E-text prepared by Joseph Gray
WOODCRAFT
by
Nessmuk
PREFACE
Woodcraft is dedicated to the Grand Army of "Outers," as a pocket
volume of reference on woodcraft.
For brick and mortar breed filth and crime,
With a pulse of evil that throbs and beats;
And men are withered before their prime
By the curse paved in with the lanes and streets.
And lungs are poisoned and shoulders bowed,
In the smothering reek of mill and mine;
And death stalks in on the struggling crowd--
But he shuns the shadow of oak and pine.
--Nessmuk
CHAPTER I
Overwork And Recreation--Outing And Outers--How To Do It, And Why They
Miss It
IT does not need that Herbert Spencer should cross the ocean to tell
us that we are an over-worked nation; that our hair turns gray ten
years earlier than the Englishman's; or, "that we have had somewhat too
much of the gospel of work," and, "it is time to preach the gospel of
relaxation." It is all true. But we work harder, accomplish more in a
given time and last quite as long as slower races. As to the gray hair--
perhaps gray hair is better than none; and it is a fact that the
average Briton becomes bald as early as the American turns gray. There
is, however, a sad significance in his words when he says: "In every
circle I have met men who had themselves suffered from nervous collapse
due to stress of business, or named friends who had either killed
themselves by overwork, or had been permanently incapacitated, or had
wasted long periods in endeavors to recover health." Too true. And it
is the constant strain, without let-up or relaxation, that, in nine
cases out of ten, snaps the cord and ends in what the doctors call
"nervous prostration"--something akin to paralysis--from which the
sufferer seldom wholly recovers.
Mr. Spencer quotes that quaint old chronicler, Froissart, as saying,
"The English take their pleasures sadly, after their fashion"; and
thinks if he lived now, he would say of Americans, "they take their
pleasures hurriedly, after their fashion." Perhaps.
It is an age of hurry and worry. Anything slower than steam is apt to
"get left." Fortunes are quickly made and freely spent. Nearly all
busy, hard-worked Americans have an intuitive sense of the need that
exists for at least one period of rest and relaxation during each year
and all--or nearly all--are willing to pay liberally, too liberally in
fact, for anything that conduces to rest, recreation and sport. I am
sorry to say that we mostly get swindled. As an average, the summer
outer who goes to forest, lake or stream for health and sport, gets
about ten cents' worth for a dollar of outlay. A majority will admit--
to themselves at least--that after a month's vacation, they return to
work with an inward consciousness of being somewhat disappointed and
beaten. We are free with our money when we have it. We are known
throughout the civilized world for our lavishness in paying for our
pleasures; but it humiliates us to know we have been beaten, and this
is what the most of us know at the end of a summer vacation. To the man
of millions it makes little difference. He is able to pay liberally for
boats, buckboards and "body service," if he chooses to spend a summer
in the North Woods. He has no need to study the questions of lightness
and economy in a Forest and Stream outing. Let his guides take care of
him; and unto them and the landlords he will give freely of his
substance.
I do not write for him and can do him little good. But there are
hundreds of thousands of practical, useful men, many of them far from
being rich; mechanics, artists, writers, merchants, clerks, business
men--workers, so to speak--who sorely need and well deserve a season of
rest and relaxation at least once a year. To these and for these, I
write.
Perhaps more than fifty years of devotion to "woodcraft" may enable me
to give a few useful hints and suggestions to those whose dreams,
during the close season of work, are of camp-life by flood, field and
forest.
I have found that nearly all who have a real love of nature and
out-of-door camp-life, spend a good deal of time and talk in planning
future trips, or discussing the trips and pleasures gone by, but still
dear to memory.
When the mountain streams are frozen and the Nor'land winds are out;
when the winter winds are drifting the bitter sleet and snow; when
winter rains are making out-of-door life unendurable; when season,
weather and law combine to make it "close time" for beast, bird and
man, it is well that a few congenial spirits should, at some favorite
trysting place, gather around the glowing stove and exchange yarns,
opinions and experiences. Perhaps no two will exactly agree on the best
ground for an outing...or half a dozen other points that may be
discussed. But one thing all admit. Each and every one has gone to his
chosen ground with too much impedimenta, too much duffle; and nearly
all have used boats at least twice as heavy as they need to have been.
