outdoor living » the 10 bushcraft books » campcraft (pt. 1)

.introduction

With the only tool, a machete or a sharp knife, it is practical and easy to set up a camp in comfort. Everything one needs for bed, table, seats and chairs, cooking, and even lighting is usually available in the area immediately around the camp.

A small amount of knowledge is needed and some of this is given in this book.

Campcraft, like all the other skills in bushcraft develops the powers of observation to a remarkable degree, and with this the ability to adapt or improvise.

It is applicable by all who camp, regardless of whether the camping is a once-a-year venture with a car and auto tent, or a weekend adventure with a pack on one's back.

There need be no discomfort for anyone in camping if they have knowledge of how to set up a camp in comfort.

A properly made camp bed can be as restful as an inner spring mattress, and no food is more flavoursome than when cooked in the out-of-doors.

If the camper does not know how to camp in comfort there will be times during heavy rain when wood appears too wet to take fire, or when the wind is so high that the heat of the fire is blown under and away from the water in the billy the camper is trying to boil, or when ants or bush rats find the food supply.

This book shows many things you can do to make your camping more comfortable, and considerably safer.

.pegs and stakes

Campcraft without equipment is totally different from campcraft with equipment ... and in some ways "doing without" can be more fun. This Bushcraft book shows things that you can make and do in camp when you have no equipment except a cutting tool. Some items will be new to even the most experienced camper, and there will be much that is of value to the Boy Scout and his brother in woodcraft.

Camping without equipment calls for a really sharp tool and a good deal of common sense. A good machete is probably the most useful of all tools for bush work. Mostly you will want sticks, either for pegs, stakes, forks or hooks and these generally can be cut from windblown branches close to the site of your camp. It is always preferable to use dead timber rather than growing wood. By using dead (but not rotten) wood you are clearing the forest floor of debris, and by avoiding cutting green wood you are helping to conserve the forests.

.bush campcraft

Even a simple item like a stake or a peg must be cut properly, and if it is to be driven into the ground it must have the head bevelled and the toe properly pointed.

This is the right way - this stake will drive cleanly into the ground. It will not split when being driven be cause the head is properly bevelled.	These are wrong - both these stakes will be a failure. One will not drive because it has a bend, and this deflects the blow. The other will either split at the head, or drive crooked, be cause the toe is cut at an angle.

.forks

Generally the correct sort of fork to select is one with a perfectly straight drive from the head to the toe and with the forked stick coming off at an angle. A fork which is to be driven into the ground must have the head bevelled and the toe pointed.

This fork is correct - there is a perfectly straight drive from the bevelled head right through to the toe. This fork will drive into the ground and stand securely.	These forks are wrong - these forks cannot be driven. Left: If you try to hit one of the forks, the blow will be deflected by the angle. If you try to hit in the crotch, the fork will split. Right: Because the main stick is not straight, this fork will not go into the ground.

Most beginners think that the wrong way will work out all right ... everyone does ... the first time; then you learn that it pays to spend five minutes finding the right shaped stake or fork, rather than trying to make do with a poorly selected stick.

.hooks

Unless hooks are to be driven into the ground, less care is required for their selection.

This hook will do the job	And so will this

After you have selected the stake, fork or hook, and before you trim it, make sure that the wood, though dead, is not rotten. The inner wood must be sound.

.driving stakes

Stakes can be driven into the ground either by using the back of an axe for a maul, or if an axe is not available, a large stone held in the two hands and "pulled" down to the head of the stake will drive quite effectively. When using a stone, if it is flat, use the edge rather than the flat. The edge will put more weight behind the drive, and there will be less chance of the stone breaking in two with the force of the blow. If stones of a convenient size are not available, a club with one fiat face can be quickly fashioned with a tomahawk or heavy knife, and this will serve effectively.

.camp kitchens

The Camp kitchen should be sited so that the breeze will not blow the smoke into the cook's face. This is quite easy when you know which direction the winds blow, both in the morning and the evening. The morning breeze (anabatic, if you want to be technical) blows up the valley, because the warm air of the valley floor rises; and the evening breeze (catabatic) blows down the valley. Therefore set your kitchen so that the cook will face neither up valley nor down valley from the fire, but sideways. Thus the smoke will blow past him, and he can cook in comfort.

The kitchen should be sited on a slight rise so that during rain it will not be flooded. The fireplace, in badly drained ground, should be built up a few inches above ground level. Select the place for your fire, and build the kitchen round it.

.fireplaces

If stones are available, build a wall to enclose the fire. This wall should be about 9" or 10" [23 or 25 cm] high, and the opening should be parallel to the valley. Do not take stones from a watercourse. They will explode in the fire.

You will want a means of suspending your billies, and the most simple is a stick across the end walls.

A trench fireplace is an efficient cooking place, but only suitable in clayey soil and if there is no likelihood of flooding.

A third method is a single stick, lying over one of the end stones, and with its farther end held down either under a hooked stake or by a heavy stone.

Two simply erected tripods of interlocking forked sticks at either end, with a cross stick, is another method of suspending your billies over the fire. This latter has the advantage that, by changing the base of the tripods, the height of the billy above the flames can be varied.

Another method to suspend your billies is by an overhead stick supported by two forked stakes driven into the ground at either end of the stone wall.

The best method of all, in a permanent camp, calls for a single straight stake driven into the ground at one side of the fireplace, and from this single stake a swinging gantry is hung. The height of the gantry on the upright stake can be adjusted to any height above the fire. It will swing free of the flames, and the billies can be taken off without burning your fingers. Although it may take five minutes to make, it will save burnt fingers and spilt or spoilt meals.

In flooded country, or in a marsh or swamp land, it may be impossible to find a spot of dry land on which to light a fire. One way to overcome this is to build a raised platform with its floor a few inches above the water level. The sticks which make the base of the platform are covered with a thick layer of mud. On this you can light your fire and cook your meal.

In the absence of stones, and where green wood of no value (such as sucker growth) is plentiful, a reflector fireplace may commend itself to you, particularly if the location is windy. The reflector should be on the windward side of the fire, so that the wind, passing over it, draws the flames up to the top of the reflector and then across.

When you want to boil a billy quickly in an open space in a very high wind, the flames will be blown away if the billy is suspended. Woodsmen have a trick that is worth using under such conditions. Place the billy on the ground, and build the fire to windward and on both sides of the billy. The wind will blow the hot flames around the sides and your billy will soon boil.

.billy hooks and fire tongs

All of these methods of suspending billies over a fire are improved with the use of billy hooks, and these can be easily made by cutting a few hooked sticks about ½" in diameter, and varying in length from, say, 6" to 10" [15 to 25 cm]. At the end farthest from the hook, a single deep nick is cut into the wood, so that the direction of the cut is away from the hook. The wire handle of the billy will sit safely in this nick and the billy stick from which the billy hooks hang will be sufficiently far from the flames so that there will be little chance of it being burnt through.

It is preferable to cut the nick on the side opposite to the hook.

.adjustable wire billy hook

It is worth while making a couple of adjustable wire billy hooks if you go camping frequently. The advantages of being able to have one billy high above the flames so that it can simmer gently, and another right down over the fire to boil quickly, is apparent.

The adjustable billy hook is held at whatever height you set it by the link which locks it securely.

In addition to your billy stick and billy hooks, you would be well advised to make a pair of fire tongs. They will take only a few minutes, but may save a badly burnt hand.

Another improvised pair of fire tongs uses a narrow but long fork, and a single stick through its crotch.