THE OUTDOOR BED QUESTION
To one who has never done any camping the choice of a bed is one that
nettles him and he will have doubts about being comfortable with the
outfits recommended by those of experience. Upon no article of
wilderness equipment is there so much diversity of opinion expressed nor
upon which more experimentation is lavished by the average enthusiast
than the camp bed. From the cumbersome bedstead of civilization to the
necessarily extremely portable bed of the movable camp is a far cry. In
spite of all experiences the latter is found to be best patterned after
principles of the former. Just the method of adaptation is the problem
that confronts us.
The tenderfoot styles himself a woodsman by displaying willingness to
sleep on a poorly prepared bed, even boasting of the smallness and
lightness of this part of his outfit. He is out to “rough it,” you know.
The seasoned campaigner on the other hand prides himself on the comfort
of his nightly abode. The native Indian can and often does sleep on a
hard bed and you can simulate him when you are accustomed to it but
probably you will not have the time to get used to this on the short
vacation you will have.
A man may abuse his physical powers by day in the most exhausting work.
He can go into the wilderness expecting to pay small attention to a
comfortable and rejuvenating night’s rest but he can not stand up under
it. One can make out for a few hours on most any kind of makeshift for a
bed if his sleep is from exhaustion but sooner or later he will be
disturbed by the inequalities of the earth’s surface, rocks, sticks and
mounds, and when awake his muscles will be stiff and sore, his powers
unrefreshed and he will soon go to pieces.
A good bed is no disgrace. The men who are obliged to live out of doors
all the time, on the range or forest trails are likely to be the very
ones most particular about their beds and to see some of them at work on
browse bunk and rude shelter one would believe they were preparing to
spend the rest of their days in that particular spot. So no matter how
light you travel provide for a suitable night’s rest. Should your
fastidiousness lead you to add any foible to the already completed pack
let it be on this essential item of wilderness equipment.
By careful choice the bed need not be cumbersome to pack and yet be
ample to satisfy all needs. It should protect the sleeper from the cold
which is greatest near the tent’s floor and from the winds whose
greatest force is spent when it contends against the properly pitched
shelter overhead. Provision must be made for keeping the bedding off the
ground and for allowing an egress of moisture in the summer and a
retention of heat in winter. One has a variety of styles to choose from,
ranging from sleeping on the warmed bare ground to luxuriating on the
latest invention for creature comfort when camping--the combined
pneumatic mattress and blanket bag.
In all likelihood you will depend for warmth upon blankets. Their use is
so universal that we need no discussion other than in regard to their
quality and shape. As commonly used a blanket bed throws open easily;
there is no condensation of moisture and the sleeper is able to wrap up
snugly, retaining all of the generated animal heat. Lambs’ wool fibers
are peculiar in that they have a natural repulsion for water. They have
the attribute of holding air in the interstices between the fibers,
thus creating a dead air space which is a nonconductor of heat. On
account of these things wool becomes ideal for body covering. Damp wool
will not chill, which condition the outer is often up against many times
a day. In summer the evaporation of surplus moisture and in winter the
retention of animal heat is obtained. The thicker and looser the texture
of woolen goods the greater will be the warmth.
Cotton is objectionable because it is not warm and is in danger of being
“fired” from stray camp fire sparks. The wool of the South American
llama is a new material used for outing purposes and besides having all
the good attributes of lamb’s wool has an additional one of being very
much lighter in weight. A llama blanket weighs about six pounds and
equals in warmth about fifteen pounds of ordinary blanket. The secret of
its warmth is in the great number of air cells between the loose texture
of its fibers which retain body heat. At the same time it gets rid of
the moisture which the sleeper throws off in great quantities as natural
body emanations. Its prohibitive cost will prevent its general adoption.
Eiderdown in no way equalizes temperatures. It simply retains moisture
and heat and is too warm except on the coldest nights. Usually in the
form of a quilt whose outer cloth covering tears easily the fluffy down
is hard to control. It is of little use beneath the sleeper because the
pressure squeezes out the confined air.
The blanket as well as the union suit then had best be all wool of the
domestic lamb variety. In buying blankets beware that many of those
offered you may be humbug. See to it that you get an article made up of
curly wool fibers and not “adulterated” by the straight cotton kind--a
differentiation easily determined by the aid of a small magnifying
glass. Also see to it that the weight is in the thickness and not in the
size. In this country the regulation Army blanket is to be depended
upon. However, if they can be secured, a person will certainly make no
mistake in getting a genuine Hudson Bay or Mackinaw. The proper weight
is about five pounds per blanket and size seventy-two by seventy-eight
is about right. If you get it too narrow you cannot then roll it up so
snugly for packing nor wrap it so closely about the body at night.
The number of blankets needed depends somewhat upon the time of year and
the locality of use and whether or not the all night fire is to be
used. In ordinary summer weather one blanket is enough especially if
combined with the proper browse bag and wind break and is enough even
for frosty autumn temperatures up to stream freezing time, excepting in
the higher altitudes. With the temperature under thirty-two degrees two
Army blankets will be needed.