The temptation to buy this or that bit of indispensable camp-kit has
been too strong and we have gone to the blessed woods, handicapped with
a load fit for a pack-mule. This is not how to do it.
Go light; the lighter the better, so that you have the simplest
material for health, comfort and enjoyment.
Of course, if you intend to have a permanent camp and can reach it by
boat or wagon, lightness is not so important, though even in that case
it is well to guard against taking a lot of stuff that is likely to
prove of more weight than worth--only to leave it behind when you come
out.
As to clothing for the woods, a good deal of nonsense has been written
about "strong, coarse woolen clothes." You do not want coarse woolen
clothes. Fine woolen cassimere of medium thickness for coat, vest and
pantaloons, with no cotton lining. Color, slate gray or dead-leaf
(either is good). Two soft, thick woolen shirts; two pairs of fine, but
substantial, woolen drawers; two pairs of strong woolen socks or
stockings; these are what you need and all you need in the way of
clothing for the woods, excepting hat and boots, or gaiters. Boots are
best--providing you do not let yourself be inveigled into wearing a
pair of long-legged heavy boots with thick soles, as has been often
advised by writers who knew no better. Heavy, long legged boots are a
weary, tiresome incumbrance on a hard tramp through rough woods. Even
moccasins are better. Gaiters, all sorts of high shoes, in fact, are
too bothersome about fastening and unfastening. Light boots are best.
Not thin, unserviceable affairs, but light as to actual weight. The
following hints will give an idea for the best footgear for the woods;
let them be single soled, single backs and single fronts, except light,
short foot-linings. Back of solid "country kip"; fronts of substantial
French calf; heel one inch high, with steel nails; countered outside;
straps narrow, of fine French calf put on "astraddle," and set down to
the top of the back. The out-sole stout, Spanish oak and pegged rather
than sewed, although either is good. They will weigh considerably less
than half as much as the clumsy, costly boots usually recommended for
the woods; and the added comfort must be tested to be understood.
The hat should be fine, soft felt with moderately low crown and wide
brim; color to match the clothing.
The proper covering for head and feet is no slight affair and will be
found worth some attention. Be careful that the boots are not too
tight, or the hat too loose. The above rig will give the tourist one
shirt, one pair of drawers and a pair of socks to carry as extra
clothing. A soft, warm blanket-bag, open at the ends and just long
enough to cover the sleeper, with an oblong square of waterproofed
cotton cloth 6x8 feet, will give warmth and shelter by night and will
weigh together five or six pounds. This, with the extra clothing, will
make about eight pounds of dry goods to pack over carries, which is
enough. Probably, also, it will be found little enough for comfort.
During a canoe cruise across the Northern Wilderness in the late
summer, I met many parties at different points in the woods and the
amount of unnecessary duffle with which they encumbered themselves was
simply appalling. Why a shrewd business man, who goes through with a
guide and makes a forest hotel his camping ground nearly every night,
should handicap himself with a five-peck pack basket full of gray
woolen and gum blankets, extra clothing, pots, pans and kettles, with a
9 pound 10-bore and two rods--yes, and an extra pair of heavy boots
hanging astride of the gun-well, it is one of the things I shall never
understand. My own load, including canoe, extra clothing, blanket-bag,
two days' rations, pocket-axe, rod and knapsack, never exceeded 26
pounds; and I went prepared to camp out any and every night.
People who contemplate an outing in the woods are pretty apt to
commence preparations a long way ahead and to pick up many trifling
articles that suggest themselves as useful and handy in camp; all well
enough in their way, but making at least a too heavy load. It is better
to commence by studying to ascertain just how light one can go through
without especial discomfort. A good plan is to think over the trip
during leisure hours and make out a list of indispensable articles,
securing them beforehand and have them stowed in handy fashion, so that
nothing needful may be missing just when and where it cannot be
procured. The list will be longer than one would think, but need not be
cumbersome or heavy. As I am usually credited with making a cruise or a
long woods tramp with exceptionally light duffle, I will give a list of
the articles I take along--going on foot over carries or through the
woods.