Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

v^HAPTER IVFURNITURE, TOOLS, AND UTEN-SILS FOR FIXED CAMPSWhen you go a-camping, make yourself as comfortableas you can. It is neither heroic nor sensibleto put peas in your boots to mortify the flesh.There is no comfort in toting a lot of baggage overbad trails, but when there is a wagon to carry foldingcots and camp chairs, take them along.Pack your provisions, and some of the other things,in boxes that will serve for cupboards and coldstoragein camp. Put some ready-cut shelf boards inthem, and leather for hinges. Make sure beforehandthat you can get enough lumber at your destinationto make a dining table and benches.Straw beds on the ground soon get fusty, andthey attract vermin. Fixed bunks in a tent harbordirt and dampness.Cots.— For a bed in fixed camp, or wherevertransportation is adequate, choose a folding cot. Itis easy to keep presentable. It makes a comfortablelounge or settee, as well as a good bed. It can bepicked up bodily and carried out every morning tosun and air, leaving the tent floor free for sweeping.Wire-bottomed cots are too cumbersome for generalcamping. Canvas stretcher-beds with framesthat fold compactly are the right things. I havechosen four models for illustration.Length.