September, 1918 
FOREST AND STREAM 
547 
the sleeper therein a solid degree of com¬ 
fort. On the other hand the warm weather 
tent does not count the fire as a necessity, 
but may be conveniently closed up at night. 
Therefore the shelter tent must have ven- 
The camp site should be dry 
tilators, or netting as a protection against 
mosquitoes. Where one remembers to take 
along netting, ten forget it and suffer as 
a consequence. If the netting is ingeni¬ 
ously and tightly sewed in front of a tent 
it may be thrown wide open. This can 
easily be done before leaving on your trip. 
In the matter of how a shelter tent is put 
up, I see no use in the inside pole. This 
is not only always in the way and a detri¬ 
ment, but if it is of the purchased form 
that joints together it means so much more 
to add to your outfit. Rather the tent can 
be set up using shear poles; or a pole may 
be laid across two crotches from one tree 
to another, and the tent thus set up; or, 
as in the case of the highly efficient Grace 
tent, a ridge stick about two feet long 
threads through loops along the top. To 
the center of this stick a small rope is tied 
and from there is tied, when stretched, to 
a bough of a tree above. Nothing could be 
more efficient than this. Remember to 
procure a tent where it is possible to get 
along without the inside pole. 
Many buyers of shelter tents see it men¬ 
tioned that “sod cloths” are furnished with 
the tent. They believe that this sod cloth 
means what would be termed a floor can¬ 
vas; that covers the whole floor space. 
This is not true. The sod cloth is merely 
a strip of the same material as the tent 
that goes around the whole affair, inside 
of the tent, and is no more than eight 
inches or so wide. This is meant to fol¬ 
low the lay of the ground and should be 
weighted with stones placed on it to pre¬ 
vent wind from working in at the bottom. 
The true floor canvas is called a “ground 
cloth,” remember that, and does not come 
with the tent. This must be purchased 
extra and may be had in any degree of 
material from very heavy duck to compar¬ 
atively lightweight stuff. Because so little 
is written about sleeping on the ground I 
will here mention a little about it. In the 
Srst place a ground cloth is a good thing, 
but it need not (nor would I recommend) 
hat it be sewed on around the inside of 
he tent to the sod cloth. Rather the 
ground cloth should be separate by itself. 
To sleep on the bare ground is not only 
severely uncomfortable, but lays one in 
the way of getting a cold, and many other 
possible ailments. Rather one sets up the 
tent towards 
the close of 
the day, and 
then scouts 
around for 
his “mat¬ 
tress” which 
is offered in 
leaves, dry or 
otherwise, and 
especially of 
balsam, the 
smaller twigs 
of which are 
stripped off 
and laid down 
to form a 
thick and 
springy basis. 
Naturally a 
bed like this 
cannot be 
made in five 
minutes, nor ten—that is, if a good one is 
to be had. Take your time and make it 
thick, and avoid laying down whole boughs, 
for the wood ribs will press against your 
back when you weigh down on it and will 
not add comfort at all. Rather strip the 
balsam, and get the finer twigs; or use 
leaves, or grass, whatever comes in handy. 
Now when this basis is made, cover it 
with your canvas and your bed is con¬ 
structed. The matter of a cover, woolen 
or heavier, depends entirely upon the cir¬ 
cumstances you are in, whether you are 
on a canoe trip, where such covers may 
be admitted; or whether on a hiking trip, 
when covers must be dropped—at least 
heavy ones. Light ones can be used, to 
take up not so very much space in your 
outfit. As for a pillow many a man uses 
his pack-sack. A pillow case can be taken 
along, which, stuffed with leaves and grass, 
makes a comparatively good head-rest. 
When sleeping out close to the Mother 
Earth one does not expect, nor desire, the 
comforts attainable in a Waldorf-Astoria. 
and well cleared 
A S a precaution, the shelter tent 
should never be pitched in a low, 
damp spot. Try to find a high, airy 
place if pos¬ 
sible, even if 
stopping over 
for the night 
only. This 
spot should 
have natural 
slopage, so 
that if rain 
should come, 
it would tend 
to go away 
from the tent, 
instead of 
into it. This 
rule is simple 
to follow and 
costs you 
nothing. If 
possible 
scrape ditches This tent may be 
around the tent, in case of rain. There is 
nothing so ill to comfort as being drowned 
out. If you hang your tent up by the rope 
from the top, as you do the Grace tent, the 
Canoe tent and the Pyramid tent, be sure 
that you do not select a large one. Light¬ 
ning generally hunts out large trees, but 
skips by all small ones. 
I have found that the round straps 
around the tent, through which you insert 
and drive down the pegs, are but short¬ 
lived. You would have much better ser¬ 
vice if you eliminate these and firmly sew 
on steel rings about one and three-eighths 
inches across. These never rot off, nor 
give in. I would suggest that you try 
these rings in place of the canvas straps 
and you will never be without them. 
If you are going on a canoe trip the 
transportation problem is of course solved. 
But if you are going on a hiking trip, and 
must carry everything, that is quite a dif¬ 
ferent proposition. There are shelter tents 
that can be used as pack sacks. I have 
tried the Grace tent that way and will say 
that I am pleased with the idea. However, 
for hiking I use the northern packsack en¬ 
tirely, a sizable one. It is known in north¬ 
ern Minnesota as the Duluth packsack. 
Your dealer ought to be able to furnish 
you with one. I do not know who makes 
them; they are evidently made by differ¬ 
ent manufacturers, no person holding a 
special right over the patent. The north¬ 
ern packsack is quite a relief from the 
other cumbersome carriers, etc., will hold 
a good amount of stuff and the distribution 
of the weight correctly on the back (there 
being two straps, one passing over either 
shoulder), makes it both convenient and 
comfortable. Now on the top of this pack, 
to the canvas drop cover, two straps are 
fastened, about eight inches apart. Each 
of these straps have buckles. The shelter 
tent is rolled up compactly, laid on these 
straps, and strapped on. The tent is never 
laid under the cover which in itself is 
strapped at the bottom of the sack. 
A question I have often been asked is 
what size and what price one should pay 
for a shelter tent. There I must answer 
that it all depends upon how many are go¬ 
ing to use the tent, if only one, or two or 
more. If four persons go on a trip it is 
well to have two tents. (I am thinking 
more of a canoe trip than a hiking trip). 
It also depends upon what grade of mate- 
supported by a pole or a branch 
