Camping and camp cooking

A camping outfit should be light and compact with all unnecessary articles eliminated and all needful ones included. That reads a little funny, but it is the gist of the whole question and the biggest question that was ever presented to a man. That is, you will think so when you are trying to get a 100-pound outfit over a swampy carry on a rainy day and while laying up over a spell of wet weather afterward. In the first place, you wonder why you brought so much truck, and in the second place, why you did not bring many other things. So it seems needless to say that the composition of an outfit depends, to some extent, on the individual taste of the camper, and more upon the character of the trip.

No sane man would carry the same amount of “duffle” on a walking trip that he would if he went with a team, or if he was to be in a permanent camp during the whole of his trip. Hence, I propose to classify them into two sorts—walking trips and permanent camps. But before I set down the list of impedimenta I want to moralize a little.

I confess that I enjoy the comforts of life, and as many of the luxuries as my purse or circumstances will allow; and while I have enjoyed many tramps with nothing but what I could easily carry in my knapsack, I enjoy one much better if I have more conveniences, and very few vacationists care to “rough it” too much in the short time they have for their annual trips, and there is no need to do so.

One of the finest woodsmen and grandest of men, “Nessmuk,” has written a book which is a criterion for the man who can stand that kind of trip; but what sort of a vacation do you suppose a city clerk would have if he patterned his trip after this model? The question was not needed; he simply would not try it; for the average city clerk is not so big a fool as he appears to the average country dweller. So let it go at that. To get back on our trail again. A party would not need the same outfit in July that he would require in October—and while there is no sense in sleeping cold at night because of a lack of blankets, there is also no use for a sleeping-bag for a July camping trip, and in this judgment of the actual necessities is where the average camper fails.

The majority of camping parties occur in the warm season when game birds and animals are protected by law, and there is no need for a gun, but most men will confess to a feeling of greater security when there is a firearm in camp. A light revolver will serve all purposes to drive away marauding animals or to while away a dull hour at target practice, and a little practice will render it thus available.

In the fall of the year the fishrod will be replaced by the shotgun and rifle, but it is always well to have a line and a few hooks in the ditty bag. A few fish will make an acceptable change in the diet, even if a deer hangs at the tent door.

The following lists have been compiled from the experience of many years in fitting out parties for the woods and are intended to cover everything that is needed and with the idea that the man who reads them knows but little about the subject and wants to know all about it; and as parties will vary in number of persons composing it, I have individualized the items.

OUTFIT FOR A TRIP OF TEN DAYS ON FOOT—SUMMER OR FALL.

For the Party.

• Light tent
• Light axe
• Camera
• Camp kettle
• Fry pan
• Coffee can
• Tight can for condensed milk

Clothes, bedding, etc., for each man.

• Rubber poncho
• Heavy blanket
• Cloth bag for pillow
• Some small cloth bags for provisions
• Pack strap
• Whetstone
• Map
• Rod, reel and line
• 2 dozen flies
• 2 dozen hooks on gut
• Suit of woolen clothes
• Wool outing shirt
• 2 suits of underwear
• Soft hat
• 2 pair extra socks
• Shoes
• 2 handkerchiefs
• 2 towels
• Mosquito net
• Belt and knife
• Pocket knife
• Compass
• Watch
• Tin plate
• Fork, large and small spoon
• Tin cup
• Pipe and tobacco
• Matches
• Waterproof matchbox
• Insect repeller
• Cake of soap
• Comb
• Needle, thread and buttons
• Pencil and notebook
• Money in small change

• ½ pint brandy and Jamaica ginger
• 1 ounce Tinct. Rhubarb

Food for Each Man.

• 5 lbs. hard bread
• 7 lbs. ham, bacon or pork
• 2 lbs. dried fruit
• 2 cans condensed milk
• ½ lb. salt
• 2 lbs. sugar
• 1 lb. coffee
• ¼ lb. tea

• After September 1st add a sleeping bag, gun and 50 cartridges, and omit the fishing rod and reel, but carry a line and a few hooks.

OUTFIT FOR TEN DAYS IN PERMANENT CAMP—SUMMER OR FALL.

For the Party.

To the previous list add:

• Broiler
• Baker
• Iron bean-pot
• Stew pan
• Camp stove if you wish
• Bucket
• 4 tin plates for service
• 4 glass fruit jars for butter, etc.
• Lantern
• Candles
• Laundry soap
• Soap powder
• 50 ft. ¼-in. rope and some twine
• Kit of tools
• Nails and screws
• Boards for table
• Canoe or boat

For Each Man.

To the list of clothes, etc., add:

• Rubber boots
• Table knife
• Another tin plate, cup and spoon

Food per Man.

