. The first number indicates

the magnifying power, the second is the diameter in millimetres of

the larger or light gathering lens. Usually except for naval night

glasses, the ratio of the two figures is between 4 & 6.



You can get binoculars with a magnification considerably higher

than the 6 or 7 commonly seen but these require a bulky tripod, so

AVOID them for camping purposes. A diameter number exceeding 35

also can be found readily. But again you don't need it unless you

expect to use binoculars frequently under adverse light conditions

such as dawn, dusk or night.



One good type is the Bushnell 6X25 selected by NASA for the Gemini

missions, weighs only 11 oz. and is small enough to fit into your

jacket pocket.



THE COMPASS:



It's a rare trip away from the civilization on which a compass need

not be carried. You many NEVER have to use it, but it's a friend of

whom you ALWAYS can ask the question. "How do I get out of here?"

and be properly enlightened. (Beside calling Spock.)



Old Silva compasses are about the best one can find around. There

is also the new Suunto KB-14 but it is hard to use while wearing

glasses. Then there's the matter of keeping your eye on 2 things at

once; the compass and the object on which you are trying to get a

reading.



Just holding the compass in your hand, looking at the needle, then

at your goal, then back at the needle and so on, is not only bound

to induce errors, it'll drive you batty. The problem of sighting is

solved by one of two means. The lensatic compass has a small lens

on a hinged arm that opens vertically, while the compass itself

remains flat.



As you look through the lens, you sight the distant object through

a slit opposite the lens, the lens permits you to read your compass

dial at the same time.  The second method and the one I find the

most comfortable, employs a hinge mirror for the same purpose. This

is the way the Silva Range works.



Silva's experimental floating dial compass promises even better

results, since most people find it easier to take a reading from a

floating disc than a needle.



USING THE COMPASS TO GET THERE:



Before you start taking bearings, MAKE SURE that you are well away-

six to 10 feet at least from any magnetic objects, like the axe

head, the car hood for instance, that would cause the compass to

deviate. 



Way in the distance is Raintree Mountain where you want to go. To

find your bearing, sight your compass on whatever side of the

mountain you want to head for. Let the needle come to a complete

rest pointing to Magnetic North. 



Now twist the compass housing on which the degree scale is engraved

till the housing's north marking lines up exactly with the north

point of the needle. On the Silva compass the housing has a north

arrow point of the needle.



On the Silva compass the housing has a north arrow outlined on it;

all you do is line it up so the needle and arrow point together.

Now read the degrees where the dial crosses your sighting line.



This your bearing. Say it turns out to be 265 degrees. Pick a good

landmark in line with your mountain- tall twin trees, a rock

formation, maybe a creek bend- and walk to it. You're descending

into a valley and can no longer see old Raintree, but you get to

your first goal. Find another one with a bearing 265....



Well, after you've walked awhile, stopped for lunch, cooled your

feet in a stream and gone looking for that rabbit you thought you

saw in the bush, you suddenly discover you don't know which way

you're wandering any more. (Rats!) Just take out your compass.



Line up the 2 Norths again, and you'll know which  you get there,

take out the compass once more, find another 265 degree landmark.

And so on, till you've crossed the valley & find yourself on the

side of the mountain you were looking at when you started out.



THE COMPASS AND THE MAP:



Hand in hand with a compass goes a map. Even if you don't need a

compass to show you the way, it will show you how to orient your

map. When you unfold your map in the middle of the woods, which way

do you lay it out so it conforms to the actual terrains?  Well, the

top of the map is ALWAYS North.



So you just take out the trusty old compass and set the map so the

North needle of the compass points to the top. Right? Wrong!



REMEMBER being told back in high school that there was a difference

between the true North and the Magnetic North? Well, here's where

the dichotomy comes into play.



At the bottom of a topographic map you'll see a small V, composed

of a half-arrow and a line running true North-South, usually

labelled "Magnetic North declination at centre of sheet." If you

lay your compass down and turn the map so that the half arrow of

this V lines up parallel with our compass needle, the map will be

in tune with the terrain. Proceed from there.



The compass can also be used for triangulation. If you don't

recognize where you are on the map, pick out two distant landmarks

in the terrain that you can also locate on the map. Orient the map

as usual to compensate for magnetic deviation. With your compass,

take a reading on the two landmarks, and jot down the figures.



Through each of the landmarks on the map, draw a line running at

the same degree or angle, from the magnetic North direction line

indicated at the bottom of the map as the visual reading you got.