Many mountaineers to whom strenuous pedestrianism and cold nights of the
higher altitudes necessitate the lightest form of bedding prefer wool
quilts which are folded and sewed on one end and half up one side in the
form of a sleeping bag which is protected from the damp ground by a
waterproof balloon silk cover.
Where the transportation is inadequate as on a hike trip, the wearing of
an extra suit of underwear is as warm as an extra blanket. One then gets
the dead air space between the wool and the warmth is thereby
intensified because the number of layers of covering retains the heat
longer than one thick layer of the same weight.
In Arctic work the clothing and bed cover must be chosen with one
particular fact in mind--that moisture condensation from the body
perspiration or from accidental immersion in water must be eliminated,
otherwise ice will form to the detriment of the individual. Any woven
fabric will hold condensation while fur will not. Fur then is the
clothing and bed cover of choice where one is exposed to extremes in
cold. The fur should be worn with the hair outside the same way that the
animals wear it, otherwise it is too hot. The best fur is caribou skin
and it is warmer and lighter than a blanket of wool. Llama wool is next
best.
Very satisfactory fur robes may be made of the rabbit or cat skin and if
made after the following method you will have the warmest bed fabric
known to man. The skins are tanned by soaking the “green” hides in
running water for one to four hours. Then the flesh and fat is peeled
off with a dull knife and the skin soaked for two days in a tan liquor
of sulphuric acid (_poison_) one ounce, salt one quart and water one
gallon contained in an earthen jar. Rinse the skin in clear water, dry
and when partly dried work well in the hands thus breaking up the fibers
to keep it soft.
The tanned and softened skin is now cut into long strips one-fourth of
an inch wide, which are tied or sewed together, each strip being twisted
so that the fur stands out all around the hide thong. These strips are
then interbraided into a loose web in a frame the size your blanket is
to be. The chief objection to this article is that it is heavy and the
fur sheds a good deal so it is best to cover the blanket with light
cloth which of course adds some weight without giving any additional
warmth. A full sized rabbit robe weighs ten pounds and is warmer than
many blankets of wool. The secret of its warmth is the dead air
interspaces between the fibers.
There is considerable difference of opinion among woodsmen regarding the
choice between the sleeping bag and blanket bed. There are good
arguments for and against. As usually made a sleeping bag consists of
two parts:--(1) a cover for protection from rain, dampness, and wind,
and (2) a warm lining to retain body heat. To its credit may be
enumerated these facts: Being sack-like the sleeping bag retains the
heat within and keeps the cold out. It is easy to unroll, keeps out dirt
and wind and the contents may remain dry and one has full protection in
any kind of weather.
The objectionable feature is that the bag cannot be drawn up closely to
the body and the resulting air space is difficult to warm up. It is hard
to adjust the top to keep the air from the sleeper’s shoulders and the
inevitable twisting and turning of the sleeper bunches the blanket up
around the limbs.
A sleeping bag really is no substitute for a roof overhead on a rainy
night as alluring advertisements would lead you to believe. Its
waterproof cover retains inside moisture from the air and the body
exudations of the sleeper thereby adding appreciably to the blanket’s
weight. Thus a waterproof cover is no more wholesome to sleep in than a
rubber boot is wholesome for one’s foot. In ordinary weather the
sleeping bag is too hot and in chilly weather it is not as warm as it is
supposed to be. Its narrow shape makes it difficult to crawl into the
head end and it is very inconvenient should one need to get up several
times a night to fix a night fire.
It is an unpleasant trap to be in when a squall springs up suddenly at
night or the tent catches fire. No less famous an explorer than Peary
discarded the sleeping bag for the reason that, aside from its being a
weighty extra item of outfit, when sleeping in snow igloos he was in
constant danger of a break in the icy floor from the formation of
pressure ridges and if encumbered in the bag he would have extricated
himself with difficulty. Quoting Mr. Harry Whitney--“On my winter ox
hunt I started into the Barren Grounds with a bag of caribou and lined
with rabbit skin--the very warmest robe possible, but I ripped it open
before I had been on the road three days.”
The choice between a loose blanket bed and the sleeping bag is a matter
of individual preference. If the latter is chosen it should be made to
air easily and be easy of adjustment to varying temperatures. The
permanently closed bag is out of the question as it retains the
accumulated condensed body moisture. The only kind worth considering is
one which can be easily opened and spread wide apart in the sunlight or
before a fire every morning. The bag should be closed on all sides as
far up as the breast of the sleeper and the continuation of the bag in
the shape of a flap which can be nicely tucked about the shoulders.
Probably the best low temperature sleeping bag is of caribou skin with
the hair inside. One lined with llama wool duffle is next best. The
so-called Arctic or Fiala sleeping bag is the lightest one available
from outfitters in the United States. If one prefers this kind of a bed
the tramper can find nothing so excellent where the greatest amount of
warmth with the lightest possible weight is imperative.
