outdoor living » the 10 bushcraft books » campcraft (pt. 4)

.weaving a camp hammock

Normally a hammock is made by using the netting tie, and netting needle (not shown in this book), but a serviceable hammock can be woven on the camp loom from bush materials. The ball of warp is passed around the weft threads to form an overhand knot on the lower lay of the weft, and these knots, pulled tight, make the weaving secure.

.bush ladder

A bush ladder is easily made. Select two long, straight poles cut to equal length. Lash the thin ends together. Spread the butts or thick ends so that they are about 2½' to 3' [75 to 90 cm] apart. To these lash the rungs, and make certain that the lashings are good and tight. Lashing the rungs is made easier if you lift the butts on to a log or a couple of big stones. This will allow you to pass the lashing material more easily under the poles.

.single rope ladder

Cut as many hardwood chocks, 1½" to 2" [4 to 5 cm] thick, as you require for your ladder. These are placed every 15" to 18" [38 to 45 cm] apart. The chocks should be about 4" [10 cm] across and can he cut from either square or round timber. Bore a hole through the centre of each chock. This hole should not be more than 1/8" [3 mm] larger than the diameter of the rope.

Thread the rope through the holes in the chocks and then, starting at one end, open the strand of the rope and slip in a ½" [12 mm] thick hardwood peg about 3" [7.5 cm] long. Bind the rope below the peg. Slide the chock down, and measure off the distance to the next step. If desired, bind above the chock to prevent the feet pulling it up when climbing.

If using braided cotton rope omit the peg and put a strong binding below each chock.

.swinging shelter

A forked pole, at least 4" to 5" [10 to 12.5 cm] thick, and 8' [2.4 m] long, with a side branch coming off at right angles to the fork and 4' to 5' [1.2 to 1.5 m] below it, is required. To the side branch a rope or very strong vine loop is secured, passed around a tree trunk, and then bound very securely back on to the side branch. The long arm of the pole should be horizontal and 6' to 7' [1.8 to 2.1 m] above the ground.

To make the shelter top, lash three 3' [90 cm] stakes, each about 2" [5 cm] thick, to each side of the pole. They should slope clown at an angle of about 45°, and can be held outwards by lashing braces across.

Lengthways to these poles lash thatching battens, each about 1" [2.5 cm] thick and 8' [2.4 m] long. These should be 6" [15 cm] apart. They are then thatched with grass, fern palms or reeds (branches and tree leaves are useless).

The bed is suspended from the centre pole by ropes or vines to the two long sides, which are held apart by lashing two cross-bars at head and foot. The bed is then made up like the camp bed.

This shelter can be swung round the tree trunk to take advantage of sun or shade or get better protection from the weather.

.slush lamp

A lamp for your camp is made by filling an old tin or small hollow piece of branch with clayey earth, packed tight at the bottom. The earth should come to about 1" [2.5 cm] from the top of the tin. Into this a twig is pushed and a piece of old cotton rag, or very finely teased bark fibre, is wound round the twig to serve as a wick. Fat from your cooking is poured on top of the earth, and when the wick is lit the lamp burns with a clear flame. The amount of light can be controlled by the size of wick.

.a candle holder from a bottle

An open flame in a tent is dangerous, and a candle holder or glass cover for a slush lamp can be made by cutting off the base of a clear glass bottle. A very easy way to cut the glass cleanly is to heat a piece of thin wire to red heat. Bend this around the bottle where you want to cut it (alternatively, tie a piece of grease-soaked string round the bottle and burn it), and then, when the hot wire or burning string is around the bottle, immerse the bottle in cold water. The glass will break off evenly at the place where the wire or string encircled it.

.noggin

On many trees you will see lumpy growths or "burls", varying in size from a few inches to a foot or more. These are covered completely over with bark, and if you examine one closely you will find that under the bark the wood is all solid, and the growth is complete, without any holes where branches might have once grown.

Cut off the lump by making a scarf an inch or so above and another below the growth. A side-cut with your axe will then slice the wood with the burl completely free. Roughly trim the surplus wood, and with a gouge clean out the wood from the centre of the burl. This is very easy, because the grain follows the curves of the growth. Leave a handle in the form of a lip, and if you so wish, bore a hole through this handle and put a leather loop through the hole. A coconut shell makes an excellent noggin.

.clothes pegs

Clothes pegs are quickly made by taking a number of half-green sticks, about 7" [17.5 cm] long, and splitting them, first binding the end so that they will not split right along their length. A better way is to use a forked stick, hooking the hook part on to a branch.

.camp broom

A bundle of green straight sticks, each not much thicker than a matchstick, is collected and bound tightly to a central handle. The business end of the broom is then trimmed off.

.bush hoe

Select a dead or half-dead branch of hardwood, 4" to 6" [10 to 15 cm] thick, with a side branch from 5' to 6' [1.5 to 1.8 m] long and an 1½" [3.5 cm] thick coming off it at a fairly wide angle. Trim the side branch so that it is smooth. With your machete or tomahawk, trim the main branch so that it is a "hook" to the handle part. See that it is sharpened to a chisel edge. This bush hoe is quite an efficient digging tool, particularly if the digging end is fire hardened.