Where the tow lines intersect is your location. That's

triangulation, using two known points to fix the position of a

third, but unknown one.



How to take your bearings with the compass, how to use it to make

your map conform to reality, and how to locate where you are on the

map by triangulation, are all you will probably need to know for

most general camping purposes.



If you plan to do a lot of hiking in new country or are interested

in orienteering races the standard manual on the subject is

Kjellstrom's: Be Expert with Map and Compass.



STEPPING INTO YOUR MAP:



The best maps for camping in this country are those made by the US

Geological Survey and in Canada the Department of Mines and

Technical Surveys. Unlike the planimetric maps you get at a gas

station, which show everything in a flat two-dimensional

perspective.



You know where the roads and river are but you can't tell about the

hills and valleys - the Geological and Technical Surveys maps are

topographical. They may be printed on flat paper, but they do show

the terrain very much in 3 dimensions. 



And as with 3-D movies projected on flat screen, you can learn to

step into a topo-map visually that is.



At the bottom of each map is a heading "Contour Interval" followed

by the specific interval for that map. Say it's 20 feet. That means

every one of those countless brown lines on the map are in reality

20 feet apart. 



If the lines are very close together, this means a steep rise, far

apart, a shallow rise. You can mentally walk down a steep mountain,

watch the lines widen out in front of you as approach a lake, which

of course has no contour lines because the top of the water is

flat.



Instead it will have a number like 1528 which indicates the height

of the lake from sea level. If an adjoining lake has an elevation

of 1922 and they are say 2 miles apart, the river connecting them

is almost a waterfall the whole way.



If the second lake has an elevation of 1534, well then, the

connecting river is probably as smooth and soft as a cat's back. 

Unless you see a marking for marshes along its bed, in which case

it may be impenetrable even by canoe.



The US topographic maps usually come in a scale of 1:62,500 or

1:24,000. That is 1 inch on the map equals either 62,500 or 24,000

inches in the real world it represents. The decision as to which

map is made depends on the terrain. You get what they got as the

saying goes. 



The same thing holds true for the year when the map was made.

Usually unless a big flood or earthquake has made big changes

around the area. Check it out. 



HELP & HOW TO AVOID CALLING FOR IT:



Whenever you're going camping, familiarize yourself with the area

beforehand, either by talking to people who've been there or by

writing ahead for information. Not only can advance information

make your trip safer and you more self-sufficient, it can make it

more comfortable.



You can AVOID the May-June black fly season or the September rains,

or whatever other early phenomenon plagues the area. You aren't

trying to learn all about the place where you're going, just enough

to gear up properly for it and AVOID any seasonal drawbacks it may

have.



Second to knowing something about where you're going is making

ready for it. Particularly for any sudden adjustment it may involve

for your body.



Take water into arid land, sweaters and maybe a space blanket into

cold. Be sure you've got your snakebite kit with you if you're

heading for poisonous snake country. Know the simple basics of

artificial respiration before you take the kids out to a lake.



By all means add calamine lotion to your first-aid kit if you

happen to be allergic to poison ivy, and have a tetanus booster

shot if you had not gotten around to it somehow in the routine of

the last couple years and so on.



CHICKEN VIA BE CAREFUL!:



Probably more accidents are caused by campers and not just

beginners but even experienced one who should know better- forcing

themselves into situations they know are questionable.



Before you get into trouble, admit you can't balance across that

slippery log. If the trail is steep and dangerous, don't call it

duck soup. If a storm is brewing, make camp rather than pressing

on.



A veteran wild-land backpacker Harvey Manning says, "Beginners die

on trails because they don't have the guts to be cowards."



AVALANCHES:



Predominantly an occurrence on young, sharp mountains exposed to

severe weathering, avalanches come in two varieties; rock and snow.

Any slope with a gradient of over 25 or 30 degrees is susceptible

to slides. Whether they will actually occur or not, and

particularly when, would be hard to predict.



Probably the majority of fatal avalanches are triggered by people

crossing a slope that is ready to run. If you stay away from these,

your problems should be minimized. A rock slide that is ready to

let loose usually looks like it. Boulders, stones, those small

stones piles called scree and talus flowing down a mountainside in

what looks like a frozen river are obviously potentially a flowing

river - of stone.



Don't walk across it. Any sloping surface with a layer of loose

rocks, large or pebble sized should be considered a hazard, not fun

to try sliding down on.



THE CARDINAL RULE WHEN CROSSING SUCH A LAYER IS TO KEEP A VERTICAL

POSTURE. IF YOU CAN'T! DON'T CROSS!



