100 Year Old, Three Pound ULW Gear List

[BOWSINGER]

I think that these old light and right gear lists deserve their own thread. I will start with Kephart, but he is not the only source for old ULW backpacking.

In 1916, Horace Kephart published his two-volume edition CAMPING AND WOODCRAFT. Much of this work was based on his previous books and his many magazine articles. Along the way he became aware of and began to study ULW camping as practiced in Europe and especially England.

“I first heard of this of this campestral marvel in 1910…that introduced me to a new Old World scheme of tent life very different from what I was used to, but one developed to the last line of refinement and full of canny tricks of the outers’ guild. For me it was an eye-opener to find the lightest camp equipments of the world in England”…

Here is the lightest gear list he came up with:

“T. H. Holding, London

“A” Tent, 6 ft. by 5 ft. 9 in. by 5 ft. 9 in._____ 2 lbs. 0 oz.
Set of 2 tent poles_______________________1 0
Set of pegs (ordinary skewers)_____________0 3
Oil stove “Baby Primus”_________________1 3
Aluminum pans “So Soon” pattern_________1 1
Piece of waterproof for tent______________ 0 2
2 Aluminum cups and sauces (plates)_______0 4
2 sets Aluminum knife, fork, spoon_________0 4
Candlestick and candle__________________0 2
Aluminum box of soap___________________0 1
6 lbs. 4 oz.
The piece of waterproof is two feet square. It is to roll up the tent in when wet, and serves otherwise as a washbasin, seat, etc.
Each man carries half of this company kit, making his share 3 pounds 2 ounces.”

And splitting the weight with your partner is exactly how Ray Jardine came up with his lightweight gear lists in 1992. Then Kephart added the personal gear back in, including a one pound 10 ounce eiderdown quilt, all rolled up in a holdall ready to strap on a bike. Total weight is 9 pounds 2 ounces, about 10 pounds if you substitute a frameless rucksack for the holdall.

[holyphenol]

i've noticed various posts here @ WB referencing Kephart...
i'm actually interested in reading some of these older pieces and plan on checking out the library(albeit small) and ebay tomorrow...
any other authors i can check out while i'm at it?

[saimyoji]

Piece of waterproof for tent______________ 0 2



so this piece of waterproof by 1910 standards was made of what? and it really weighed 2 oz.? and was the size and strength they say it was? :confused:

[fiddlehead]

mmmmm.
Fork, cups, plates and soap dish, but no sleeping bag. (or pack but of course he could carry it all in the tent)
And had nylon been invented by that time? Apparently so.

Maybe this was his 10 essentials list.
I'm surprised though that a lot of that stuff was available back then in such lighweight versions (stove, tent stakes, ground sheet)

[Ol Mole]

i've noticed various posts here @ WB referencing Kephart...
i'm actually interested in reading some of these older pieces and plan on checking out the library(albeit small) and ebay tomorrow...
any other authors i can check out while i'm at it?

Colin Fletcher wrote "The Complete Walker" and other books about his adventures in hiking. The Complete Walker wass dubbed the Hiker's Bible. era late 60's early 70's.

[Hikes in Rain]

i've noticed various posts here @ WB referencing Kephart...
i'm actually interested in reading some of these older pieces and plan on checking out the library(albeit small) and ebay tomorrow...
any other authors i can check out while i'm at it?

One of Horace's contemporaries and rivals in the literary world was George Washington Sears, aka Nessmuck. His Woodcraft has been in print since he wrote it in the late 1800's. Dover, I think, has an inexpensive paperback reprint. Enjoyed that one very much.

I have several shelves of the old stuff in my library. Tell you what, in the next day or so, I'll scour through it and post a list of what in my never to be humble opinion, are the best I have.

Ebay is a great source for these old books. I have on-going saved searches for "camping" and "hiking" in the classic and antiquarian book section. Curiously, there's pretty fierce competition, or at least people who aren't as cheap as I am. Actually met one of my competitors at Pecks Corner shelter in the Smokies. He collects them, as well, and told me he probably did outbid me from time to time because "they're for his kids,we have money, so I don't care what I pay." He was hiking with his 70+ father, a retired aerospace engineer. Fascinating folks, and I was hard pressed to keep up with them the next morning!

