Preparing to Go Camping
What camping really means. Choosing campmates. Camping outfits. Clothing. Provisions.

To really camp one should be beyond the reach of motor cars and dance music, beyond sight of fashionable 
clothes and crowded summer resorts, and far enough from civilisation to make one more or less dependent upon 
the resources of nature and one's own skill and knowledge of woodcraft.

To be sure, camping out under such conditions necessitates a certain amount of discomfort and perhaps some 
hardships, but to overcome these, to make oneself a home and to provide all the necessities of life by one's own 
efforts and skill — in this lies the real enjoyment of camping out.

In order to do this, however, the camper must know something of woodcraft, must select his camping place and his 
camp with intelligence and must choose his or her camp-mates with care, for a poorly selected camp site may spoil 
all one's pleasure, grumbling or lazy companions are worse than none at all and a camp must be provided 
which is  as comfortable and secure in foul weather as in fair.

There are many kinds of camps, each adapted to some special purpose, certain conditions and surroundings, or 
which possesses certain advantages. There is a vast difference between camps for a permanent residence of 
several weeks or months and camps erected merely as shelters for the night, and before deciding what camp to 
use, what supplies you will require or where you are to camp, you should look into the matter thoroughly, determine
where and how long you are going to camp and learn all you can of the surroundings, character and resources of 
the country you are to invade.

You can go camping in boat, in canoe, in carriage or by automobile, or you can pack your belongings on your back 
and tramp, pitching your tent or making your primitive home wherever night finds you or humour invites you to stop
and tarry.

We often hear some one state that a certain type of camp is the best, but as a matter of fact there is no "best" 
camp. Tents, tepees, lean-tos, log and slab houses, shacks, wattled and thatched huts, even caves and dugouts, 
have their uses, and each can be used to best advantage only under certain definite conditions and for certain
purposes. Sometimes several different kinds of camps may be used on a single camping trip, especially if one-night 
camps are made and the campers travel by boat, canoe or motor car. In a densely wooded country far from the 
settlements, log houses, lean-tos or similar camps may prove the best and easiest to make; in a district where 
timber is scarce, or where one is not permitted to fell trees, tents, tepees or other portable shelters are often 
advisable, and in places where there is no timber these are necessary. But to carry tents or portable camps is very 
difficult even with a canoe or other means of transportation, and the space which such a portable camp occupies
may usually be used to greater advantage for other commodities, unless, as already mentioned, it is impossible to 
provide other means of shelter.

CHOOSING CAMPMATES:
But even before deciding upon the type of camp you will use, you should decide upon your companions for your 
outing and should select the scene of your camping operations.

Many people are excellent companions in the city, or even on a pleasure trip, a motor tour or a yachting cruise, who 
are impossible when camping out. Avoid going camping with irritable, impatient, lazy, super-sensitive, nervous, 
peevish, superstitious, or over-fastidious individuals.

Don't expect a man who drinks to excess, or one who is lost without his club, his evening clothes or his daily papers, 
to make a good campmate. Camping calls for old clothes, lack of luxuries and conveniences, primitive life, and 
unfailing good temper and cheerfulness under all conditions, as well as plenty of hard work and a willingness to 
do one's share of anything and everything without being asked. 

Nervous or superstitious people have no place in the woods. A thunder storm, the cry of a wild animal or a night 
bird, or even the silence of the dark woods may drive a nervous person to distraction, regardless of how much they 
enjoy the life during the daytime; while superstitious persons will find omens for good or bad in so many perfectly
natural occurrences that they become a nuisance to others and are miserable themselves.

Over-indulgence in liquor is bad enough anywhere, but in the woods, or in camps, it is a real menace. Irritable 
individuals will find plenty to complain about, even in the best regulated camps, and patience is a prime necessity 
when one is camping out. One must take things as they are, not as one would wish, when in the woods, and the 
man or woman who is disgusted if insects or twigs get into one's food, or who cannot enjoy a meal served in tin 
plates and with the ground for a dining table, or who cannot sleep without sheets and soft pillows, or who cannot
put up with the thousand and one inconveniences and petty annoyances of primitive life; will find no pleasure and 
no enjoyment in camping out and will make life miserable for every one else.

Above all avoid the shirker — the lazy individual — as you would the plague. After a long day's tramp there is 
camp to be made, firewood to be cut, fires to be built, food to be cooked, and many other chores to be done, and 
the fellow who throws himself upon the ground and takes his ease, while his comrades do the hard and necessary 
work, is no sort of a chap to have along. If a camping trip is to be enjoyable and a success, each member of the 
party must do his or her share of labour, and all must be willing to work for the common good; it is a communistic
life and there is no place for a shirker.