By bending over and using your hands to steady your walk, you

automatically force the weight concentrated on your feet back and

out down the hillside. It may be just the extra push of a hillside

of talus in exact balance with gravity needs to start it sliding. 



If you do get caught in a rock slide, your one and only hope is to

outrun it.



If that's impossible, and there's a ledge or outcropping you can

reach & duck beneath, the slide may pass over you, then again it

may bury you. Prevention is as usual much easier than the cure.

Admire possible rock slide areas from the distance.



Potential snow avalanches may be harder to spot. Treeless streaks

running down a steep mountainside are usually indications of past

disasters, as are piles of uprooted trees at the bottom of a clear

run.



Avalanches tend to occur on slopes exposed to wide temperature

fluctuations. 



They are particularly likely when old snow has frozen into a solid

crust of slippery ice, upon which new snow settles. Anything can

set it off. If you are skiing or snowshoeing across a slope and you

notice cracks running ahead of you or making semicircles up a hill,

a slide may well be imminent.



Get back to safety if you're less than a third of the way across

the slope. 



If you're more than a third across, its usually faster to go on

than to turn around. Don't stop to look at the view. Should the

slide already be descending on you, drop your poles, kick off your

skis or snowshoes and try to get the rucksack off as well before it

hits.



As it hits, try literally to swim up the wave of snow, keeping your

face as high as possible. If you get buried, try to cover your face

and mouth as well as you can with your hands and arms. Should you

not be too deeply buried to move, you might be able to dig yourself

out. But which way is up? If you can't tell, spit. REMEMBER, spit

doesn't fall up.



FALLING THROUGH ICE: Brrrr.



The safety of walking across unknown ice, even in the middle of

wintertime is questionable. However sometimes it MUST be done.  If

so, it's not a bad idea to carry an opened knife in your hand.

Should you fall through it can be used as an ice pick to help pull

you out. 



Gauging ice thickness can be difficult, since it rarely freezes

evenly. One tell tale sign of potential trouble ahead is dark ice

intersped (mixed) with lighter coloured ice.



DARK ICE IS DANGEROUS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD: 



Dark ice means that something thawing, a rapid current or a

subsurface obstruction for instance has thinned the ice layer,

usually to the point where you are actually seeing the dark water

underneath it.



If it's that thin there is a risk of you or your equipment falling

through. This is an important point to REMEMBER if you are covering

slough or swampy territory. Even with the temperature hovering

around zero and the surrounding lake frozen to a depth of several

feet, the slough ice can be paper thin in spots.



What happens is that decaying organic matter on the shallow bottom

generates heat, which rises to the ice, melting and thinning it.

Within 5 yards, you can go from firm ice to ice-cold water. Should

you fall through the ice, the sudden cold could be enough to make

your heart stop literally, if it is not in good shape.



If you feel yourself falling, go spread eagle at once. Hopefully

your arms will strike the ice around the edges of the crack,

keeping you from going under. Then although your first reaction

will be to struggle out, take a few seconds to break off the

surrounding thin ice of the hole.



Flutter your feet & literally swim out and onto the ice. The knife

will be very handy for hooking into the ice and pulling yourself

along with. Stay low and crawl till you get well back along the

path you came on and know to be solid enough to support your

weight.



If you are close to a soft bank on shore, roll in it quickly.

Should your clothes be at all water repellent the snow will sponge

a great deal of moisture off. Get a fire going and soup warming.



Change your clothes as quickly as possible and drink plenty of hot

liquids.



HYPOTHERMIA AND FROSTBITE:



Hypothermia or exposure or just plain freezing to death is a

condition that develops when external circumstances are such that

the body cannot maintain its normal temperature, even in the

central cavity where the vital organs are located.



When your core temperature drops 15 to 20 degrees below normal you

are dead.  Percentages wise the number of people who die from

hypothermia as compared to those killed crossing the street is

small.



Someone who has fallen through ice or been otherwise exposed to

such a degree as to hazard hypothermia should be watched for the

symptoms of it.



HYPOTHERMIA SYMPTOMS:



Fatigue, lack of coordination in speech and movement, loss of

memory and rationality. Also dilated pupils, slow pulse and

breathing. In extreme cases foam will foam around the mouth.

Keep the victim as warm as possible, particularly internally with

warm liquids. (NO BOOZE, NO)



Don't let him assure you through his shivering that he's all right

- a common false reaction on his part. In below freezing weather,

before you get a good case of hypothermia, you'll get frostbite,

which is much more common. If you should get frostbite don't rub it

with snow.



