Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

CAMP BEDDING 125half enough to keep out the bone-searching chill thatcomes up from the damp ground. This will neverdo. Pneumonia or rheumatism may follow. Hearises, this time for good, passes a wretched nightbefore the fire, and dawn finds him a haggard, wornouttype of misery, disgusted with camp life andeager to hit the back trail for home.The moral is plain. This sort of roughing it isbad enough when one is compelled to submit to it.It kills twice as many soldiers as bullets do. Whenit is endured merely to show off one's fancied toughnessand hardihood it is rank folly. Even the dumbbeasts know better, and they are particular aboutmaking their beds.This matter of a good portable bed is the mostserious problem in outfitting. A man can standalmost any hardship by day, and be none the worsefor it, provided he gets a comfortable night's rest;but without sound sleep he will soon go to pieces, nomatter how gritty he may be.In selecting camp bedding we look for the mostwarmth with the least w-^eight and bulk, for durabilityunder hard usage, and for stuff that will nothold moisture long, but will dry out easily.Warmth depends upon insulation. The bestinsulation is given by dry air confined in the intersticesof the covering, this covering being thickenough to keep one's animal heat from escaping tooreadily.Of course, materials vary in conductivity — cottonand other vegetable fibers being coldest, silk andwool warmer, fur and feathers warmest of all —but, irrespective of materials, the degree of insulationafforded by a covering depends upon its fluffiness,or looseness of texture, and its thickness ofbody. This means bulk; there is no way of gettingaround it ; there must be room for confined air.Innumerable expedients have been tried to keepdown bulk by using impermeable insulators, suchas oaper, oiled cotton or silk, and rubber or rubber-