101 Camping Out Ideas & Activities

RANGER OR GYPSY TENTS AND TRAPPERS' BIVOUACS

If you are to be truly at home in the out-of-doors, you should learn how to build a shelter for yourself. There is no genuine trapper or ranger who has not spent at least one night sleeping under the sky. We've all read stories about the weary traveler who "dug a hollow for his hips in the soft ground and slept until dawn." Even this primitive sleeping arrangement calls for some knowledge of how to adjust to the prevailing conditions. Try lying down on the bare ground to sleep. You will notice quickly enough that the hip bone on whichever side you are lying is in your way. Dig out a depression, just big enough for your hip bone, and you will immediately notice how much more comfortable you are. You can go one step further, and cushion the hole with some fine sand, or you can place some slightly crumpled paper in the hollow for insulation against the cold.

You can be even more comfortable if you put up a ranger's tent,

which requires very few materials. All you need is a rectangular piece of cotton cloth, 6 or 7 feet long. To waterproof it, make a brew from the bark of an oak or birch tree, and let the cloth soak in it for two days. The ranger's tent can then be used as a raincoat too.

In one corner make an eyelet large enough to run a thick cord through. At the other three corners, sew on small leather loops that you will attach to the tent pegs.

With this cloth, a solid cord 10 to 14 feet long, and a few pieces of branches from which you can cut your own tent pegs, you will have sufficient equipment to sleep out pleasantly on even a cool summer night without having to worry about a cloudburst. Set the tent up as pictured in the illustration.

The way you pitch the tent is important. The entrance must remain open and the tent should narrow toward the rear, so you must always be careful to have the opening turned away from the windy or storm side. To keep out the cold, you can hang a raincoat or windbreaker in front of the opening, or put your rucksack in front of it. There's an even simpler way: gather some leafy limbs and branches and, after you crawl into the tent, close off the en-

trance with them, sticking them in the ground like a fence in front of the opening. You can also do as rangers do. In cold weather they just light a fire in front of the tent entrance and lay a few thick, dry branches on the coals before going to bed. If the tent is set up right, the wind will carry the smoke away from it.

Gypsies also use similar tents, but they make theirs somewhat larger because several persons usually share a single tent. For two people the rectangle is about 7 by 10 feet. In this case too, the size and the addition of eyelets and leather loops depend on the particular needs. With this sort of tent, set up more or less like the ranger's tent, the open sides are closed off with bushes. A long branch stuck in a loose stone wall or in a wood pile stands as a roof beam to give the tent a solid support.

A tent of this type needs a little ditch around it just as more modern tents do. This ditch catches the rain water as it runs off the sides and carries it away. Without the ditch the water would seep into the ground around the bottom of the tent, soak it, and then run inside the tent.

It is always important to stretch the sides of the tent tightly, so that there are no folds. Even tightly woven cloth that has not been waterproofed will shed the rain if it is stretched taut. An umbrella is an example of this. However, the minute you bump against the side of such a tent during a heavy rain, it will start to drip at the spot you hit. If this happens, just press your finger against the spot and draw it straight down along the side of the tent to the ground—the water will flow off without bothering you any more.

Lay dry grass, reeds or branches on the floor of the tent, or perhaps you can get an armful of hay or straw somewhere. Even a layer of newspapers is useful. This will protect you from the cool­ness of the ground (unless you have decided to camp in the middle of a swamp—which is not recommended).

The choice of a camping site is important. The earth should not have too much clay, or it will keep the water from being absorbed. And don't camp in the middle of a hollow where the rain water can collect. Loose, sandy ground is warm and com­ fortable. It is pleasant to have a wooded area or a rise in the ground to protect you from the storm side. In northern latitudes, the storm side is the west, northwest, or southwest.

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