Frostbitten areas should not be rubbed at all. They should be

warmed up slowly by wrapping gently a blanket, wool scarves or

something else warm and soft or by immersing in tepid water.



The water MUST be about body temperature, NO WARMER. Severe cases

lead to gangrene, lesser cases will thaw out with excruciantly slow

and painful feelings.



QUICKSAND:



SHOULD YOU BE ALONE REMEMBER THAT SWIMMING IS YOUR KEY OUT.



As wilderness hiker your chances of running into quicksand are

probably better than you realize.If you frequent flat low  lying

areas with a high degree of soil moisture, they're in fact quite

good.



However your chances of getting sucked down into it are almost

nonexistent, particularly if you have a basic knowledge of the

phenomenon and know how to react since quicksand is ordinary sand.

Should you come across quicksand, if you are just beginning to

sink, ankle deep, you can usually still move quickly back to the

way you came.



In most cases the quagmire or quicksand only goes down a couple of

feet and can support this kind of movement briefly. Shout a warning

to your companion, if you are with one.



IF YOU'RE SHIN OR KNEE-DEEP, FREEZE. The less you move at this

stage, the slower you will sink.  Should you be carrying a pack,

remove it slowly and with as little shifting as possible. If you

are sinking fast, drop the pack at once. 



If as is much more likely, you've only sunk another inch or two in

taking off the pack, throw it as lightly as you can towards firm

ground. Best of all is to have a length of all purpose rope along.

Shirts, sweater and other such articles of gear can also be knotted

together to make a line.



By attaching it to the frame or one of the accessory or shoulders

straps before you throw the pack, you can usually pull yourself to

solid ground alone. If everything else fails, or if you are sinking

very quickly, lie down flat.



Quicksand is basically a hydraulic system. The larger the surface

area over which your weight is distributed, the less the sinking.

Spread your arms out 90 degrees from your body for extra support

and lie there. If there's any possibility of rescue, stay

motionless and wait.



Should you be alone REMEMBER that swimming is your key out. Propel

yourself slowly forward on you stomach with a shallow breast

stroke.



EMERGENCY SITUATIONS:



If in your wanderings you should become trapped or inured and be

unable to go on, and if people know your whereabouts and expected

date of return, as somebody should whenever you venture into the

real wilds.



That's another of those common sensible precautionary measures to

take, just in case prepared to aid to the search party.  First stay

calm, take stock of your situation, make yourself as comfortable as

possible, and WAIT TO BE RESCUED.



MAKING CAMP IN WINTER TIME:



Cold is one thing, wind another, so in Wintertime make your camp in

a spot as shielded from the wind as possible. If you pile enough

snow up on the weather side of your tent site, it will break the

wind very nicely.



Don't pile it against the tent itself however. As long as you stay

below the tree line, you should be able to find a grove of trees in

which to set up camp.



MAKE SURE you check to see how heavily laden with snow the trees

are, however before you start unpacking your gear. Large quantities

of snow and rime bumbling down unexpectedly could flatten your

tent. 



Camping in groves of shorter and younger trees usually enables you

to AVOID much of this problem. Along the same line, don't make camp

in front of potential avalanche. 



To be really safe, that would include any hill with a gradient of

over 25 degrees.



Snow somehow manages to get tracked into a tent no matter what you

do. A tunnel is your best defence against it. But even if your tent

is so equipped, in setting up a snow camp, flatten a platform of

snow for your tent that is big enough to give you plenty of walking

around room on the outside and a big porch in front.



It will save a lot of mopping up with the sponge. Keep pushing back

any drifts that encroach. An evergreen forest offers you free for

the finding, winter's own brand of insulation. If you can locate

the beds of needles that collect beneath the trees, they will make

a good ground cloth to keep your tent off the snow. Often it's not

possible to find a spot level enough on the beds of needles

themselves.



Still if you can get at them, it's worth mining and scattering them

over the tent site, not only because of their insulating qualities

but because they will help keep the tent floor from freezing to the

snow as well. Should such a freezing occur incidentally don't try

to rip your tent free, it will just do that rip. The only safe way

to detach the tent is to steam it free with boiling water.



Real winter weather is where the self-supporting tents like the

Eureka, Bishop or Bauer Draw-Tites come into their own. Sometimes

it's almost impossible to drive in tent stakes. In deep snow you

can use deadmen long fallen branches or logs to which you can

attach your lines so that log and line, form a T. pix 264*



Then you bury the log well in snow and stomp it down. Pour some

cold water over the deadman to freeze it in place. Tighten up the

lines & you're set. Rigging to well-anchored bushes and trees is

easier and advisable wherever possible.



