29 Jan 2012 | 3 Comments

Hudson’s Bay Company’s Scale of Provisions

Camp Craft and Woodlore

Camp Craft and Woodlore - Canadian National Railways

I first heard about the Hudson’s Bay Company’s standards for food in Clyde Ormand’s  “Complete Book of Outdoor Lore” although he didn’t go into a lot detail I put a big circle around the paragraph hoping to find out more.  All my online research came up blank but finally, last week, I came across a small but great book. The Canadian National Railways’, “Camp Craft and Woodlore” originally printed in 1927.

The Hudson’s Bay Scale of Provision is a system for equating how much food one man will need when he is out in the wilds. It is a very simple but incredibly neat system, and I can’t help thinking of all the trappers and mountain men using this as a guide for their time in the wilds.

It is as follows

1 man 1 day.
2lbs. flour (or 1½ pounds of sea biscuits), 1lb. fat mess pork, 2 oz. sugar, ⅓ oz. of tea, 2 oz. peas (or same of barley), ½ oz. of carbonate of soda, ½ oz. of salt.
Total 3lbs. 5½ oz. at the most

Simple but perfect. This book is a gold mine! You can download a copy of Camp Craft and Woodlore here

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24 Jan 2012 | No Comments

PATC 1960 Gear List

Hiking, Camping and Mountaineering Equipment - PATC 1960

Hiking, Camping and Mountaineering Equipment - PATC 1960

I came across this great guide in a dusty Portland bookstore. It is a truly exhaustive list of all the gear available to the hiker, climber and mountaineer in the early 60′s. This is a real gem, it has details about the brands, the weight of the items as well as the details of which companies make them. Excuse the long post, but I love an gear list.

Their suggested gear list for hiking the Appalachian Trail is as follows:

On Person
Handkerchief (Bean’s 24″ bandana);
Polythylene plastic bag 9″ x 18″ (Gerry#P62) for toilet paper
Valuables,  permits, keys, small note book and pencil stub, pocket knife with 2 blades, can opener
Small compass induction damped (Gerry #K42 or Silva “Explorer” Stern
Waterproof match box with small size strike-anywhere matches sprayed with laquer like Krylon
Alarm Watch (Corcoran)
Maps and proper guide book sheets in map case (PATC) — Carry in front of shirt
Camera Equipment

Pack and Contents
A. For use while hiking
Kelty “Mountaineer” Model Packboard of proper size used with waist strap and equiped with studs or loops at of vertical risers for easy lashing. Lashed to topbar — Ruck – or rucksask (Camp and Trail #300) with “Dee” ring hooked on stud secured to top of cross bar, shoulder straps of rucksack wrapped around cross-bar, then brought down and snapped into “dee” rings at base of rucksack.
Kelty Packbag Model “B” if no side trips are planned (for side trips the first option permits leaving the pack frame in base camp and carrying out essentials in the rucksack). With the rucksack arrangement, items not required during the day are placed in a rubberized clothing bag which is lashed below the rucksack, heavy items at the top.
Cup – miner’s cup with wire loop handle (Sierra Club or PATC — same manufacturer).
Canteen – 1qt. aluminum fuel bottle (Camp & Trail #367) or 1 qt aluminum Army surplus in pocket of pack.
Shoes – Pete Limmer Mountaineer Boot; for wet spring and fall, use Beans’s Maine Hunting shoe with Bean’s arched inner sole or felt insole, as preferred.
Sock – Inner – light wool surplus. Outer – cushion sole 50-50 wool and cotton since no nylon cushion sole available. Also Wigwam #620 or Epsy all nylon.
Trousers – Masland Mountain brier cloth in cold weather(surplus trouser, hell Field M-1951 is best but not too available). Sears 11 oz denim, not Levi — legs are too narrow — in warmer weather.
Shirt – According to weather. Pandleton wool 10oz Woolrich 14oz. Two button-down flap pockets essential.
Jacket – Full zip parka (Holubar)
Underwear – In summer, Brynje top, regular shorts (not jockey shorts, which permit chaffing) In winter, wool and cotton, long drawers. In very cold weather, over Brynjes warm surplus pajama-style 50-50 wool and cotton, long drawers  and long sleeved undershirt with 3-button front for ventilation.
Hat or cap as desired; billed cap or felt hat.
Rain garments – Superlight rubber coated nylon parka (Bean) with Horcolite rain chaps (Holubar).
First Aid Kit.
Insect repellent – OFF
Anti sun-cream _ Glacier Red Label for lips and face; after tanning Sea and Ski.

