Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

226 CAMPING AND WOODCRAFTA slab camp may be made a very comfortable re«treat by taking a little more pains, and it will lastunimpaired for years, providing ready-made quartersfor future trips. Instead of plain slabs, which letin more or less rainwater, owing to imperfect joiningat the laps, use "scoops." These are sim.ply slabswith the flat side hollowed out into shallow troughsor gutters. This is done by cutting a series ofcross hacks a few inches apart along the core of theslab from end to end, then, splitting these out bychopping lightly lengthwise of the slab. Havingset up your ridge pole,Fig. 65.—Slab Camproll a good sized log to forma back for the camp, about seven feet from the ridge,and peg it in position. Lay the scoops overlappingfrom ridge to log (Fig. 65) and nail them fast, ordrive stakes at the rear against ends of scoops. Thenenclose the sides with splits or bark, and chinkcrevices around the log with moss or clay.The siding may extend to the roof, being trimmedthere to proper angle, or may rise little or no higherthan the side bar shown in the illustration. Thelatter plan is best in localities where there are eddyingand contrary winds, because it lets smoke out,instead of smoking out the occupants. It is thedraught along the ground that chills sleepers, notwhat comes from above.In a mountainous region it may be necessary to