Classic Backpacking Gear - Shelters
The next piece of gear I want to discuss in the context of Classic Backpacking is shelters. The amount written on the subject by authors of the time period is quite large, so here I will try to hit the main points they are making, in particular as it relates to traveling on foot.
When considering shelters during the period between 1880 and 1930, there are three aspects to discuss. The first is the material used in the shelters; the second is the waterproofing techniques for the shelter, and the third is the type of shelter, i.e. design of tent, tarp, etc.
Shelter Materials
I will start with the aspect that I consider most important, the shelter material. Shelter designs are numerous, and vary widely depending on the personal preferences of the author. I will mention the preferences of some of them as I go along. Lastly, I will discuss some of the common waterproofing methods.
I believe that we have a huge misconception when it comes to woodsmen of the time period between 1880 and 1930. Many seem to imagine a rugged woodsman who grew up in the wilderness, going into the woods with an axe, a canvas tarp, and a blanket; and more importantly, doing so because he knows through his vast experience that those tools are the best for the job. The reality appears to have been very far from this. Since this is a post about shelters, let’s discuss shelter realities.
First and foremost, not a single author I have read, from Sears (Nessmuk) to Kephart, used what today we would call canvas tarps or shelters. Canvas was just as heavy back then, as it is now. Accordingly, woodsmen traveling on foot were equally reluctant to use it for shelters.
As a bit of general background for people unfamiliar with canvas, it is a tightly woven material, typically made from cotton, but linen and hemp versions can also be found. Duck canvas is more tightly woven, double duck typically being preferred for shelter material. Canvas is usually referred to by weight: 10oz duck, 8oz duck, etc. The weight refers to the weight of the canvas per square yard. So, 8oz duck weighs 8oz per square yard of fabric. 10oz (10.10 oz) double duck, sometimes also called Army duck, is the material you typically see these days for use in tents. Some manufacturers offer lighter tents in 8oz or 7oz duck, but 10oz double duck is the most popular, in particular because it takes modern waterproofing treatments like Sunforger well.
So, when we read of woodsmen from the past using canvas, we usually assume that they were referring to what we think of as canvas, i.e. 10oz double duck. During the time period we are considering here however, they certainly didn’t use anything of the sort. A 10oz 8ftx6ft canvas tarp that was been waterproofed with paraffin will weigh about 6 1/4 pounds. The weight is just too much, especially if talking about more sizable shelters. The material that was actually in use by just about everyone from Sears (Nessmuk) to Kephart, was Egyptian cotton a/k/a balloon silk.
“Formerly a man had to make a choice between canvas, which is heavy but fairly waterproof, and drill, which is light but flimsy. A seven by seven duck tent weighs fully twenty-five pounds when dry, and a great many more when wet. It will shed rain as long as you do not hit against it. A touch on the inside, however, will often start a trickle at the point of contact. Altogether it is unsatisfactory, and one does not wonder than many men prefer to knock together bark shelters. Nowadays, however, another and better material is to be had. It is the stuff balloons are made of, and is called balloon silk… A tent of the size mentioned, instead of weighing twenty-five pounds, pulls the scales down at about eight.” Stewart Edward White, Camp and Trail, 1911 p.79
“The materials that are recommended (for an A frame tent) are placed in the order of lightness. 1. Japanese Silk 2. “Thintus” (very fine cotton) 3. Best Lawn, Egyptian (J. Goodman & Sons, 30, Glasshouse St.,W.) 4. Ordinary Lawn (Piatt & Co., St. Martin’s Lane, W.C ) 5. Fine Unbleached Linen (edited).” Thomas Hiram Holding, The Camper’s Handbook, 1908 p.321
“For a hunting- party of four men, I should consider a 7×9 Baker shelter-tent, weighing 12 pounds in balloon silk, to be a good investment. It has become standard for north woods and Canada hunting and fishing parties.” Warren Hastings Miller, Camp Craft, 1915 p.31
Canvas type materials are still in use today. As such, manufacturers have developed modern waterproofing treatments for canvas. Some such treatments resemble the old methods, others do not. One can purchase canvas tarps and tents which look the part, but because they have been waterproofed in a modern way, wouldn’t be functionally equivalent to the materials available during the 1880 to 1930 period. The most popular modern waterproofing method for canvas is the Sunforger treatment. It is an excellent waterproofing method for canvas that hardly adds any weight to the material. Such canvas can also be purchased with fireproofing treatment. It is the material of choice for manufacturers like Tentsmiths. Unfortunately, the treatment is not period correct. A canvas tarp treated with period correct methods would be significantly heavier than its untreated version. So, let’s look at some of the available period correct methods:
