[Sidenote: Shape of Tent]

The proper shape for a tent is a matter of some discussion. Undoubtedly
the lean-to is the ideal shelter so far as warmth goes. You build your
fire in front, the slanting wall reflects the heat down and you sleep
warm even in winter weather. In practice, however, the lean-to is not
always an undiluted joy. Flies can get in for one thing, and a heavy
rainstorm can suck around the corner for another. In these circumstances
four walls are highly desirable.

[Illustration: _Method of Tightening Rope._]

On the other hand a cold snap makes a wall tent into a cold storage
vault. Tent stoves are little devils. They are either red hot or stone
cold, and even when doing their best, there is always a northwest
corner that declines to be thawed out. A man feels the need of a camp
fire, properly constructed.

[Sidenote: "A" Tent the Best]

For three seasons I have come gradually to thinking that an A or wedge
tent is about the proper thing. In event of that rainstorm or those
flies its advantages are obvious. When a cold snap comes along, you
simply pull up the stakes along one side, tie the loops of that wall to
the same stakes that hold down the other wall--and there is your lean-to
all ready for the fire.

When you get your tent made, have them insert grommets in each peak.
Through these you will run a light line. By tying each end of the line
to a tree or sapling, staking out the four corners of your tent, and
then tightening the line by wedging under it (and outside the tent, of
course) a forked pole, your tent is up in a jiffy. Where you cannot find
two trees handily placed, poles crossed make good supports front and
rear. The line passes over them and to a stake in the ground. These are
quick pitches for a brief stop. By such methods an A tent is erected as
quickly as a "pyramid," a miner's, or any of the others. In permanent
camp, you will cut poles and do a shipshape job.

[Illustration: _Tarpaulin, Open and Folded._]

[Sidenote: Tarpaulins]

[Sidenote: Uses of the Tarpaulin]

Often, however, you will not need to burden yourself with even as light
a tent as I have described. This is especially true on horseback trips
in the mountains. There you will carry a tarpaulin. This is a strip of
canvas or pantasote 6 x 16 or 17 feet. During the daytime it is folded
and used to protect the top packs from dust, wet, and abrasion. At
night you spread it, make your bed on one half of it, and fold