Of course in a permanent camp the duties may be simplified and equally divided and each member may have his 
or her own regular work to do. Even where the days are spent in tramping or travelling and camps are made each 
night, it is a good plan to have certain duties allotted to certain members of the party. One will be a better
axeman than another, one will be a better forager, another a better cook, etc. Even when there are but two in the 
party it saves much discussion and friction if each knows he has certain definite duties of his own, and moreover the
work is made easier and quicker when such an arrangement is made. In every camp there will be trials and 
disappointments, bad weather and hard work. If these are taken good-naturedly and smilingly and are overcome, 
they will prove but an added zest to the outing. Make the best of everything and do your share, is the first and 
invariable rule of life in the woods.

When you have selected your companions the next important matter is to choose a leader, for without a head, 
without some one to direct, the trip will surely be a failure.

For a leader select the one who has had the most experience in out-of-door life and woodcraft, and if there is no 
one in the party who has had experience in such matters choose the one who is the most practical, who is the 
calmest and the best natured, and who possesses sound judgment. In other words, one to whom you would
naturally look for leadership in any undertaking.

Having selected the various members of the party and their leader, all should make up their minds to follow his 
directions and abide by his decisions implicitly, unless he shows himself ignorant, overbearing or incompetent. 
Nevertheless, it's a good plan always to hold a council or meeting when any question arises and if the majority of 
the party do not agree with the leader he should waive his authority. But of course this does not apply to questions 
where practical knowledge or experience justifies the leader in overruling the ideas of his companions or where he 
feels that his companions are endangered by their ignorance of conditions.

OUTFITS:
The question of campmates and leader being settled, the most important matter to be considered is that of outfit. By
outfit I mean clothing, provisions, camp-kits, tools, weapons and in fact everything which is to be taken on the trip. 
But here again enters the question of where you are to camp, the character of the country and the length of time 
you are to be away, and whether you are to tramp, motor, canoe or travel by wagon.

Moreover, tastes differ; some people are willing to ''tote" more than others for the sake of greater comfort, and a 
great deal depends upon the amount of money one is willing to spend. If you are to camp within easy reach of 
settlements or villages, near a well-travelled road or on the shores of a lake or river, or are to have a permanent
camp, almost any amount of luxuries and conveniences may be taken along. On the other hand, if you are to tramp 
and make camp where fancy wills, you should cut down your outfit to the barest necessities. Even the lightest of 
loads will feel heavy enough to make your back and shoulders ache at the end of a day's tramp through the woods, 
and one really needs very little.

An experienced woodsman will get along very comfortably with a knife and axe for tools, a tin pie-plate for 
cooking and eating utensils, a box of matches, some flour, coffee and bacon and the clothing he wears, but 
the amateur will scarcely be able to get on with such an outfit.

It is unwise to divide up the outfit for several people and allow a definite amount to each one and it's much better 
for every member of the party to carry his or her own personal belongings with the exception of certain things which 
must be for common use. It's not necessary to carry as many axes as there are people, nor as many guns, etc., and
the food can be added to the loads of those who are not burdened with axes, firearms and similar articles. If there is
one outfit for the crowd and this is divided up among the individual members there will always be complaint or 
dissatisfaction, for some one is bound to think his load is more than his share. If each one totes his own outfit, 
however, he has only himself to blame for its weight.

The first and most important item of an outfit is the pack in which the goods are to be carried. There is an endless 
number of styles of packs on the market and each section of the country has its favourite. Some old campaigners 
prefer birch bark boxes or baskets, others knapsacks, others blanket rolls similar to those used by soldiers, others 
swear by baskets and still others think nothing equals the canvas pack of the north woods. So, too, the method of 
carrying differs. Indians, and many white guides as well, carry heavy loads upon their backs supported by a band 
across the forehead; others support their loads entirely from their shoulders, while others use shoulder and chest 
straps. Personally, I prefer the simple canvas pack with shoulder and breast straps and I have tried nearly every 
type known. This style of pack (Fig, 1) may be purchased ready-made for about $3, but they are very simple and 
may easily be made at home from stout canvas, khaki, or cotton drill. The size depends largely upon the amount 
you wish to carry and your own size, but 16x24 inches square and 8 inches deep is large enough, and for boys' use
a pack 14x20x6 will be ample. Such a pack will easily hold everything one really needs for a long trip and when filled
will weigh all you'll want to carry on a day's tramp.

