Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

38 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTto keep the interior dry and secure against insects;but in a fixed camp such a carpet is a nuisance. Itgets filthy, and it stays so. Bare earth is soontrodden down hard so that it is easy to sweep andkeep clean. I have lived for months in an unflooredcabin, and my partner and I had no troubleto keep the earthen floor neat to the eye and moresanitary than any carpet. If you want a floor in atent, build a real one of dressed boards brought alongfor the purpose.Vextilatiox.— " Nessmuk " used to rail at walltents and wedge tents because they were so fustyand damp and cheerless. So they are when improperlybuilt and carelessly managed. One's mainreason for camping out should be to get plenty offresh air and sunshine. It is not enough to havegood air in daytime. One-third of our time isspent in bed. And yet it is common practice toclose the tent tight at night, especially if there areany mosquitoes about. Consider. Who wouldspend summer nights at home with no windowopen ? Well, a tent closed up is less permeable toair than the average house w^ith windows down.The notion that night air in the woods is malarialor otherwise unwholesome is idiotic. It isthe best air there is. Still, you can't buy a walltent in America that has proper means of ventilation,unless you have it built to order. Army tentshave ventilators, so-called, that are nothing but ahole at each peak, four inches wnde and eight incheslong. A tent window, to be of any account, shouldbe not less than 12 x i8 inches.Our best tent makers will fit one or more windowsin a tent wherever the owner wants them, atfrom $1.00 to $2.50 each. The opening is coveredwith fine-mesh bobbinet, taped around the edgesand crosswise, with a canvas storm flap that can beraised or lowered from the inside (Fig. 4). A moreelaborate kind, that may be detached and rolled upwhen the lent is folded, is made of copper mosquito