.bush sled

There are occasions when it is necessary to move a heavy load, and for this purpose a bush sled can be easily made from a forked branch of a tree. The branch is cut with the prongs of the fork a couple of feet behind the end of the main branch. A rope or other means of towing the sled is fastened on to this main part of the branch, and across the forks a few straight sticks are laid, and the load placed on top of these.

.camp larder

A camp larder is simply a platform, roofed over with thatch and with the sides thatched so that it is dark and cool inside. Darkness will help to keep flies away, and coolness will help to prevent food going bad. An excellent improvement to a camp larder is a water tin suspended above the thatch, with a few pieces of cotton rag to siphon water on to a thatched roof. This is almost a camp refrigerator. The temperature inside such a larder, if built in a shady position and with a good breeze, will be easily 20°F to 40°F [11°C to 22°C] below the shade temperature outside.

Other methods of storing food in camp away from animals include placing it in a hollow log wedged in the crotch of a tree, or suspending it from a bough, or making a platform and suspending this from a branch in a shady position. If ants are a pest, suspending the platform is probably one of the best ways to keep them away from your food. If they do find the cord, you can prevent them from travelling along to your food by tying a kerosene-soaked rag around the cord. Another method is to break a bottle off above the neck, pass the cord through the cork, and then, after packing clay around the rope where it passes the neck, fill with water. Water will soak down the rope and the bottle will need frequent filling.

.coat hangers

Usually in camp, one's travelling clothes become crushed and soiled. This can easily be prevented by making a simple coat and trousers hanger. If you take off your good clothes immediately you arrive in camp and put them on this coat-hanger, they will remain fresh and uncreased.

.back pack

This "Adirondack" pack is a good method of carrying gear in camp. The cross sticks are tightly lashed to the two hooked sticks. Shoulder straps are plaited from reeds or made from wide strips of soft bark.

.camp sun clock

[Get you hands on a simple Sun Compass/Clock generator here.]

Select a patch of bare earth near your camp. It must be level, and open to the sun all day. Stick a peg in the centre of this patch, and with a length of cord as a loop around the peg, scratch a circle on the ground. This must be at least 5' [1.5 m] across. From the peg, which is now the centre of the circle, carefully draw a line TRUE north. This must be accurately TRUE, and not Magnetic. Extend this line to cut the southern side of the circle, and then draw in accurate East-West lines crossing at the circle's centre. Divide the circumference of the circle into twenty-four equal divisions. Each of these divisions will be fifteen degrees.

Now have a look at your map and find out what degree of latitude you are in. Measure this in degrees on the outside circle, working from where it is cutting the East-West line. Put a small peg on each side of the circle's edge to mark the latitude degrees.

Be careful to note whether your latitude is North or South of the Equator. Stretch the cord over the two pegs and mark where it crosses the North-South line. Now put a peg on the North-South line where the cord crosses it. Next, put two other pegs at either end of the East-West line so that the "degree" pegs on the circle are at right angles. Tie a cord to each of these pegs, and have the cord pass round the peg on the North-South live. Lift the cord over the centre peg, and with the point of your knife, scratch an ellipse on the ground, so that it touches the circle where the East-West line crosses, and also touches the point on the North-South line where the peg is.

Connect up the fifteen degree marks on the circle by means of the cord and parallel with the North-South line. Where the cord crosses the ellipse, put a small peg very firmly into the ground.

There will be thirteen of these pegs, and they will follow the curve of the ellipse. These are the hour pegs, starting from 6 a.m. on the left, where the West line cuts the circle. 12 noon on the North-South line, and 6 p.m. on the right where the East line cuts the circle.

You must now know how to find where to place the shadow stick. This depends on the sun's position North or South of the Equator.

.to find the sun's position north or south of the equator

Draw another circle inside the big circle using the same centre. The radius of this circle must be equal to 23½ degrees of the big circle. Divide this circle into twelve equal divisions and mark June at the North side; July, etc., follow clockwise. Divide June into four equal divisions, and do the same with December (at the South end). Offset ALL divisions one-fourth in a clockwise direction. The North-South line will now pass through the third division of June and December. Put pegs in for each of the twelve months' divisions.

To find the Sun's position at any time of the year, draw a line from the month, and approximate day thereof, to the North-South line. This must parallel the East-West line. Where this line cuts the North-South line is where you place your shadow stick.

To get absolutely reliable time from the sun, two corrections for longitude, and for the "equation of time," are required.

The "shadow" reading, with these corrections, will be right to two minutes, if your North-South line has been accurate.

If West of the Meridian of Standard Time, add four minutes to sun clock time for each degree. East, deduct four minutes for each degree.

Draw a figure 8 near the sun clock on the ground, with the top half of the 8 just less than one-third the bottom half. Divide a line across the bottom half into three equal divisions on each side of a centre line. Each of these divisions represents five minutes of time. Now mark off the figure 8 into approximate divisions like the sketch. Put pegs in the ground to mark these divisions, and also the five minute divisions on the cross line. Put a MINUS sign on the right-hand corner, and a plus on the right. MINUS means that the sun time is behind clock time, and so you must ADD. Plus means that the sun time is ahead of clock time.