[daddytwosticks]

I'm probably wrong (as my wife so often reminds me...), but I though nylon wasn't invented until around WWII? :)

[Dr O]

so this piece of waterproof by 1910 standards was made of what? and it really weighed 2 oz.? and was the size and strength they say it was? :confused:

Wax paper maybe?

[russb]

An online version of Nessmuk's "woodcraft" is available:

http://books.google.com/books?id=MCgoAAAAYAAJ

[holyphenol]

Colin Fletcher wrote "The Complete Walker" and other books about his adventures in hiking. The Complete Walker wass dubbed the Hiker's Bible. era late 60's early 70's.

Yeah, I recently purchased, from another WBer, The Complete Walker IV with Chip Rawlins as co-author. Thus far, I've really enjoyed how thorough this book is. Are there any comparisons between I and IV that should compel me to go and purchase it(I've noticed Fletcher continually references the first edition, wondering if it;s that different minus the generational gap for gear...)

[holyphenol]

One of Horace's contemporaries and rivals in the literary world was George Washington Sears, aka Nessmuck. His Woodcraft has been in print since he wrote it in the late 1800's. Dover, I think, has an inexpensive paperback reprint. Enjoyed that one very much.

I have several shelves of the old stuff in my library. Tell you what, in the next day or so, I'll scour through it and post a list of what in my never to be humble opinion, are the best I have.

Ebay is a great source for these old books. I have on-going saved searches for "camping" and "hiking" in the classic and antiquarian book section. Curiously, there's pretty fierce competition, or at least people who aren't as cheap as I am. Actually met one of my competitors at Pecks Corner shelter in the Smokies. He collects them, as well, and told me he probably did outbid me from time to time because "they're for his kids,we have money, so I don't care what I pay." He was hiking with his 70+ father, a retired aerospace engineer. Fascinating folks, and I was hard pressed to keep up with them the next morning!

Thank you, I look forward to having a new listing of books to look for!

[holyphenol]

An online version of Nessmuk's "woodcraft" is available:

http://books.google.com/books?id=MCgoAAAAYAAJ

Beautiful!
I completely forgot about searching for e-books.
Saves me a library trip and money, thanks again!

[Snowleopard]

A link to online text of Horace Kephart, Camping and woodcraft:
http://www.archive.org/stream/campingwoodcraft00kephrich/campingwoodcraft00kephrich_djvu.txt
The book is still in print:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=horace+kephart&x=0&y=0

There are links to online versions of Nessmuk at:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=864788&postcount=57
Some of his writing is also still in print.

[Kerosene]

Yeah, I recently purchased, from another WBer, The Complete Walker IV with Chip Rawlins as co-author. Thus far, I've really enjoyed how thorough this book is. Are there any comparisons between I and IV that should compel me to go and purchase it(I've noticed Fletcher continually references the first edition, wondering if it;s that different minus the generational gap for gear...)I devoured CW I in the 70's. I skimmed CW III at a bookstore awhile ago, but it seemed to only be marginally better, mostly with regard to new equipment of course. I wouldn't bother to read the first edition unless you want to pick it up and try to complete a set.

If you are interested in first editions as well as the AT, then you should also pick up an original copy of Edward Garvey's Appalachian Hiker (http://cgi.ebay.com/Appalachian-Hiker-by-Edward-B.-Garvey-1971-SC-signed_W0QQitemZ400064061969QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ2 0090727?IMSfp=TL0907271710001r33135). This was the book that taught me all about the AT in the early 70's.

[Surplusman]

so this piece of waterproof by 1910 standards was made of what? and it really weighed 2 oz.? and was the size and strength they say it was? :confused:

It may have been oilcloth or rubberized fabric. I've found a reference to oilcloth being used during the Civil War to keep things dry. Union Army issue ponchos were rubberized cloth. So, the technology was around for quite a while for Kephart and others to use.

[holyphenol]

If you are interested in first editions as well as the AT, then you should also pick up an original copy of Edward Garvey's Appalachian Hiker (http://cgi.ebay.com/Appalachian-Hiker-by-Edward-B.-Garvey-1971-SC-signed_W0QQitemZ400064061969QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ2 0090727?IMSfp=TL0907271710001r33135). This was the book that taught me all about the AT in the early 70's.

Duly noted.
Between cookbooks and hiking books I'm slowly amassing a small library!
Always good reads though.

