By John Braden
Let’s face it; camping authentically is uncomfortable at best, unhealthy at worst. One way the soldiers survived was by developing little tricks to make camp life more tolerable. Since these are as useful to Re-enactors as they were to original soldiers, following is a list of “old soldier” tricks (with some modern ones tossed in). Although most will be well known to “old hands,” I trust even they will pick up a trick or two.
I. Hygiene
1. Tuck your trousers cuffs into your socks. This will keep dirt and vermin off your legs. If the sock won’t stay up by themselves, roll the tops down, or tie a string around the tops.
2. To prevent an authentic case of heat rash or jock itch, apply zinc oxide ointment at the beginning of an event.
3. Use the first cup of water you boil in the morning, not for coffee, but to clean your face, ears, and (if applicable) eyeglasses.
4. If your tunic gets sweat-soaked, turn it inside out and lay it on your tent to bake in the sun.
II. Fighting the elements
5. To keep cool on a hot day, soak a handkerchief with water and put it on your head, under your hat.
6. If you have a choice, wear a round-brimmed hat; it will keep both rain and sun off you better than a kepi.
7. A rubber or oilcloth poncho is an excellent investment. You can use it as a raincoat, ground cloth, dew cover, to close off the end of a tent, or as half of he tent itself.
8. The cape of an overcoat is not just ornamental. Throw it over your head as a hood, or roll it up around your neck as a muffler. Actually, an overcoat is not essential: you can use your blanket as an overcoat more easily then you can use your overcoat as a blanket.
III. Accoutrements
9. A blanket roll is a lot easier to carry than a knapsack. Two hints: twisting the roll before you tie the ends together will keep it from unrolling. Also, the blanket roll should rest on your left shoulder (so as not to interfere with firing).
10. Wear your waistbelt over the shoulder slings of your cartridge box and haversack to keep them from flopping when you run.
11. Does your bayonet scabbard slide around your belt as you march? Punch a hole in your belt and the inside of your bayonet frog, then use a brass paper clasp to attach the two.
12. Straps on your canteen too long (e.g., to hang on your ridge pole)? Tie off part of it to make a smaller loop.
IV. Camping
13. Two things every camp needs: a shovel and a hatchet (the latter with a claw to pull tent stakes).
14. Need kindling to get a fire started? If you’ve got straw bedding, use a handful of that. Or use the hatchet to shave some wood chips off a log.
V. Dinnertime
15. Don’t leave your tin cup over the fire without liquid in it, else the heat may melt the solder holding the bottom.
16. Adding a wire handle to the top of your cup will make it a lot easier to lift it off the fire. A bayonet (socket side to fire) makes a good hook for this purpose.
17. Speaking of bayonets, the socket makes a good candle holder.
18. While the Civil War soldier used his bayonet or ramrod to skewer and hold food to the fire, I don’t advise this for the re-enactor who wants these items to last more than four years, since the heat may draw the hardening out of the steel.
19. Tin cup too hot to drink out of? Rest the lip against the side of a full tin canteen to draw off some of the heat.
20. You don’t need a frying pan if you have a tin plate. Just split a stick, wedge the edge of the plate into the split, and you have a frying pan.
21. It doesn’t take a gallon of water to clean your dishes. Thrust knives and folks repeatedly into some sandy soil. For your tin plate, use a handful of straw or grass to wipe off the big stuff, then some sand to scrub off the rest. A damp cloth suffices to finish the job.
VI. Pitching your tent.
22. Camping on hard, lumpy ground? Use a shovel or bayonet to loosen up and contour the ground to your body before you pitch your tent.
23. It’s easier to put your straw and bedding down and pitch the tent over it than to try to pull the bedding in after you’ve pitched the tent.
24. For a “dog” tent that will stand up to the strongest winds, after you’ve pitched it tie the uprights to the ridgepole and to tent itself.
VII. Sleeping.
25. A canteen, cartridge box, or both, covered with an article of clothing makes a serviceable pillow.
26. A tent with the ends closed off is a lot warmer than one with opens ends.
27. Since you lose a lot of body heat through the top of your head, wear a night cap.
28. To get dew (and stench) out of your bedding, every day, after the dew has dried off your tent, spread your bedding on top of the tent.