Aside from the pack you will require axes — one if there are but two in the party and two or more if there are a 
number of campers. Don't try to economise on the axe; it's a mighty important item and the very best axe you can 
purchase should be selected. Don't make the mistake of getting an axe either too large or too small. Hatchets come 
in handy, but a good two pound or two-and-a-half pound axe with full length handle is the best and most useful tool 
you can have in a timbered country. Another extremely useful tool, especially in a brushy country, is the machete —
the long heavy-bladed knife of Latin America (Fig. 2). Where there are two or more in the party it's a good plan for 
one to carry an axe, another a machete and another a hatchet, for each tool has its uses and advantages. In many 
districts a machete is almost a necessity, and if I were compelled to choose between an axe or a machete for all 
around use, I'd take the machete every time. This instrument, in the hands of one accustomed to its use, will serve
almost any purpose from that of an axe to a toothpick. They are ideal for cutting brush, vines and brambles, for 
blazing trees, for opening a trail and for lopping off branches and even large trees may be felled with a machete 
when you know how to handle it. They are light and easily carried, are handier than an axe or hatchet and are 
cheap, costing with sheath about $2.

For the balance of your outfit, aside from clothing and provisions, the following should be included, but of course 
some items may be omitted and others added according to conditions. In a fishless district it obviously would be 
useless to carry fishing tackle; where there is no game, or where laws prevent shooting or trapping, guns and 
ammunition are unnecessary, and many of the articles will serve for the entire party.

	A waterproof cylindrical matchsafe and matches.
	A combination knife and fork (Fig, J) or a common steel knife and fork.
	A teaspoon and a tablespoon.
	A good axe-stone, preferably a carborundum stone.
	A bag containing thread, needles, wax, buttons, pins, shoelaces, etc.
	A roll, or hank, of good strong line, or braided cotton twine.
	Fish hooks, lines and sinkers.
	A reliable pocket compass.
	A good heavy knife, a sailor's sheath knife is excellent.
	A folding rubber, or collapsible, drinking cup.
	A tin cup and a deep tin pie-plate.
	Half a dozen or more candles.
	Some assorted or mixed wire nails from 3 to 12 penny.

All the above are individual necessities and in addition you should of course have a hair-brush and comb, 
toothbrush, shaving utensils — if you intend to shave — and a small pocket mirror. The latter will prove very useful 
if you get something in your eye; it is valuable for signaling and is more convenient than a pool of water.

If you are alone, or if there are several in the party, the following should be provided but where there are two or 
more campers these articles need not be duplicated, but may be for common use: 

	About one hundred feet of light, strong rope — braided is the best. 
	A medicine case and emergency kit.

The rope will weigh little and should be strong enough to bear the weight of any member of the party with safety. It 
invariably should be kept neatly coiled and ready for use as it may save human life more than once and will prove 
invaluable in a hundred places and a thousand ways.

You may tramp, camp and live in the woods for years and never have occasion to use medicines, stimulants, 
bandages or first-aid, but accidents will happen and when you are hurt or sick in the woods a bit of medicine, a 
bandage or some other simple remedy or aid will be worth more than all the rest of your outfit put together.

Old campers and woodsmen may pooh-pooh the idea of a medicine kit, but many a life would have been saved if 
such men always carried simple remedies and first-aid outfits. On more than one occasion I have saved my own life 
by means of a pocket emergency case and more than one old woodsman has thanked God I carried it with me. If 
there are several in the party, have one member in charge of the medicines day and night, and allow no one else to
handle it, save in case of emergency. In this way you'll always know where the things are when you want them and
when you do want them you'll want them in a hurry.

The exact contents of such a kit depends upon the country and the trip, for certain districts have certain diseases 
and certain insects, and accidents are more liable to occur in some places and under some conditions than in 
others. Avoid liquid medicines as far as possible and use tablets and pills. The following is a list of the most 
important things for the kit and will be found very satisfactory for all around use in most places and under ordinary 
conditions.

[SSRsi Note: Remember this is an 1917 text]

	Quinine pills or tablets
	Rhubarb pills or tablets
	Bicarbonate of soda or soda-mint tablets
	Bismuth subnitrate
	Chlorate of potash
	Warburg's tincture
	Sun cholera pills
	Several rolls of antiseptic bandages
	A box of zinc ointment
	A bottle of Zeroform or Iodoform
	Permanganate of potash
	Some powerful stimulant
	Adhesive surgeons' plaster (Red Cross is good) but not courtplaster.