[OldStormcrow]

Wax paper maybe?
He mentions that the "waterproof" is two feet square.....that's 1 foot by 2 feet. He was using it to roll his wet tent in when packing it. He mentions that he also used it as a seat. I would assume that a piece of 1'x2' waterproofed canvas would quite possibly weigh just 2 ounces. Turkey hunters used to carry pieces like this for sitting on the ground against a tree. They also used sheepskins for the same purpose in the winter, hanging them off the back of their belts so they could just sit down and not have to unpack them.

[Seeker]

i've noticed various posts here @ WB referencing Kephart... i'm actually interested in reading some of these older pieces and plan on checking out the library(albeit small) and ebay tomorrow...
any other authors i can check out while i'm at it?

other authors can be found at openlibrary.org. they include SE White, Warren Miller, Dillon Wallace, Pinkerton, Fordyce (edgar?), and Edward Breck. If you sort openlibrary by publisher, and insert the house kephart helped found (the outing publishing company) it will help you find some of them. you can sort by digital (ie, free) versions too... i've got about 20 of them. great reading.

two feet square is 2 x 2, or 4 square feet. 1 x 2 is 2 square feet.

[Snowleopard]

Seeker: Very nice link for old outdoor books (and probably other books).
"The shameless diary of an explorer" by Dunn, Robert is a great title.

openlibrary.org
http://openlibrary.org/search?wtitle=&wauthor=&wtopic=&wisbn=&wpublisher=Outing+Publishing+Co.&ftokens=&_save=Go

[holyphenol]

Wow, thanks again!
This is an excellent online book repository.

[Skyline]

Some items that seem to be missing in the OP's list:

•A sleeping bag or bedroll
•A backpack or rucksack
•Food
•Water
•Rope
•Fuel (an "oil stove" is listed)

Otherwise, a very interesting glimpse back to the past.

[jaywalke]

so this piece of waterproof by 1910 standards was made of what? and it really weighed 2 oz.? and was the size and strength they say it was? :confused:

It was either waxed cotton, oiled cotton, or (most likely) silk. The latter was apparently pitched very tightly, and would shed water, although I doubt if it was actually as waterproof as nylon. I have the Kephart books at home (they were reprinted together a few years ago, and are available on Amazon) and they make fascinating reading.

Fletcher's CWIII is the best of the lot, in my book (ha!) because it covers the last UL revolution the 80's.

[Hikes in Rain]

As promised, here are a few from my library. Got a bunch more but these stood out when I scanned through. Up front, many of these aren’t backpacking books. Car, pack animal, canoe, other transport, yes. Carving your home into the wilderness, in some. I’ve read all of them many times; there’s good stuff in all of them.

The Art and Science of Taking to the Woods – C. B. Colby and Bradford Angier

The Joy of Camping – Richard Langer

On Your Own in the Wilderness – Col. Townsend Whelen and Bradford Angier

The Man Who Walked Through Time – Colin Fletcher First recorded man to walk the length of the Grand Canyon solo!

Backpacker – Albert Saijo Eastern Philosophy and poetry mixed with how-to.

Going Light with Backpack and Burro – David R Grover

The American Boy’s Handy Book – D.C. Beard Only peripherally camping and hiking, but so much more great stuff. For those that never grew up, and even more for those who did and regret it.

Jack Knife Cookery – James Austin Weller Terrific book on how to cook good food using only your pocketknife. Written for the Boy Scouts before they became a going concern in this country.

Camp and Trail Methods – E. Krips One of my favorite lines from the book was the “instructions” on how to cook bacon: “I don’t need to tell you, everyone knows how to do that.”

Camp Cookery – Horace Kepheart

Cache Creek Country – John J. Rowlands

The Book of Woodcraft
Two Little Savages – both by Earnest Thomas Seton

Hitchhikers Handbook – Tom Grimm

High Trail – Vivian Breck Not a how-to book at all. It’s a story. A kids book, a girl’s book, in fact. But the author hiked extensively through the High Sierras all her life, and was skilled with horses, kayaks, and technical climbing. Great story of courage, responsibility and leadership.

Bushcraft – Richard Graves

Boy Scout Handbook and Fieldbook Find the old ones!