Alum and Lime
George Washington Sears (Nessmuk) gives the following description: “The cloth does not even require hemming. It does, however, need a little water-proofing; for which the following receipt will answer very well, and add little or nothing to the weight: To 10 quarts of water add 10 ounces of lime, and 4 ounces of alum; let it stand until clear; fold the cloth snugly and put it in another vessel, pour the solution on it, let it soak for 12 hours; then rinse in luke-warm rain water, stretch and dry in the sun, and the shanty-tent is ready for use.” George Washington Sears, Woodcraft, 1892 p.35
However, Kephart later comments that he has had no luck with waterproofing a shelter with the method described by Nessmuk: “I have had no success with the alum and lime method mentioned by ” Nessmuk.”’ Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft Vol I, 1918 p.73 I am more inclined to trust Kephart’s writing than Nessmuks.
Sears does however mention that the above method does not make the cloth flame/spark resistant: “Lastly, whatever cloth structure you may erect to use for a camp, do not fail to cover the roof with a screen of green boughs before building your camp- fire. Because, there will usually be one fellow in camp who has a penchant for feeding the fire with old mulchy deadwood and brush, for the fun of watching the blaze, and the sparks that are prone to fly upward; forgetting that the blazing cinders are also prone to drop downward on the roof of the tent, burning holes in it.” George Washington Sears, Woodcraft, 1892 p.39
These days it is often pontificated online that canvas is safe around fires. It is nothing of the sort. While wool resists sparks and flame, cotton canvas, unless it has received some fireproof treatment, is very vulnerable to sparks as well as to drying out and catching fire.
Paraffin or Wax
“Waterproofing by paraffin is a most satisfactory process and the one most used by tent manufacturers… Simply put. into a tin vessel 3 pounds of paraffin shavings (ordinary paraffin of the stores) and two gallons of gasolene or turpentine. The receptacle, best with a closed top, is set in the sun or in a tub of boiling water and never near a flame. When a solution is effected out doors spread it on the stretched cloth by means of a brush, sponge or piece of cheesecloth. The gasolene evaporates leaving a thin coating of paraffin in the fibers of the cloth… To make it fire proof and rot proof as well as water repellent I would treat the cloth first to an alum and sugar of lead solution and then paraffin well as above.” Claude P. Fordyce, Touring Afoot ,1916 p.88
A similar paraffin treatment is proposed by Kephart as the most effective waterproofing option: “The cheapest, simplest, and, in some respects, the most satisfactory way is to get a cake or two of paraffine or cerasine, lay the tent on a table, rub the outer side with the wax until it has a good coating evenly distributed, then iron the cloth with a medium- hot flatiron, which melts the wax and runs it into every pore of the cloth. The more closely woven the cloth, the less wax and less total weight. Some prefer to treat the tent with a solution of paraffine. In this case, cut the wax into shavings so it will dissolve readily. Put 2 lbs. of the wax in 2 gallons of turpentine (for a 7×9 tent or thereabouts). Place the vessel in a tub of hot water until solution is completed. Meantime set up the tent true and taut. Then paint it with the hot solution, working rapidly, and using a stiff brush. Do this on a sunny morning and let tent stand until quite dry. The turpentine adds a certain elasticity to the wax; benzine does not.” Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft Vol I, 1918 p.72
“Paraffine is used either plain (in which case it is liable to crack or flake in cold weather) or combined with some elastic substance. The ” mineral wax ” called ozocerite or cerasine (often used as a substi tute for beeswax, and sold by dealers in crude drugs) is not so brittle as paraffine, adheres better, and, like paraffine, has no deleterious action on cloth, being chemically neutral… The plain wax process renders cloth quite water proof, but adds considerable weight, makes the stuff rather stiff, and increases its liability to catch afire when exposed close to a stove or camp-fire…” Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft Vol I, 1918 p.71
Undoubtedly, the paraffin method of waterproofing is not a particularly safe option. Heating up wax mixed with gasoline or turpentine is as close you can get to making home-made napalm without the ATF knocking on you door. Using your wife’s iron to melt wax onto a tarp will even more certainly lead to a swift death. The method however appears to have been the preferred one.