Made of the soft body wool of the South American llama it is about
twice as light as any other wool of equal thickness. As sold by many
outfitters the cloth cover is waterproof but this should not be. To get
the greatest warmth it is necessary to have not only the blanket porous
but the covering as well so as to throw off the moisture which otherwise
condenses and chills the occupant of the bag. But the sleeper must be
insulated from the ground’s cold, moisture, and wet and hence the
waterproof browse bag or thatched balsam bed used under the sleeping bag
is recommended. Any blanket combination can be made into a serviceable
sleeping bag by folding lengthwise and securing one end and
three-fourths of one side by blanket pins or by sewing.
You will of course not carry a mattress with you on the hike yet it is
really necessary that you have some sort of browse thatching, waterproof
sheet or pad to insulate you from the bare ground. The bed springs par
excellence of the woods are of thatched evergreen boughs or balsam.
This, the trapper’s bough bed, is largely poetical with campers in
sections of the country where balsam, hemlock or spruce are not
available. It is difficult to make but when properly constructed
furnishes a mighty comfortable place to lay tired muscles at night.
Collect a heap of boughs “about the size of a small house,” according to
Moody, stripping off the fans with the hands, using only the lighter
tips. Build on the ground a quadrangle of poles somewhat larger than the
intended bed and retain this in place by ground stakes. Beginning at the
head lay your larger fans convex side up and butts toward the foot much
as you would shingle a house with the bushy stems overlapping. Over
these lay a similar cover of the smaller fans with the butt ends beneath
the layer already placed, leaving the fan ends curving up and down
toward the foot of the bed. When done place over all the floorcloth and
blankets. As the boughs get pressed down and the bed becomes hard they
must be replenished.
The ground cloth is to a tent what a floor is to a house. It keeps out
dirt, vermin, dampness and wind and in cold or wet weather, besides
being an absolute health necessity, it will add greatly to one’s
comfort.
The ground beneath besides being wet and cold is hard as a board for
sleeping purposes, hence some sort of pad is needed. Nothing meets this
requirement so well as the so-called browse bag or tick. It is
preferably made of waterproof balloon silk or paraffined muslin (a
rubber blanket or poncho is too heavy) size 2½ by 6½ feet and weight 1
pound. It is open at the foot end and at each camp is stuffed with hay,
grass, leaves or other browse dry or wet. The bag weighs but little,
takes up small compass when rolled for the pack and is useful in
packing. It is quickly made into an acceptable bed mattress each night
and emptied each morning.
With the filled browse bag beneath you the under side is always dry and
warm and the upper side is attended to by rolling yourself up in the
blanket. For traveling through a rough swampy country and for mountain
work this is absolutely necessary for a restful sleep.
The bag may be composed of a 7 by 8 foot sheet with grommets 3 inches
apart on one end and the sides and when not serving day duty as a pack
cloth or in the emergency bivouac as a tarpaulin leanto shelter tent may
be worn like a Mexican serape or rain blanket over the shoulders. It can
be made into a browse bag by folding the sides together and lacing the
ends and side with a string of number 36 tarpon line. Or the tarp or
shelter cloth may be laid over a collected layer of browse next to the
ground. With a browse bag one can rig up a good bed pad in much less
time than it takes to shingle browse.
To sleep warm outdoors the ground should be as dry and warm as possible.
This can be accomplished if need be by a fire built over the intended
bed area, the embers raked away and the bed made thereon. The browse bag
is then filled and flattened over the heated spot. There is some knack
in arranging your covers about you to fit snugly and keep out the night
cold. It can be done by a simple trick so as to entirely eliminate the
necessity of a sleeping bag.
Lying flat on your back on the browse bag cover yourself with the
blanket, kick up your feet rigid from the hips so as to bring the
blanket foot end draping over and under the feet, returning the feet to
the tick roll the body to the left side and tuck the blanket edge under
your right side, reverse the turn and do the same under your left side.
Lower the feet, wrap up the shoulders and go to sleep. The blanket is
now drawn about you snugly above and below and there is no exposed side
to let in the cold air and in rolling over the blanket will tighten
about you.
In an emergency one can sleep in most any kind of weather by following a
certain Indian method. He carries but one blanket but does not use it
to wrap around his body. If the night is not too cold he lights a rather
large fire and warms the earth, then he rakes away the coals and lies
upon the bare warmed ground pulling the blanket over him. In extreme
cold in addition to the above ground warming he heats a large stone
before bedtime, rolls it on the ground, curls himself around the mound,
and pulls the cover over him, lying with his feet to the fire. He
neither wraps the blanket about him nor lies upon it relying on the
warmed earth for warmth below.
On chilly nights in addition to the heated ground beneath the bed you
can build a big camp fire six feet or so in front of your leanto shelter
and the heat will be reflected down upon the sleeper. You must have a
windbreak of cloth leanto, boughs, or rocks. The fire should be kept
going all night and for this one needs a lot of wood, so carry a larger
chopping axe if you are to encounter very low temperatures. Even with
this fire it is hard for one man to keep warm and get a good night’s
sleep. Two men, however, can change off, watching the fire and sleeping.
The warmest and most portable bed then is in reality patterned after the
one of civilization. Essentially it will keep the sleeper high and dry
by means of the waterproofed cloth over browse or the filled browse bag
and it will keep the body warm by the woolen blanket rolled snugly about
you.