Home in Your Pack
Skills for Taming the Wild
How to Stay Alive in the Woods – Bradford Angier

The Best of Woodsmoke – Richard Jamison

Backcountry Camping – Bill Riviera

[Seeker]

some of those old books are a hoot... there's one by pinkerton's wife, kathrine, about women in the woods... (at least she WENT with him.)

did you know that a woman should, just once, so she knows what it's like, carry a pack ALL THE WAY across a portage? and if she really wants to keep the menfolk happy, walk ahead of them and have a pot of tea ready when they get to the other end.... and she should have her things all in one bag, so the men don't have to wait for her to gather them up before they can start said portage... (like i said, the era between 1890 and 1919 was interesting...)

if you read kephart's camp cookery (the book, not the chapter in 'camping and woodcraft', even though they are very similar) he borrows a couple recipes from old Kathrine... she must have been quite a lady...

[BOWSINGER]

FIDDLEHEAD and SKYLINE, thesleeping bag and pack and total pack weight were mentioned in the last paragraph of my original post. Here is the rest of Holding’s complete gear list and one of Kephart’s comments about what each camper might carry besides his/her part of the shared gear.


“Mr. Holding’s complete personal equipment list:
Share of baggage_________________________3 lbs___2 oz
Mackintosh coat__________________________1_____2
Air pillow_____________________________________3
Down pillow (a luxury)__________________________1
Sweater________________________________1_____0
Sleeping stockings (long ones)____________________6
Down quilt_____________________________1____10
Thin extra vest (undershirt)______________________5
Scarf________________________________________2
Toothbrush, ect_______________________________3
Holdall with straps (under)______________________8
______________________________________9 lbs__2 oz

For hiking instead of cycling, a rucksack should be substituted for the holdall. Adding a towel, the weight without food, is close to 10 pounds, with part food 12 pounds.”

The down sleeping quilt was eiderdown and the tent was Japanese silk. The oil stove was kerosene. “Coal oil” is what old timers and my grandparents called kerosene. They used it to light coal or wood burning stoves as well as for fuel in oil stoves and lamps.
On winter mornings, my grandmother would send me out to the little cob shed and I would dip a couple of corncobs in a bucket of coil oil and bring them back so she could fire up her old cast iron kitchen stove. In warmer weather she just used her new-fangled electric range. The lamps were kept around for the many times the electric power went out or lit some evenings just for us kids because we thought they looked so neat.

More-to-follow.

[BOWSINGER]

Several questions have been raised about these old time tenting materials. Many natural textiles have the ability to absorb water and swell shut, closing their pores and becoming virtually waterproof. Nylon cannot do that and must be treated to be waterproof.

Kephart mentions other waterproof ground sheets as being made of a “a special fawn waterproof sheeting” and another one “of light mackintosh” which was so thin that it was pegged down and covered with a “ground blanket” of thin cashmere. “Mackintosh” usually means wool as in Mackintosh coats, so I am not sure how the term is used as a ground sheet. “Fawn” is a very lightweight tightly woven Egyptian cotton, “almost twice as fine as our so-called “balloon silk” or the special Lowell cloth used for extra-light racing sails”…

English textile mills always seem to be able to weave much finer cloth than any place else in the world including America. Egyptian cotton is extra long-staple cotton that may or may not be grown in Egypt. Balloon silk is just a fine grade of silk like cotton. The only thing lighter than “fawn” or “swallow-wing” cotton was actual silkworm silk. And the best was Japanese silk, which again, may or may not have been from Japan. English outers used it for the lightest tents ever made until nylon came along just in the nick of time before WWII.
Silk parachutes were being made before they were making airplanes. “Hit the Silk!”

This is some of what I posted on the Camping and Woodcraft thread:

He lists one A frame tent that is 3 feet high, 3 feet wide, and 6 feet long with a 32 inch front extension for cooking space and a 36 inch rounded rear extension for storage. The top is unprocessed but rainproof cotton “that is woven almost twice as fine as our so-called “balloon silk.” The lower sides of the tent are spray-proofed and the tent weighs 22 ounces. Poles, pegs, and lines add 18 ounces and the separate waterproof ground sheet with four more corner pegs, an additional 15 ounces. This 7-pound total outfit includes a 20-ounce “Comfy” eiderdown mummy bag and a 2-ounce Japanese air pillow. The pre-World War I price was about $21.00 plus shipping from England.