Once your tent is up, pile snow all along its bottom edge, on top

of the snow valances if you have them to a height of half a foot or

so. Don't cover any fabric that is not waterproof. If you're using

a full fly & you should this won't be a problem. If you're not,

pile the snow only half the height of your tub floor.



If you've come in on snowshoes you'll soon discover they make

excellent snow shovels as well. If you're skiing it's a good idea

to have along a light weight aluminium snow shovel. One with a

demountable wooden handle weighs barely over 1 pound.



The snow around your tent should be packed down well. But down

don't press too hard against the tent itself or you may strain it.

In the mountains, lacking snow, pile boulders on what you now call

"sod cloths" instead of "snow valances" to help keep the tent in

place and prevent cold winds from rushing in under the floor.



INSIDE AND OUTSIDE:



The difference between inside and outside a tent may only be 10 or

20 degrees, still you would be surprised how much heat just your

own body will give off. There is also the heat from the stove if

you're Cook-King in a vestibule or cook-hole and that from a

lantern.



Make full use of the heat you have and bring saw and axes inside

the tent. Steel becomes more brittle with a drop of temperature.



You should also bring in some wood, tinder and kindling, even if

you don't expect to use wood fires. Put it on a piece of plastic

and let it dry out.



If you NEVER use it, you can ALWAYS throw it out, but in an

emergency you have the makings of a small fire enough to warm you

up and dry out logs for a larger one. As for boots, take them off

the tent while knocking off most of the snow and mop up the rest

with the sponge.



In a tent it's best to wear extra pairs of wool socks instead of

shoes. Leather stiffens up in the cold. To keep it from getting too

stiff, wrap shoes and boots in plastic bag and put them in the foot

of your sleeping bag. But MAKE SURE that they are as dry as you can

get them first, wiping them off with a rag or sponge.



ICEBOX GALLEY &WINTER COOKING: *



Cooking in an icebox or winter cooking. Put a piece of Ensolite

underneath the stove if it's a pressurised type. The cold ground

will otherwise cut down its efficiency considerably. Also you'll

need a lot more fuel than for a comparable summer trip.



Your stove will be working much harder and longer not only in

cooking but in melting snow. (It takes a bushel of snow to make a

pint of water.) and add almost 15 min. to that as well.



REMEMBER that melting ice is quicker than snow to get water, so if

there is any ice around, reach for it. Dehydrated and freeze dried

foods are a real boon here since they can't freeze. 



Winter campers tend to drink less than they should. When you are

not perspiring much because of cold weather, the purification

function of your kidneys becomes primary and you should drink more,

rather than less.



So take along lots of soup and hot drink mixes. HOT LIQUIDS WILL

WARM YOU UP BETTER THAN HOT FOOD, THERE IS MORE HEAT IN THEM.

(Leave a cup of soup and a cup of rice standing sometime & see

which one stays warm longer.)



SUNGLASSES, LIP BALM & CHEWING GUM:



In winter camping don't overextend yourself, stay dry and keep in

shape. In other words, try to AVOID trouble. Every winter camper

should have sunglasses along. Snow blindness caused by the white

glare is painful and can be permanent yet simple enough to AVOID

with sunglasses. Yellow tinted ones will only aggravate the glare

conditions thus to be AVOIDED.



Polarized lenses are best. As for the nose and ear pieces put

moleskin on the inside of them for comfort.



Lip balm is self-explanatory item of winter gear. In below freezing

weather, check your face and hands and those of your companions

occasionally for telltale white spots of frostbite especially on

your cheeks, chin, ears, nose or forehead.



If any of your limbs begins to feel numb while you're moving around

and active, warm up by a fire and get some hot soup into you.

Chewing gum as long as you chew with your mouth closed, keeps the

circulation up around your face, reducing the chances of frostbite.



CABIN FEVER:



When it is storming out what do you do after you've slept yourself

silly? You talk for a while, a long time even, but then sooner or

later, cabin fever sets in. That strange psychological malady of

confined quarters that has turned genteel trappers into murderers,

peaceful loving couples into fighting minks.



And solitary campers into strangers to themselves, who convinced

they're on a tropical island, shed their clothes in the snow and

decide to go for a stroll on the beach. So, for lengthy winter

camping or if there's any chance you'll be weathered in bring a

chess or checker set, some cards and a thick book or two like the

bible and a book on plants etc.



