outdoor living » the 10 bushcraft books » campcraft (pt. 3)

.tables

A camp table and seats are worth making if there are five or six people in a standing camp, even if only for a few days. The best pattern of camp table is one which also carries the seats, and which will not become unbalanced or unsteady, even though several people sit on one side.

This is about the best style of camp table you construct. When you make it do not use green wood, but search through the bush and you will find dead timber, which is lighter in weight and quite strong, for forks and poles.

showing the framework with table top poles and seat poles

For the framework select two forked stakes at least 3" [7.5 cm] thick and 4' to 5' [1.2 to 1.5 m] long. The length depends upon the soil, and how far you will have to drive the stakes into the ground to make them quite secure. The lower end of each stake is sharpened and the head bevelled. The first stake should be driven well into the earth, so that the lowest part of the crotch of the fork is three feet above the ground. The prong of the fork should be pointing out from the length of the table. When this stake is set, measure off the length you want your table, say, from 4' to 7' [1.2 to 2.1 m], and drive in the other stake with its prong also pointing outwards - that is, away from the first stake. This stake must also be driven the same depth into the ground as the first stake. Cut four strong straight stakes, 4½' to 5' [1.35 to 1.5 cm] in length, and at least 2½" [6.5 cm] thick.

Place these with one end in the crotch of the forks, and at right angles to the line of the forked stakes. Note where the sticks cross each other in the forks and scarf out cuts in each so that the two will nest together in the crotch. These side poles carry the table poles and the seat poles, so they must "seat" securely in the forks.

On to these side poles, and about 2' [60 cm] above ground level, two strong poles, 2" [5 cm] thick, are securely lashed. These poles are for the table, and later straight sticks are laced side by side across these poles for the actual table top.

15" [37 cm] above ground level, two very strong poles, 3" [7.5 cm] thick and 7' or 8' [2.1 or 2.4 m] in length, are lashed. These lashings must be very tight to make these two poles secure to the two side poles and also to the forked stakes you first drove into the ground. These poles serve both as a bracing to carry the seat.

Your table is now ready for finishing. Cut short, straight sticks for the top. You will need eight sticks for every 1' [30 cm] in length of table top. The method of lacing these to the table top poles is shown in the sketch.

The seat-sticks - at least 3" to 4" [7.5 to 10 cm] thick - are cut 1' [30 cm] longer than the length of the table. You will need at least three of these seat-sticks for each side. They are not lashed to the cross poles, but allowed to lie on them, so that the distance of the seat from the table can be adjusted by either pushing the sticks back or pulling them in.

showing how to brace your table if the ground is soft or sandy

If the ground is soft, or loose sand, your table will require bracing, and this can be done simply by two diagonal braces from the table level of each of the forked stakes to the foot of the other. Where the bracings cross, they should be lashed. An alternative is to cut two 5' [1.5 m] forks and brace with these so that they "jam" below the forks of the stakes in the ground. Their own butts must he firmly seated on the ground and held from slipping by a stout peg driven well in the ground.

This type of structure is recommended for a portable table. When securely lashed the whole table is extremely strong. A fly thrown over the top bar can be used to give shade.

Another type of camp table, suitable for dry country, is to simply dig two trenches, 2' or 3' [60 or 90 cm] apart on their inside edges, and at least 10" to 12" [25 to 30 cm] deep. This is only suitable when the earth is clayey or firm enough to be dug in clean sods. Sods are used to give height to the seat. When digging such a table, remember to replace the sods when you leave the camp site.

When using an earth table it is advisable to weave a couple of grass mats to lay over the seat. These will keep your clothes clean, and only take a few minutes to make on a camp loom.

