Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

—BIVOUACS 29proaches; to-morrow may be a hard day. Besides,you are quite too tired already to waste the crook ofyour finger on non-essentials, while aimless potteringwould be your ruin. The job must be tackledmethodically.So think back along your recent route and recallthe best place where all four of those things youneed are to be found—that is, the raw materialsand go to it.I am assuming that the night is likely to be cold,but that there is no indication of rain or snowthat contingency will be considered later.In a primitive forest there are big fallen trees onnearly every acre. Find a sound one that lies flaton level ground. You might use it either as a backlogor as a windbreak; the latter in this case, sinceyou are to erect no shelter. In summer, a bed ofdead leaves piled against the log, with a small firein front, would be a good cubby for the night. Butwe assume that there will be frost.Select the spot that you intend to lie on (leewardside of the log, of course), cover it with dry brush,and set it afire. The object is to dry out the groundand heat it. If the tree is not punky it will standa considerable blaze close to it without igniting morethan little spots on the bark, which can be extinguishedwith a handful or two of dirt. But don't,on your life, kindle a fire against a decayed or hollowlog—you never could be sure of putting it out. Ifthere are no sound down-logs, build an artificialwindbreak of poles laid on top of each other andchinked with earth.You first have raked the leaves together towardthe center so that the fire cannot spread. Don'tmake too big a blaze at a time. When the groundyou are to sleep on is burned ofF, keep a fire of smallsticks going on it for half an hour, the length andwidth you are to occupy. Meantime you will bedragging in, and piling on one side, all the sound,dry wood you can get, for the night's fuel. Get