
A Family Camping Outfit 
ECAUSE I believe this tenting 
B outfit approaches the ideal, I am 
endeavoring to pass the plans 
on to others. Any man who is handy 
with tools can make it. A series of 
rough pen sketches with brief explana- 
tions will make the idea clearer than 
many words could. So “why multiply 
words to no profit?” 
Figure 1 shows the exterior of the 
Openings in the wall can be made 
where desired. We have one on one 
side and two on the other. The sec- 
tion of wall between these two open- 
ings can be lifted up and with the use 
of two props, A, turned upside down, 
the spikes through the grommets, ropes 
slipped over the spikes and fastened to 
stakes, a “front porch” can be formed. 
‘Figure 2 shows the ridge pole. All 
of the interior framework about to be 
described, except the braces, is made 

‘Figure ne ph 
tent which was made from five army 
pup tents. Two of these small tents 
were sewed together to form the roof. 
The other three were used to make 
the sides. This gave us a large tent 
about fourteen feet long, six feet wide, 
eight feet high, and with five-foot walls 
making it possible to stand up in any 
part of it. 
The sticks marked A are five feet 
long and one inch square. There are 
eight of them. They are notched at 
the tops and have metal spikes in the 
bottoms. The ropes pass through the 
notches. The spikes go _ through 
grommets in the lower edge of the wall 
and into the ground. Thus the bottom 
is held down and the top up and the 
ropes may be almost perpendicular so 
there is little danger of tripping over 
them. Moreover, much less space is 
necessary for setting up than would 
be without these props. 
of straight grained hardwood pieces 
one and one-half inches in diameter. 
Referring to letters on the sketch, A 
is ridgepole, ten feet long; B, one end 
pole, eight feet long, hinged to ridge- 
pole with small strap hinge; C, metal 
pins in the ridgepole which pass through 
grommets in the tent top; D, half a 
hinge; E, other half of hinge on the 
other end pole; and F, pin tied to pole 
so it is always ready to insert in hinge 
sections. 
Figure 3 shows the end sections of 
the beds. There are two such sections 
built on one end pole and the middle 
pole of the tent, respectively. The 
middle pole has a pin in the top which 
fits into a hole in the ridgepole. The 
end pole has half of a hinge as shown 
in Figure 2, E. The explanation of 
this figure, 3, is as follows: A, small 
strap hinges. Sixteen are required; 
B, slots for ends of bed rails; C, one- 
A % 
Ci 
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2 
fourth inch wire braces bolted to pole 
at the bottom and hooking into screw 
eyes at the tops; D, the fifth bed which 
we use. If only four beds are required 
this fifth one can be omitted. If six 
are wanted another tier exactly like 
the two lower ones can be built. If 
braced as suggested the weight to be 
supported would be borne easily; E, 
the details for hooking the fifth bed, 
an eye bolt through end of rail, a 
notched cross - bar, a one-fourth inch 
wire hook bolted to pole at the top; F, 
end view of a bed. The canvas can be 
put on loose or otherwise as desired. 
G, bed section folded for travel. 
Figure 4 shows a side view of beds. 
A, the rails to which canvas is tacked. 
These should be at least six and one- 
half feet long—longer if you expect to 
have a seven foot man in the party. 
The canvas is folded over each rail 
and tacked on the under side. B, the 
braces. These are made of wood one 
inch by three-fourths inch. They are 
bolted to the rails outside of the can- 
vas and fold up with the beds. C, de- 
tails showing how braces fasten to bed 
posts. The articles used for each 
brace are two screw eyes, a narrow 
hinge section and a suitable pin tied 
with a string so it won’t get lost. D, 
detail showing pins in bed rail to pre- 
vent endplay, and also showing where 
edge of canvas comes. E, shows 
method of hanging fifth bed. 
Figure 5 is for the purpose of show- 
ing how the outfit is carried. A box is 
made which fits on the running board 
of the car.. This is secured in place 
by means of staples in the ends of the 
box to which are fastened turnbuckles 
having hooks attached which slip into 
eyebolts inserted in holes bored in the 
running board. On the top of the box 
are brackets into which all of the poles 
and beds are packed to prevent chafing 
on the car. The paint is not touched 
anywhere. Hooks on the ends of the 
box make it easy to tie everything in 
place so it will ride all day. If it is 
= c 
° 8B 
Tigi ure 2. 
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