.camp chairs

A comfortable camp chair can be made in tell or fifteen minutes and will give you hours and hours of comfort. Select two stout forked sticks, 4' [1.2 m] long and 3" [7.5 cm] thick. The forks must be at a wide angle, and cut with the straighter of the two prongs about 9" to 10" [22.5 to 25 cm] long, and the other wide angled prong about 12" to 15" [30 to 38 cm]. Cut another stout forked stick about 4' [1.2 m] in length, and leave the prongs of this sufficiently long to hold the two sticks you have previously cut.

showing the three main sticks required for a camp chair

Across the seat portion of the chair, lash straight sticks about 1" [2.5 cm] thick, and continue these up the back of the chair. On the seat portion they must be close together, but on the back they can be spaced 2" or 3" [5 or 7.5 cm] apart.

showing the framework of a chair using hooked sticks

There may be difficulty in finding two sticks with wide angled prongs, in which case you can make your chair by using two hooked stakes. The crotch of the hook should be about 8" [20 cm] above the end of the stick, and the sticks themselves should be about 3½' [1.05 m] long.

Two side poles, each about 5' [1.5 m] long, are laid one each through the hooked portion of the sticks, which have their upper ends lashed together. These two poles are lashed together behind the chair, and a forked pole, leading from the upper end where the hooked stakes are lashed, comes back to these two side poles and is lashed again. This gives you the framework for your chair.

Occasionally you will find a pair of twisty sticks which, lying on the ground, will look like this ...	... but, if you are quick to see the opportunity they present, you will convert them into a seat like this.

A good bushman makes himself comfortable wherever he may be. The simplest seat, of course, is either to roll up a log, or failing that, to select your site where a fallen tree will serve you. Such are not always to be found, and you can often make a comfortable seat by using a few stones to build up a platform, and between these you can lay two or three poles for your seat.

.camp seat

A very comfortable fireside camp seat can be made by driving two short stakes into the ground, so that the forks are pointing outwards, that is, away from the opposite stake. The bottom of the forks should be from 8" to 10" [20 to 25 cm] above the ground level.

Two back forked stakes about 3½' [1.05 m] long are driven into the ground, 15" to 18" [38 to 45 cm] behind these two short stakes. These back stakes should be driven in on a slight angle, leaning away from the two forward forks. The forks of the rear stakes should point outwards.

Both short and long stakes should be not less than 2" [5 cm] thick and the fork at least 1½" [3.5 cm] thick. The short stakes should be at a convenient distance from the fireplace, anything from 3' to 6' [0.9 to 1.8 m], depending upon the size fire you usually build.

Cut two cross-bars, each about 3" [7.5 cm] thick, and cut nicks in these so they fit snugly in place in the forks, and connect front and rear forks.

Lengthways, lay straight smooth sticks, 1" to 2" [2.5 to 5 cm] thick. These must be close together. Along the back, that is to the tall stakes, lash similar sticks from 2" to 3" [5 to 7.5 cm] apart.

This makes an excellent fireside camp seat, and the comfort it gives you will well repay the half-hour it took to build.

.camp beds

A sound night's rest is worth ten minutes' toil. Time spent in making a camp bed that will keep you both comfortable and warm is time well spent.

Cut two poles 6" or 7" [15 or 17.5 cm] thick, and about 7' [2.1 m] long. Lay these parallel to each other, 3' [90 cm] apart; and to prevent them rolling, put pegs at head and foot, driven well into the ground with about 1' [30 cm] of the peg above the pole. Cut about twenty or thirty straight, strong sticks, 3½' [1.05 m] long, and lay these every 4" [10 cm] across the two poles. Now on top of these cross sticks place two poles, 3" to 4" [7.5 to 10 cm] thick and 7' [2.1 m] long They should lie against the pegs driven in to hold the two "bed" poles secure.

At the head end of the bed, lay about half a dozen cross sticks on top of these last two poles. Now cut green brushwood, fern, or waste green stuff, such as sucker growth, or weedy bush material, and put this so that the main stalks are lengthways along the bed. Pile it high between the two top poles, and lying across the cross sticks. The resulting bed will as springy and comfortable as any you have ever slept on in your life.

If you are going to be in camp for a long period, you had better make yourself a camp mattress from grass on the camp loom, and if bedding is short you can weave a covering from dried glass on the same loom, and sleep as warm and snug as if you were between the blankets in your own bed at home.