B. For use in camp
Sleeping bag. Summer: Ski Hut Meadow-S; Fall and Winter: Holubar’s Royalite; Ski Hut Meadow-C; Army Surplus. Use Summer and winter bags, nested, during coldest weather.
Cook Set and Stove – Atenhofer with Primus 71 (Holubar), sizes to suit 1, 2, 3 men. Gasoline in aluminum gas bottles, 1 pt. or 1 qt. (Gerry to Camp & Trail).
Axe – Not needed if cook on gasoline stove.
Fire inspirator – 24″ x ¼” inside diameter 1/16″ wall pure gum tubing (any chemical supply house). Invaluable with  cranky wood fires. Doubles as tourniquet.
Salt and Pepper – plastic (Boy Scout cat. No. 1411). For larger amounts use polyethylene bottles.
Spoon and Fork – nesting aluminum (Gerry #A45).
Flashlight – 2-cell medium size.  Extra bulk.
Cellulose Impregnated Sea Salt Tablets (Morton’s)
Sewing Kit – 2 needles, little thread, in first aid equipment.
Reserve matches and reserve toilet paper in waterproof containers.
Toilet articles – Toothbrush and small paste; powder in cold weather; hotel-sized soap in bobby pin plastic box; razor blades, brushless shave cream (if shave).
Tent – Holubar Royalite, Gerry Yearound.
Air Mattress – Nylon Rubber, full length (Camp & Trail #268); Stebco Backpacker 46″ (Ski Hut).

C. Food -
Use polyethylene bags except for canned meats which should be limited. Bag food on polyethylene and place in a cambric sack for protection from chaffing. Jam in wide-mouth polyethylene jar, screw top (Ski Hut). Oleo (higher melting point than butter) in aluminum screw-top jar with plastic liner. (Benjamin Edington).

 

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12 Jan 2012 | 4 Comments

Tea Chronicles Pt.4 – Colin Fletcher

Fletcher at camp

Fletcher at camp from Complete Walker pt.3 illustration by Vanna Prince

This is a tea story I’ve been looking forward to posting but has taken a little preperation.

As a British ex-pat Colin Fletcher upheld the “Britanic Afternoon Tea” ritual despite having lived away from Blighty for more than a quarter of a century. In “The Complete Walker Pt. 3″ Fletcher details his approach to tea and hiking.

“A little to my surprise, I find plain, straightforward Lipton tea the best for sheer resuscitation power. Thirty bags see even me through the thirstiest week. I normally include a few fancier jobs, mint- or orange- or cinnamon flavored, for rest-day kicks.”

Fletcher goes on, in his unique and entertaining way, to detail the use of both tea, coffee and cocoa. He quotes a paper by the Addictions Research Foundation of Ontario.  This gives the hard line on the effects of caffeine. Fletcher however  jumps to the defence of tea calling coffee and cocoa “mere foods” and “such calumnies against tea are enough to depress the mood, if not the performance of an Un-British Activities Committee”

In weighing up the pluses and minuses of loose leaf vs. tea bags vs. tea powder he provides a recipe for a blend given to him by “a lover of tea and a hater of tea bags”

The blend is

  • 3 parts Darjeeling
  • 3 parts Keemun
  • 1 part Ceylon
  • A dash of Lapsang Suchong

which, he avers can actually be smoked and “will cure all ills, including future smoking of anything. You carry such leaves in a Ziploc plastic bag and steep by means of a lightweight metal basket.

This I had to try, I sourced the various teas and the blend is complete. It’s a delicious hearty black tea- a no-nonsense blend.  I am a big fan of Russian Caravan Tea and this is similar with Keemun and the dash of Lapsang Suchong but the Celyon gives it a lighter edge steering it a little closer to an English style tea.

A lover of tea and a hater of tea bags blend

A lover of tea and a hater of tea bags blend

I was so impressed I’ve made a full batch if anyone out there is interested in trying some shoot me an email and I’ll figure the best way to get it out to you.

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06 Jan 2012 | 2 Comments

Pacific Crest Trail

The Pacific Crest Trail

The Pacific Crest Trail by William R. Gray photographed by Sam Abell

I just finished reading “The Pacific Crest Trail” by William R. Gray, published by the National Geographic Society. This is a terrific book, well worth hunting down. Gray is a gifted writer, mixing natural history, trail history and a diary style narrative as he and photographer Sam Abell walk the trail. There is a strong focus on the people they meet and their stories. Their intention was never to thru-hike, this meant they were able to stop along the way to explore, expanding the narrative. Abell’s photographs are exceptional, they are very artistic and complement Gray’s writing perfectly.

Gray continued as a writer, editor, and publishing executive at National Geographic until 2001 and now teaches as San Juan college. His other books include “Camping Adventure (Books For Young Explorers)” and “Voyages to Paradise,” both are now on my wish list. Abell continues to shoot with National Geographic and has been published in over 20 articles. He has also released several photography books and exhibited his work numerous times. See more of Abels work here.

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