TOBOGGAN:



When you are packing it on snowshoes it is a great idea specially

if you are planning to set up a base camp and are hauling a lot of

gear as Indians and trappers used to do.



STALKING WILD GAME RULES:



REMEMBER the old rule: hard ground = toe first, on soft ground =

heels first. Also check the wind.



Smoking is perceived by animals up to the next county so snuff out

before you stalk. Not only do you have to move slowly but to move

arhythmically. Taking one step forward, then 3 then 1 or 2. The

even noise of a biped & no matter how careful you walk, you'll make

some noise has no resemblance to any of the forest's quadrupeds.



ANY SOUNDS YOU MUST MAKE YOU TRY TO COORDINATE WITH WIND GUSTS

RATTLING THE LEAVES.



You stop often to look around to check the tracks when possible and

to observe the distance. What you're looking for is not a deer but

part of a deer, With covers all around, it's highly unlikely you'd

see the whole animal that only happens in clearings. Wild animals

also check their backtracks so you should look behind you at times. 

The best way when possible is to hunt with the wind blowing onward

(towards you).



FISHING:



For hand line get small hooks with long shanks. They're easier to

remove from the fish. A # 6,8 or 10 hook is fine for pan-fish. If

you're going bottom fish such as catfish and carp which live in

turbulent and muddy waters skip the float and use a lead sinker

instead.



Use a strong line say ten pounds or better you might catch a bigger

fish then you think (Whale!) The fish will nibble, do not yank it

right away, be patient, then bingo go for it.



WHERE THE FISH ARE: (Where the boys are!)



Think fish!? The more you know about a fish's habit the more likely

you are to catch it.  Most of the lakes are empty, the reason is

there's no food around, it's too hot, current too swift, too muddy,

etc.



Like people they have special places and bars they hang around.

Fish are found where there's a bit of variety and scenery in their

underwater domain.



It's where there are more insects and smaller freshwater life and

where the fish can find shelter from predators, weed beds, lily

pads on hot days, deep cool holes to loll in waiting for a good

meal to fall their way. Places where streams enter lakes, washing

oxygen & food for them, coves, inlets and other irregularities in

the shoreline.



When it comes down to rivers the preference is for downstream from

boulders, where the swimming is easy and around undercuts,

waterfalls and backwaters. There are seasonal variations as well.

The fish are in shallower water during spring and fall. Come Summer

heat or Winter cold they search out the more even temperature of

deep water. In both hot and cold weathers they are semi-dormant and

sluggish.



The cycle of the day and night also affects the fish. They'll be in

shallower shore water during the morning and evening again because

of temperature and in deeper water at midday. In a good flowing

river they love to hang around calm spot in front of rocks or

boulders.



WHAT TO FEED THEM: (Caviar?)



You are limited to what you can dig up unless you brought along

many different lures. There is the classic worm, crickets,

grasshoppers or any bugs you find under the river rocks when you

overturn them.



Once you have catch a fish, clean it on the spot and check its

belly for signs of his last meal. Then go and get the same stuff it

has been stuffing itself upon. (Caviar? Champagne!)



FISH NOTE:



Catfish need not to be scale but to be skinned. Beware of its back

fin which will give you a sting every bit as nasty as of a bee. Be

careful when catching and cleaning them.



If you get stung, mix up a paste of meat tenderizer & water and

spread it over the wound. Works well for other stings too. P/S

Don't overcook the fish.



EDIBLE PLANTS:



There are so many that it would take 2 more books just on the

subject. We have included the most common in the world. There are

several good books guide to edible plants which you can add to your

list of items to bring along while camping.



Among some good books are the Euell Gibbon's such as Stalking the

Wild Asparagus & Stalking the Healthful Herbs by far the most

enjoyable in the field. One more note about the mushroom repeated

time and time again. Know what you eat. 



MUSHROOM ARE OFTEN DEADLY AND HAVE VERY LITTLE FOOD VALUE.



CRAYFISH:



This is one more of the wilderness delicacy often used only as

baits and yet is often tastier than the fish you may or may not

catch. Boiled up whole with salt, a bit of onion (wild) & a pinch

of sugar will shame the best lobster.



Campers with kids should put them on the job of catching them by

hand thus a guarantee of an afternoon peace with dinner supplied to

boot. They will see them darting backwards in slow streams and by

the rocky edges of lakes.



Kids  will have a great time wadding around in water after the

crayfish and this pastime will absorb and delight them while

parents watch from shore in case of accidents.



(Kids should be taught to swim as soon as possible.)