You can still get eiderdown. DANIADOWN will sell you a “Pure Icelandic Eiderdown Comforter with 600 + fill power for only 2600 bucks. They say that eiderdown has a unique ability to cling to itself, which gives it greater insulting power, than any other wildfowl down. Here is their quote:
“It is the finest of all downs and the most expensive. The Eider Duck is a protected species, so its down is collected by hand from nests. The birds themselves are not disturbed.”
I don’t even want to know how the 1910 market hunters collected eiderdown.

A second tent called the “Wigwam” is bigger, 4 feet high and 4.5 feet wide, made of Japanese silk, and only weighs 13-ounces. Using two jointed bamboo shear poles in front and an optional ridgepole, the pole and peg package weigh twice as much as the tent. . It is interesting to compare the T. H. Holding two-person outfit with this, his basic solo 6-pound gear list:
Tent_________________________13 ounces
Poles (3)_____________________ 15 “
Pegs_________________________10 “
Ground sheet__________________10 “
Ground blanket_________________8 “
Down quilt____________________20 “
Cooking kit___________________16 “
6 pounds

According to Kephart, T. H. Holding, of London was a veteran camper and outdoor writer and quotes him about his Japanese silk tents: “Such is its toughness that I have seen a pair of the strongest fingers try to tear the material and fail… One has stood some of the heaviest rains, in fact, records for thirty hours, without letting in wet, and I say this of an 11-ounce one… What, however, silk does not stand well is friction.” Holding goes on to state that a silk tent will wear thin like a silk umbrella, in the folds and pressure points.

Kephart adds that all these extra thin materials work like an umbrella. To be rainproof, they depend on tight weave and tension. Pressure point leakage and stretching is a problem. Touching the inside of these fabrics when they are wet can cause capillary water flow and would be very hard to avoid in such small tents. He recommends waterproofing or adding a waterproof fly, exactly like our modern double wall tents! And all the old-time camping books included instructions on mixing and using paraffin based waterproofing for tents, tent flies and tarps.But he says that these are great tents:

“I am assured that this midget shelter will stand up in a hurricane that overthrows wall tents, marquees’ and the army bell tent. Enthusiastic campers use it even in winter, sleeping out without a fire when the tent sags with snow… It has stood nine months’ continuous service in Canada.”

It is interesting to note that the COCOON TRAVELSHEETS and MUMMYLINERS made of silk are slightly lighter than the non-woven nylon models and are rated warmer.

More-to-follow.

[Strategic]

Colin Fletcher wrote "The Complete Walker" and other books about his adventures in hiking. The Complete Walker wass dubbed the Hiker's Bible. era late 60's early 70's.

It was certainly my guide to hiking when I started in the 70's. I still have a fond spot for Fletcher and have never forgotten what I learned from The Complete Walker. I even gave my 16yo nephew a copy of CW IV when he started to get serious about hiking. He loves it as much as I did.

[BOWSINGER]

I would like to thank everyone for the book lists and the sources. I have a fair number of these books but I found several items I need real bad. I have both the first and the third editions of THE COMPLETE WALKER by COLIN FLETCHER. Where would us gear heads be without Fletcher? He turned gear lists into both an art form and a science.
From the same era; THE BACKPACKER by ALBERT SAIJO, I am so glad to see that this little book made the list. It is a treasure. There is good stuff on every page:


Alpenglow.

Sunset.

The air turns chill.

Now it’s time for that small fire.

0ld friend fire.

****

You made it.

You went in and you came out.

You did your trip.

Besides CAMPING AND WOODCRAFT by KEPHART, which is the basis for all these old time ULW gear lists; I also have about a dozen others. Here are two of the best:
WOODCRAFT by NESSMUK: Using the wonderful pin name of Nessmuk, George W. Sears had to be a poet as well as a great writer. As well as his poems, some of his prose sings even better. Here in one of his best-known passages, he speaks of “Nature:”


She does not deal in matches and loaves; rather in thunderbolts and granite mountains.

And the ashes of her campfires bury proud cities.


ON YOUR OWN in the WILDERNESS by WHELEN and ANGIER: This is my favorite book of them all. I bought it new in 1964 and it opened up a whole new world of campfire tents and wilderness rifles. I have bought every book and saved all the magazine articles by Col. Townsend Whelen that I could lay my hands on. It has not been near enough. Here he speaks of night fires:


Never does smoke smell so sweet. An owl hoots.