• 2 lbs. crackers
• 5 lbs. flour
• 3 lbs. meal
• ½ lbs. baking powder
• 4 lbs. ham, bacon or pork
• 2 cans corned beef
• 1 lb. dried fruit
• 3 cans fruit
• 3 cans condensed milk
• 1 lb. rice
• 1 qt. pea beans
• ½ pk. potatoes
• 1 qt. onions
• ½ lb. salt
• 1 oz. pepper
• 1 lb. butter
• 3 lbs. sugar
• 1 lb. coffee
• ¼ lb. tea

In regard to the cooking apparatus much can be said. There is a golden mean between bare necessity and absolute convenience, that must be estimated by the character of the trip. When walking, with the lightest possible amount of “duffle,” a tin plate may be used to cook everything that cannot be spitted or baked in the ashes. For a camp kettle on a walking trip I use a common tin pail with riveted ears to hold the bail. Do not let the water boil out of it while on the fire. Throw it away when you get to the end of the trip. In permanent camp this is replaced by a “graniteware” kettle, which forms the vehicle for many a savory stew and chowder, besides the more plebeian potato and onion. I prefer this form of kettle, even if it be a little cumbersome, for if the water boils away, as it sometimes will in spite of all precautions, you will not be left with a bottomless dish.

The coffee can may also be a tin pail, but in whatsoever form it may be, see that it is so made that it can be hung over the fire. Eschew all patent contrivances for making coffee; they are a delusion and a snare for the feet of the unwary, and utterly unnecessary. The tight can for condensed milk is a necessary thing when moving about; to prevent waste a screw top is best.

The fry pan is an important part of the outfit, but not the most important. In it may be cooked the entire food for the party—meat, fish, bread and even the coffee. But look out that it is of a convenient pattern for transportation. Get a ten-inch thin iron pan, with a socket on one side for a temporary handle, or have the handle entirely removed, and fit it with a portable handle to screw to the side. This detachable handle may be used to lift any dish from the fire.

But because you have a pet fry pan, with automatic accessories, do not become a slave to it. Use the broiler on all possible occasions. The stomach of the camper will stand many severe strains, but it will finally rebel if treated to too much grease. Use as little of this lubricant as possible, and you will be surprised at the small quantity needed.

The remainder of the kit, with the exception of the baker, needs no special comment; and of that piece of apparatus, I have long been in doubt whether it was a desirable article for the camping outfit.

Personally, I never use the baker, as I prefer to bake my bread in the fry pan, and my fish I roll in wet paper or leaves and bake in the ashes. With a desire to advise those who disagree with me, I wish to say that I was with a party who used an oven which accompanied a cooking outfit, and it worked nicely. In fact, the whole apparatus was without reproach, and was evidently the result of practical experience. If I could afford it, and had the room for its transportation, I should use one just like it, when I had a large party to provide for, as it saved time and some trouble; but it was no better than the more primitive method of the “bean hole,” which will be discussed later.

A rubber blanket of some description is very necessary, and I prefer the poncho with a slit in the middle to enable it to be put over the shoulders in case of rain as well as to lay beneath the blankets while sleeping, to keep off the dampness of the earth. If this pattern cannot be obtained have two eyeletted holes made in one edge of a rubber sheet, far enough apart so that it may be looped around the neck. The ordinary blanket may be of any character that is desired. I use a light wool blanket together with a light cotton blanket, both double and uncut, for summer use, and a regulation sleeping bag for cooler weather. The latter may be made of oiled duck lined with the summer blankets, or with one or more quilted puffs made of calico and cotton batting.

The cloth bag—size of a pillow case—is a very convenient article to be filled with leaves or fir spills; this, however, is not indispensable, for a good pillow may be extemporized of a pair of shoes with a person’s outer clothing laid over them. The small cloth bags will be found convenient in packing remnants of food, sugar, coffee, etc., which is so easily scattered by the ordinary paper packages becoming broken.

Now a word in regard to clothes. Eschew caps, helmets and straw hats, and wear a soft felt hat, the softer the better; it will stand rain, will not get broken, will keep the sun out of the eyes and can be used for a multitude of purposes from acting as holder for a hot pan or kettle to stopping a hole in a stoven boat. Canvas clothes are a delusion; they make a lot of noise in the brush and are uncomfortable when wet. Wear a suit of old woolen clothes with a light flannel shirt; no vest is needed. These garments are comfortable and warm, even when damp, and are easily dried. Look out for your feet; wear good, solid leather boots, and change your socks every night, washing out and drying each night the pair worn during the day. This little attention to the comfort will prevent sore feet on a long tramp. The remainder of the articles seem to explain themselves. Never wear new boots.

FOOD.

There now remains the question of food, and it is the most difficult of all to handle, since there is such a diversity of taste. I have endeavored to apportion the ration to a healthy man’s appetite and have considered that there will be more or less fish, game, berries, etc., gathered by the party. If there is no one who can cook, of course food must be procured already prepared. But it seems very improbable that some of the party will not take sufficient interest in this most important requisite of camping to secure information from his feminine relatives or friends, and practice sufficient to enable him to make a good cup of coffee, a respectable flapjack and to fry a pan of fish. With the materials set down in the list, with what fish, etc., will be brought in, an ordinary camp cook will, in a permanent camp, supply a different menu nearly every day in the week. For instance, a party of three would be provided with 18 pounds of meat for ten days; this would include 3 pounds ham, 4 pounds bacon, 5 pounds salt pork and 6 pounds corned beef. The pork would be used in baking beans and frying fish, and the others for broiling and hashes, while flapjacks, johnny-cakes, pan-cakes, rice and fruit puddings could be concocted from the list.