The most convenient form in which to carry these is in the little pocket leather cases that cost from $1 to $5 each.

If you object to alcoholic stimulants take your physician's advice as to what to carry to take its place, and if you don't
believe in medicine yourself carry the outfit for the benefit of those who do. Moreover, your ideas may change 
suddenly if you are taken ill or are injured far from civilisation.

A stimulant may save a life if one of the party is nearly drowned or faint from loss of blood or a broken limb. The 
permanganate of potash dissolved in water will relieve pain from insect bites and ivy poison, and where poisonous
snakes occur it is the best and safest remedy known for their bites. Antiseptic tablets are good things to have along,
for a very slight scratch, cut, or bruise may result seriously if neglected, and an ounce of prevention is worth 
countless tons of cure in the woods. Be sure and have everything labeled and mark all poisons in heavy black 
letters and with a skull and bones. If you are not accustomed to using medicines have your physician give you 
directions for using the various remedies and keep written directions in the case with the medicines.

In addition to all the above there are many other light, simple and cheap articles which will add greatly to the 
enjoyment of camp life and which you may take or not as you choose. Such are folding lanterns (Fig, 4) of mica and 
aluminum and costing about $1.50 each and which weigh but a few ounces and fold flat in compact form when not in
use. Japanese mess kits (Fig, 5) which cost about $2 and are very convenient as they are made of aluminum and 
fold into very small space. Campfire grates (Fig. 6) which cost $1 and save many spilled cups of coffee and many a 
burned pancake. These are but a few of the numerous handy articles which any dealer in sporting goods and 
campers' outfits can supply. But don't load yourself down and clutter yourself up with a lot of these things — there is
no end to them — unless you are going by canoe, auto or other conveyance, or are planning to stay in one spot for
some time.

I have mentioned a match box, but under the best of conditions and with every precaution, matches will at times get 
wet and useless, and hence it is a wise plan to provide against such a contingency. In another chapter I will explain
how to build fires without matches, but a very simple and useful article which will save much trouble and annoyance 
is a mechanical lighter (Fig. 7), Do not carry one of the lighters which must be filled with gasoline or alcohol but the 
kind which uses a plain cotton fuse or tinder. With such a tinder a fire may be kindled with a flint and steel, but the 
tinder should invariably be carried in a water-tight metal box. For match boxes use rubber rather than metal for
these will float if dropped overboard.

The pie plate and tin cup will do very well for all cooking purposes; the plate serving as a frying plan or skillet by 
providing it with a handle made by splitting the end of a stick, slipping it over the edge of the plate and driving a nail
through it, while the cup will serve to cook coffee, boil eggs or even make a stew.

But of course, if you wish, you can carry other cooking utensils ad libitum, especially if you don't depend upon 
shank's mare for your transportation.

CLOTHING:
To many, especially those who are new at camping, the matter of clothing is of very great moment. The average 
prospective camper looks over the catalogue of some sporting goods' dealer and finds that the beautifully made 
and exceedingly expensive clothing will cost more than all the rest of the outfit, or even more than the whole trip. 
This is a great mistake. The woods are no place for fancy dress, and as a rule the high-priced clothing designed —
ostensibly — for camping, is impractical and utterly worthless for real, dyed-in-the-wool roughing it. Provide the
stoutest, most comfortable and cheapest things possible. Khaki is good, but any stout, easy garments will serve 
every purpose. Don't mind if they are old, stained or worn — by the time you've been in the woods a week you'll 
never know the difference. 

Use woolen undergarments — in the woods one is often wet and dry by turns and cotton is worthless under such 
conditions. Stout easy shoes or knee-boots should be worn and moccasins will be found very comfortable about 
camp, when canoeing or in a dry country. If you are going to a rocky, mountainous district or must ford streams, 
have hob-nails in your boots and see that your footgear is always kept well greased and soft and pliable. Carry at 
least one change of undergarments, one of outer clothing if you can manage it, and plenty of socks or stockings.

Blankets are not essential, although comfortable and useful. A light, all-wool blanket and a very light rubber blanket 
add greatly to one's health and comfort and don't add much to the load, and if you are travelling by canoe or other 
conveyance by all means take blankets along. If the rubber blanket has a slit in the centre — with the edges bound 
with tape to prevent tearing — it will serve for a cape or poncho by slipping it over your head. Mosquito head nets 
should also be included if you are to camp where gnats, sand flies, black flies or mosquitoes are found, and there 
are mighty few places in the woods where these pests don't swarm in summer.