.camp bed off the ground

A framework, similar to the table, with the table top only, is made and the two poles are overlaid with sticks exactly as for the bed on the ground. When making a bed off the ground it is not necessary to have the forks as high as for the table. A camp bed should always be built off the ground in bad snake country, or in areas where ground pests such as leeches, ants, scrub-mites, chiggers or ticks are liable to be troublesome.

An alternative to the forked stakes and ground poles is the use of two piles of stones to support the side poles.

.camp bed using a couple of bags

A very comfortable camp bed can be made by setting up the two forked stakes as for the preceding camp bed, and two side poles are placed into the crotches of these so they are on about a 45° slope. Two long, straight poles are cut, and passed through the two sides of two bags (holes are cut in the bottoms of each of the bags to allow the poles to pass through). The closed ends of the bags are towards the ends of the poles, and the bags overlap a few inches in the middle. The two bed poles with the bags are laid one on either side of the angle poles. The weight of the body, lying on the bags, keeps the side poles pulled well down on the angle poles. If the weather is cold, or greater comfort is required, a stuffing of dried grass or bracken fern inside the bags will serve to give greater softness, and also make this type of bed warmer.

.stick hammock

A camp loom is set up and the hammock is woven, using vines, twisted bark fibres, grass rope or any suitable material for the weaving, and sticks about 1" [5 cm] thick for the cross parts. The hammock should be at least 3' [90 cm] wide by 6½' [195 cm] long. The end two spreaders should be 2' [5 cm] thick, and from these short lengths of rope are brought to the central rope by means of which the hammock is suspended. Ropes from each of the four corners will also serve to suspend the hammock. A grass mattress, also woven on the camp loom, makes an excellent cover for the hammock.

.camp loom

Two stout forked stakes, about 2" [5 cm] thick, are cut and driven into the ground with their lower prongs 3' [90 cm] above the ground, and facing away from the direction you wish to work. The distance between the stakes should be at least 6" [15 cm] wider than the widest article you want to weave. Across the forks a cross bar, about 1" [2.5 cm] thick, is laid. It is advisable to trim this cross bar of twigs and roughnesses. It should be fairly strong.

8' or 9' [2.4 or 2.7 m] from the cross bar, and on the side farthest from the prongs, a row of straight, smooth stakes, each about 4' [1.2 m] long, is driven into the ground so that there are about 2" [5 cm] between the centres of the stakes. These stakes should be trimmed of any side twigs or roughnesses. A weaving bar, a few inches longer than the width of the row of stakes, is cut and laid on the ground, parallel and about 6" [15 cm] in front of this row of stakes.

Your camp loom is now ready to be set up for weaving.

An alternative to the row of stakes, and a considerable improvement if a situation is available, is to select a site where two trees are at a convenient distance apart. At ground level, and about 7' [2.1 m] above the ground, two stout cross bars, 2" [5 cm] thick, are lashed to the tree trunks, and to these crossbars a series of smooth vertical sticks are lashed at top and bottom. These sticks are about 2" [5 cm] apart at centres.

.to weave on a camp loom

Lengths of the weaving material are tied to the stakes as shown, brought back over the cross bar, and then forward and between the stakes, and then tied to the weaving bar in front of the row of stakes. (This is the "weft" of your weaving). A ball of material is tied to the outside strand, and then passed between the two rows of strands (this is the warp), with the weaving bar lying on the ground. The weaving bar is lifted above the weft, and the ball returned again between the weft threads. Repeat by alternately lifting and lowering the weaving bar.

.camp mattress or stick hammock

The weft or long strands are set up as for weaving, but instead of warp (cross strands), tufts of grass, fern or other material (or sticks if for a stick hammock) are passed between the weft. In weaving a camp mattress it is advisable to put in a warp tie every second or third lift. This binds the sides and prevents the outside weft strands spreading.

Strands of sun-dried glass, loosely spun, can be woven into a covering for a camp bed if you are without blankets. When weaving for this purpose, make sure that the warp strands are pushed closely up to each other. Do not try and make a camp blanket too heavy. It is better to make two light grass coverings than one heavy one ... it is a number of layers, rather than extreme thickness of one layer, which keeps you warm.