The sparks and the smoke go straight up to heaven where gleams Orion’s belted brightness.

It is good to be awake at such a time.

[Snowleopard]

BOWSINGER, thanks for the Kephart posts and info. I love this stuff!

...Several questions have been raised about these old time tenting materials. Many natural textiles have the ability to absorb water and swell shut, closing their pores and becoming virtually waterproof. Nylon cannot do that and must be treated to be waterproof.
...
English textile mills always seem to be able to weave much finer cloth than any place else in the world including America. Egyptian cotton is extra long-staple cotton that may or may not be grown in Egypt. Balloon silk is just a fine grade of silk like cotton.
...
You can still get eiderdown. DANIADOWN will sell you a “Pure Icelandic Eiderdown Comforter with 600 + fill power for only 2600 bucks. They say that eiderdown has a unique ability to cling to itself, which gives it greater insulting power, than any other wildfowl down. Here is their quote: It is the finest of all downs and the most expensive. The Eider Duck is a protected species, so its down is collected by hand from nests. The birds themselves are not disturbed...
The only disadvantages of Egyptian Cotton balloon silk are:
you can't get it anymore :mad:
it's more prone to mildew than nylon, so you have to be more careful about drying it out.

Ventile (cotton) is still available in Great Britain, but awfully expensive. It's the fabric of choice for Antarctic parkas.

According to wikipedia the Eider Duck's range extends down the New England coast. So if anyone wants to try gathering it, go to it! I'm a little skeptical that it would be warmer than the best quality goose down. I think the best quality down comes from birds raised in the coldest climates. Most down is just a byproduct of raising geese for the meat.

[Tinker]

Carrying fewer things was my first step toward carrying less weight. My first hike longer than an extended weekend was in the summer of 1992. I carried a 4-1/2 lb. pack (REI Morningstar), a one person tent (TNF Mayfly 2+lbs.), a regular Whisperlite stove with 11 oz. fuel bottle, the light top off of my Stephenson Warmlite bag, the air mat without the rest of the bottom, minimal clothing (no raingear, if I remember correctly - I just hiked to stay warm and changed when I got into camp) and a bunch of dried food, bagels and peanutbutter. That, plus my 1lb. First Need filter, weighed 35 lbs. and kept me out for 6 days and 5 nights on the Long Trail in southern Vt.
Now I have a frameless pack, a hammock, silnylon tarp, titanium cookware, and I did an 11 day hike with about the same weight (but I spent a night at Whithouse Landing and a zero day at Abol Bridge with numerous trips to the store for ice cream, cookies, etc :D). Oh, and this was in September, with cooler nights.
Less is more, but fewer is the fastest way to less.

[Hikes in Rain]

That's just the short list, Bowsinger. I have many, many more. Sounds like we may be kindred literary spirits.

[daddytwosticks]

Have to agree with Tinker. Although I've lightened up much over the years, at the end of the day when my pack "explodes" all over the floor of the shelter, I am amazed at the endless array of items strewn about. Do I really nead all this crap to hike? :)

[BOWSINGER]

Have to agree with Tinker. Although I've lightened up much over the years, at the end of the day when my pack "explodes" all over the floor of the shelter, I am amazed at the endless array of items strewn about. Do I really nead all this crap to hike? :)

It is so easy to set in front of a computer and dream up an ultralight gear list. But not so easy when I start putting all the stuff I think I need into my pack. There are all the what-ifs and just-in-case items to think about. And that thing called comfort. I always hope to do better and lighter next time.

The problem has been around for a while. In 1972, SAIJO wrote about the ultimate ULW packers. John Muir and before him, the religious saints of the Eastern religions and of the Bible who roamed the wilderness and the mountains with no backpacking gear at all.

Then for his readers, he puts together an outfit for a weeklong trek that comes in just under 30 pounds with food. And in those days of 7 and 8-ounce pack cloth and 1.5 ounce sleeping bag fabric, it was a fine gearlist. He held out for the very best 600 cubic inch goose down instead of the more common 550 down, but he warns: A proper sleeping bag is the most expensive item of your outfit: it will cost at least $80, and perhaps more.