It should again be noted that both authors mention that a fabric treated in such a way is not flame resistant.
Alum and Sugar of Lead
“For tents to be used in cold weather before an open fire, the following process is better: First soak the tent over night in water to rid it of sizing, and hang up to dry. Then get enough soft water to make the solutions (rain water is best; Some city waters will do, others are too hard). Have two tubs or wash-boilers big enough for the purpose. In one, dissolve alum in hot soft water, in the proportion of 1/4 lb. to the gallon. In the other, with the same amount of hot water, dissolve sugar of lead (lead acetate — a poison) in the same proportion. Let the solutions stand until clear; then add the sugar of lead solution to the alum liquor. Let stand about four hours, or until all the lead sulphate has precipitated. Then pour off the clear liquor from the dregs into the other tub, thoroughly work the tent in it with the hands until every part is quite penetrated, and let soak over night. In the morning, rinse well, stretch, and hang up to dry. A closely woven cloth should be used…” Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft Vol I, 1918 p.73
As quoted above, Fordyce also recommended the use of alum and sugar of lead, but only for its fireproofing characteristics. He still recommended treating the material with wax afterwards. To make it fire proof and rot proof as well as water repellent I would treat the cloth first to an alum and sugar of lead solution and then paraffin well as above.” Claude P. Fordyce, Touring Afoot ,1916 p.88
It should be noted that sugar of lead (lead acetate) is a poison. I think it may still be in use in textile manufacturing, but I’m not sure how one can actually get it, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend it.
Oiled Cloth
“For ground-sheets to use under bedding: get some of the best grade of boiled linseed oil of a reputable paint dealer. One quart will cover five or six square yards of heavy sheeting. Four it into a pan big enough to dip your hand into. Lay out the cloth and rub the oil into it between your palms, using just enough oil at a time to soak the cloth through, filling the pores, but leaving no surplus. Then stretch it in a barn or garret, or other dry shady place, for one week. Finish drying by hanging in the sunlight three or four days, first one side up, then the other.” Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft Vol I, 1918 p.73
“Cloth proofed with linseed or other drying oil is not strong enough for tenting (for its weight); it is sticky in hot weather, stiff in cold, and dangerously inflammable.” Horace Kephart, Camping and Woodcraft Vol I, 1918 p.71
There must have certainly been other methods for treating tent/tarp material, and Kephart does mention that each manufacturer makes their own, but the above are the most common ones that I have noticed.
Types of Shelters
As I mentioned earlier, the type of shelter recommended by each author changes based on their personal preferences. I will quickly touch on some of them.
The above description of the shanty-tent may seem a trifle elaborate, but I hope it is plain. The affair weighs just three pounds, and it takes a skillful woods man about three hours of easy work to put it in the shape described. Leaving out some of the work, and only aiming to get it up in square shape as quickly as possible, I can put it up in an hour.” George Washington Sears, Woodcraft, 1892 p.34-35
Source: http://woodtrekker.blogspot.com/2016/01/classic-backpacking-gear-shelters.html
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