How to Camp Out
Where to buy How to Camp Out books online?
Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Buy of the Kindle edition includes wireless manner of language.
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I was not pleased to find this was not a facsimile edition but a text only version. I am sure the original illustrations would have momentously improved the book. A very tiny book but it is worth reading if you are interested in 19th century camping not a book for modern camping advice. The fee is a bit high for what you get. A far better book if you can find it is the Horace Kephart Camping and Woodcraft, it dates form a few years later but has a lot more in it. Not like I am going to send it back but if I had looked at it in a store I would not have bought.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
I selected up a first edition of this book many years ago, and its condition is evidence of how many times it has been read. (I had hoped to find reprints available that I could give as gifts, but I guess I’m out of luck. Rats!) Mr. Gould provides the prospective camper with valuable advice covering the logistical, psychological, and social aspects of camping. One of my favorite pages is a list of necessities (which, the leader cautions, “is by no means exhaustive”) that includes first-aid supplies, shingles (to be used as plates), beeswax, a bean-pot, and even a Bible! In a reflection of his military experience, he devotes part of the text to the importance of the division of labor in the camping party and the supplies of leadership in the person chosen as group captain. This is not merely an instruction manual for learning how to pitch a tent and erect a fire (although it is certainly that), but also an eloquent treatise on the need for everyone to pull his own weight as part of a group that’s living in to some extent spartan circumstances. It is also a primer on etiquette and civil behavior: there is a moving admonishment to the reader concerning the treatment of farmers: “Do not be saucy to the farmers, nor treat them as ‘country greenhorns.’ There is not a class of people in the country of more importance to you in your travels; and you are honor bound to be respectful to them. Avoid stealing their apples, or disturbing any thing; and when you wish to camp near a house, or on cultivated land, take permission from the owner, and do not make any unreasonable request, such as asking to camp in a man’s front-yard, or to make a fire in dry grass within a hundred yards of his buildings…When you break camp in the morning, be sure to place out the fires wherever you are…see that the fences and gates are as you establish them, and do not place a mass of rubbish behind for the farmer to clear up.” (Vital rules even in the 21st century!) The leader also advocates keeping a diary to remember the pleasures of the camping trip long after it has come to an end. In the same way, Mr. Gould’s camping guide serves as a reminder of the attraction of “roughing it” in the 19th century. Even if you’re not a camper, if you can find a copy, you’ll get vicarious pleasure from this splendid book.
Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
“How to Camp Out” (HTCO) was written by my fantastic-fantastic-grandfather John M. Gould in 1877. I doubt there are very many, if any, books written by Americans and the theme of how to camp out before that date.
Several things make HTCO special. First, it gives brilliant insight into how people camped out over a century ago. I show that people were reasonably capable of enjoying the outdoors lacking the benefit of Coleman stoves and lanterns, the L.L. Bean Catalog, an EMS store at the shopping mall or any modern conviences. HTCO helps us know that people adapted to their environment and could suffer the rigors of the simple life because the rewards were far greater.
Another thing which makes HTCO special is that it contains practical camping advice which is still pertainent to this day. This ranges from “Don’t waste your money buying every new invention.” to “Wear what you please if it be comfortable and durable: do not mind what people say. When you are camping you have the right to be independent.”
There are copious additional worthwhile quotes in the book. These may be establish at the John M. Gould website.
Another feature is that HTCO gives the reader valuable insite into getting to know its leader. John M. Gould served as an officer with theUnion Army for 4 years during the civil war and served on occupation duty in South Carolina for a year after. He was a man who was practical, judgemental and kindhearted. From the book we see his reverence for Creation and his desire to share the best life had to offer with his friends and family tree. We also see some of his eccentricity when he devotes a full five pages on how it keep a diary. This habit stood him in excellent stead as his war diaries have been recently published.
Regardless of whether you are a novice camper, a Civil War re-enactor, a nostagia buff or a professional historian you will find a rich and rewarding experience by reading “How to Camp Out”.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5