All these old timers worked over their outfits. Adding and subtracting. Doing so was the next best thing to doing the trip. Whelen and Angier wrote: It is some advantage to live a primitive life if only to learn what are the necessaries.

[BOWSINGER]

One source for Egyptian Cotton tents is www.tentsmiths.com (http://www.tentsmiths.com/). They get a supply of 4-5 ounce long staple cotton tent fabric from time to time and can build you just about any old style lightweight tent you want.

Including Calvin Rustrum’s Wedge tent. Here is another writer who should be on everyone’s book list. I have only read library copies of Paradise Below Zero (http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/R/rutstrum_paradise.html) that included his 4-seasons convertible tent and winter camping. Chips From A Wilderness Log is also on my want list. He wrote many other books: The Wilderness Route Finder (http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/R/rutstrum_wilderness.html), Once upon a Wilderness (http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/R/rutstrum_once.html), The New Way of the Wilderness (http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/R/rutstrum_newway.html), and North American Canoe Country (http://www.upress.umn.edu/Books/R/rutstrum_canoe.html) are just some of them.

Clyde Ormond wrote a lot of good practical stuff and was highly regarded by the other authorities of the time. I have his 1964 COMPLETE BOOK OF OUT DOOR LORE. He carried part of a miniature Trapper Nelson style packboard in his coat pocket and the rest of it came from his head and his hands.

The Art and Science of Taking to the Woods – C. B. Colby and Bradford Angier.

C. B. Colby was the camping editor at Outdoor Life for many years. I also always enjoyed the writings of Ted Trueblood at Field & Stream and John Jobson who followed Col. Whelen at Sports Afield. Whelen’s camping column was called Behind the Ranges.



Something hidden. Go and find it. Go, and look behind the Ranges. Something lost behind the Ranges. Lost and waiting for you . . . Go!" (Rudyard Kipling)



The list goes on.

[Snowleopard]

One source for Egyptian Cotton tents is www.tentsmiths.com (http://www.tentsmiths.com/). They get a supply of 4-5 ounce long staple cotton tent fabric from time to time and can build you just about any old style lightweight tent you want. ...

Thanks, in fact I had seen tentsmiths website before and had forgotten about it. They have none right now, but expect some in Fall, 2009. Their tents are very expensive. They state that:
I
n fact we have had all of our Egyptian cotton fabric treated with a durable water resistant and flame resistant finish.
A good DWR on cotton might be interesting. I wonder if they sell fabric to make a parka -- a good windproof cotton is really the thing for COLD winter weather.

[BOWSINGER]

Kephart seem to be fascinated by the miniature stoves and cooking kits:


Since the English camper seldom could get wood for fuel, or permission to make a fire in the open, he was obliged to carry a miniature stove and some alcohol or kerosene.


He goes into some detail about the nesting copper or aluminum cooking kits. They were meant to cook real food and included an assortment of kettles and boilers, porridge and frying pans, and even sometimes a toaster and a tea ball. The Baby Primus kerosene vapor stove fit inside the 4-piece So Soon cooking kit and weighed about 2.5 pounds and measured 3 ¾ by 5 ½ inches. A smaller 3-piece So Soon set that was made for a smaller Pocket Primus stove, all together, weighed about one pound 9 ounces.

There is no mention of any extra fuel bottles and very little about extra food. The English Gentlemen and their Ladies seemed to always be just a short hike or bike ride from a source of supplies.

And not much in the way of sleeping pads:


In England, I suppose, it is taken for granted the camper will procure, for each night, a bedding of straw of hay…


I don’t think that Kephart was ready to give up his campfire cooking and he suggests that these featherweight outfits would need to be modified for more rugged New World conditions. But he couldn’t help himself. He ends his TRIPS AFOOT Chapter with:


Not only lightness but compactness seem to have been brought to an irreducible minimum. For example, there is a complete cycle-camping outfit for two men, including tent, down quilt, toilet articles, cooking utensils, ect, that stows in a bag only 15 x 7 x 7 inches!


Given more time and a different set of life circumstances, Old Horace may well have become an Ultra-light Hiker. His later years were troubled and he died in an auto accident on April 2, 1931. He did find the time in his last years to write and campaign for establishing a national park in the Smoky Mountains and a footpath called the Appalachian Trail.