No two people can agree as to the amount of clothes they need and each must suit himself in this matter; the main 
thing is to be warm, comfortable and well protected, and of all things be sure that your footgear does not cramp, 
blister or chafe your feet. Don't start off with new shoes and don't wear silk socks or thin socks. Good, heavy wool is
the best material. What you want is durability and comfort, not appearance.

PROVISIONS:
Finally comes the matter of provisions. If you are going into a good fish or game country you will not require such a 
large stock or variety of food as in a district where you cannot hunt or fish to eke out your larder. If there are farm
houses or villages within reach you can get along with even less, whereas, if you are travelling up rivers or over 
watercourses by canoe or boat, or are going to your camping place by vehicle, take along all you can conveniently 
carry. No hard or fast rule can be given as to the provisions you'll require or the articles which are most essential,
aside from coffee, sugar, salt, lard (or cottolene), pepper, bacon, salt pork and a few such things which are about 
as necessary to camp life as an axe or matches.

But the following are all excellent, reliable, useful things and will serve as a guide to what camp provisions should 
consist of:

	Erbswurst, A composition of pea-meal, meat and vegetables compressed into a 
	sausage-shaped roll and adopted by nearly all armies as the nearest approach to 
	a perfect, all-around food. May be eaten raw or cooked in many ways.

	Soup Tablets, Various styles and flavours and very useful. Dissolved in hot water 
	they form a delicious soup which can be prepared in a few moments.

	Dried Vegetables. Best of vegetables evaporated and compressed. Equal to ten 
	or twelve times their weight in fresh vegetables and are easily prepared. Potatoes, 
	beans, spinach, carrots, cabbage, celery, onions, leeks, turnips, parsnips and many 
	other varieties. By far the best form in which to carry vegetables.

	Truemilk. A dried milk and superior to evaporated or condensed milk for camping 
	purposes.

	Army Bread or ''Hardtack" is the best, form of breadstuff for a camp trip.

	Truegg, or dried eggs, are delicious and most convenient. Made from strictly fresh 
	eggs beaten, evaporated and with all the properties of fresh eggs. Dissolved in 
	water before using. Can be made into omelettes, scrambled eggs, etc., and will keep 
	in any climate. One pound equals four dozen fresh eggs.

	Crystalose, is more compact and convenient than sugar, but does not possess all the 
	properties of sugar. Useful where the outfit must be limited and everything reduced to 
	the least possible weight.

I have often been asked how much food should be carried per person on a camping trip. This is one of the most 
difficult questions to answer, for appetites vary and what would be ample for one person might leave another half 
starved. The following has been decided upon by many experienced woodsmen as the quantity of food required for 
one individual for two weeks. If you are a light eater you can take less, if a heavy eater, more; but don't forget that 
your appetite will increase in the woods and don't overlook the possibilities of fish, game and farmers' supplies. If 
you err either way, take too much rather than too little however; in fact my advice is to take all you can carry. Even if
it does weigh a lot at the beginning you can console yourself with the thought that it will grow lighter each day.

By all means provide a supply of sweet or milk chocolate. It is one of the best and most nourishing of foods. A small 
cake of chocolate will keep one from hunger and fatigue in a marvellous manner and I have often tramped from 
dawn until dark with no other food than a cake of sweet chocolate. Nuts are also very compact food and peanut 
butter is excellent. Carry all flour and dry groceries in waterproof bags, for tins are cumbersome and are hard to 
pack well. Bags for this purpose may be made easily from waterproof canvas which can be purchased of any dealer 
in tents or sporting goods.

At last, when you have selected your clothing, have obtained your outfit and have decided upon your provisions, 
weigh them and find how much of a load you've to carry. The probability is that it will be a great deal more than you 
expected, but don't be discouraged unless you know you are not strong enough to carry it. Of course if it won't all 
go in the pack, or if it weighs a great deal, you will have to eliminate certain things, that is, if you are going to tramp 
with all your earthly camping possessions on your back; but if you are going by canoe or vehicle, the weight won't 
matter much. But even when "hoofing it," it will surprise you to find how much you can carry. When I was a boy of 
sixteen I spent a summer camping and trapping through the mountains of northern New Hampshire, and my regular 
load was fifty pounds. Some of the natives — fishermen and trappers — carried as much as one hundred pounds, 
but as a rule thirty-five pounds is all you'll want to tote until you become accustomed to it and one can get a 
surprising amount of dunnage into a thirty-five pound pack.

End of Excerpt.
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