Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

.TENTS FOR FIXED CAMPS 49tent; but it must be straight and smooth, or it willwear the canvas and make it leak. Small or medium-sizetents are best made with a strongly reinforcedouter ridge with cords by which the tent istied to an outside ridge pole (Fig. 11). In thiscase the pole need not be so straight nor so carefullytrimmed.An outside ridge pole is excellent to keep a tentfly clear all around from the tent roof, permittinga free circulation of air between the two, whichkeeps the tent cool in summer.Trenching the Tent.— This should alwaysbe done if camp is not to be vmoved frequently. Do not dig ^^othe ditch V-shaped, but cut ^^-^straight down, just outside thetent pegs and slope the trenchinward toward this dam (Fig.16). Cast the dirt away ; neverbank it against the tent, for it^^^ .v^^ould quickly rot the canvas. ^ -£^^ !!^^^Give the ditch a uniform slope ^^/^^^^^toward the lowest ground ^. , ^^Till,,— Fig. 16. Trenching:,around the tent. In the shal- Xentlowest places it need not be overthree inches deep. A trench that does not draiawell is worse than none.Tent Floors.— In fixed camp, especially if it isin a sandy place, the tent should have a board floor.Lay down the requisite number of 2" x 4" scantlingas floor-joists, setting them on flat rocks or posts ifnecessary. (It is well to let the front and rearjoists project far enough for a guy-rope frame to benailed to them.) Plank them over with dressedlumber. The edges should be dressed to match,",tongued and grooved flooring is best.If you have enough lumber, run a base-boardaround the sides and rear. Inside the base-boards,at each corner, set up a 2" x 4" joist to height of tentwall, and connect these corner posts at top by nar-^