Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 36

Thread: "Survival" 1950's....Called camping out.

  1. #1
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default "Survival" 1950's....Called camping out.

    This will really date me...
    "Survival" 1950's style....10-14 years old?

    Camp out gear...Hadn't heard about bushcrafting yet.....

    BOV
    Huffy...24" w/ paper basket.

    Shelter:
    Red Ryder umbrella tent.
    Fathers painter drop cloth tarp....canvas,... water proof but smelled from all paint, turpentine, mineral spirits ......

    Sleeping gear:
    WWII Mummy sleeping bag...smelled like old sweat, and when wet, ...chicken feathers.
    Patch quilt from Grandma.

    Pack:
    Lucky guys...WWII Musette from father...not so lucky, pillow case.
    Paper boy paper bag worked well....original sling pack?

    Water, cooking,:
    WWII canteen/cup and mess kit from junk yard (big pile of surplus).....$.25 cents each.
    Sauce pan, frying pan, soup pot....cooking gear was split up between the guys.
    Hobo coffee can stove (BSA )w/one pound can card board and wax.....

    Sharps:
    Barlow, or BSA folder.....
    If you had a cool grandpa .....Imperial, Schrade,Western, Marbles.... belt knife
    Shingle hatchet (looked cool like a tomahawk, Borrowed)
    Rich kids had the Western knife/Hatchet combo.

    Food:
    Hot dogs, bread, peanut butter, can of tuna, can of beans, can of cherry pie filling....
    Cookies....
    Soda..
    Cool aid.
    Candy bars....

    First aid kit.....couple of band-aids, bottle of iodine, tape/scissors.....ammonia capsules(?)...in old metal band-aid box....I suspect these were to make this stuff smell first-ad-y

    Matches...strike anywhere....Candle ....(In first aid box,....maybe the inspiration of the Altoids tin PSK ?)
    "The Good flashlight"
    Cordage.....Mom's clothes line......(honest, Ma...I'll put it back)

    Flannel shirt, corduroy pants, spenders, cotton socks, Red Ball Flyers and lace up high top leather shoes
    Jacket, baseball cap.
    T-shirt, briefs, or swimming suit
    Towel washcloth, bar of Ivory soap (floats)
    Tooth brush, comb (had teeth and hair back then)
    Extra pair of socks....always got them wet getting up and taking a whizz when the grass was dewy.

    MBR.....
    Daisy Red Ryder...w/ compass insert in stock....(didn't really need the compass, as we were in the back yard).
    Later years, woods and parks...

    Goal was;.... make it all night outside rather than ending up on someone porch or car.

    BOL's:

    Camp fire in brick back yard grill.....Or park fire ring.....
    The Woods were 2 blocks away, lake and mound (for climbing)...i mile away

    Probably forgetting some stuff.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27


  2. #2
    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    North Florida
    Posts
    44,846

    Default

    Sounds about right. I remember that my ground cloth all through my Boy Scout years was the old and tattered picnic table cloth (felt on one side, plastic on the other). All those years of "survival camping".........who would have thunk it?
    Can't Means Won't

    My Youtube Channel

  3. #3
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    Just what I think every time someone ask about "The best" whatever".
    What ever we had at the time...was "Best".
    I am surprised we made it......

    Still lust after the Western Hatchet and Knife combo....That was "The Best" back then....

    Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    S.W. Idaho, USA
    Posts
    910

    Default

    HUNTER63 - ""Survival" 1950's....Called camping out."
    Yep, as in "Hey, boys, let's go camping this weekend after school."

    "Okay, I'll get my stuff and meet you guys down by the old ferry landing on the river."

    I started camping out with my father and uncle, and then the Boy Scouts, in the late 1940s. That was in north central Arkansas, southern Ozark Mountains. Continued with my buddies through early '50s and we always said "camping." To me, it is still "camping."

    I never heard the term "bushcraft" until fairly recently on the Internet. I had heard "the bush" in reference to hunting in Africa, a common term in the outdoor magazines referring to safaris in Africa, and "bush pilots" referring to the light plane pilots who flew the remote areas of Alaska, but never "bushcraft" for camping out.

    Guess as a "seniorman" I'm kinda behind the times.

    Our bedrolls consisted of a couple U.S. Army surplus wool blankets, $1.00 each, wrapped in an Army surplus shelter half, $1.00. Button two shelter halves together and you had a pup tent. An old quilt kept the wool blankets from being too scratchy while sleeping.

    Most of our gear was like Hunter63's. Cast off, scrounged, U.S. surplus, some from mom's kitchen, etc. We had great times... while "camping out."

    We usually had a .22 or .410 single shot in camp for rabbits or tree squirrels, etc. A little "camp meat" always went well fried in bacon grease. I bought this old Stevens Favorite at a farm sale when I was about 12, for $3.00, IIRC. Had it in camp many times. Still an accurate .22 LR.

    Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

    S.M.
    "They that can give up essential liberty to gain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

    - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790),U.S. statesman, scientist, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

  5. #5
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    Wow, Y'all really stepped up with the "Big Boys..."15----up.....Know as our arch enemy....they picked on us.....
    Have a funny story about one of them....later in life.

    Eventually we got older, inspite of ourselves........Moved up..
    Financed by paper route,.... lawn service, including snow shoveling and painting garages.

    1953 Chevy....old wooden boat, 5 hp Martin Outboard.....for the lake.

    Army blankets, pup tents and a "OMG" (these days) 22?....LOL...Savage Model 15.....

    BTW..... added a can opener...after be traumatized by the legendary "can of cherry pie filling in the fire.....explosion"....open before you. toss in fire to heat up...
    Every time I see a can of cherries I think of that
    Last edited by hunter63; 03-13-2017 at 05:43 PM.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  6. #6

    Default

    Western Bushcraft today is really just camping. What qualifies as bushcraft is really just sleeping under a tarp and make fire with firesteel, cook a meal that you bring to the site. So basically Tarp+firesteel+storebought meal= bushcraft. You can see many examples of this on youtube. Then all these bushcrafters talk about is their bushcraft knives or axe. It's all about gears. Where as true Bushcraft, those practice by indigenous people in Africa, Australia, Canada, and Siberia all makes things from the bush, they don't bring gears, they make the things they need from the bush. So somewhere along the line camping got mixed up with bushcraft. So if you want to know the easiest way to distinguish a bushcrafter from a camper, is a bushcrafter only brings a cutting tool (axe or knife or machete) and a camper brings a backpack full of stuff.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Graf's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Fenton, Michigan
    Posts
    358

    Default

    Reminds me swimming in a lake is now referred to as primative swimming, I was 10 years old before ever being in a pool
    Semper Paratus

  8. #8
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kaze View Post
    Western Bushcraft today is really just camping. What qualifies as bushcraft is really just sleeping under a tarp and make fire with firesteel, cook a meal that you bring to the site. So basically Tarp+firesteel+storebought meal= bushcraft. You can see many examples of this on youtube. Then all these bushcrafters talk about is their bushcraft knives or axe. It's all about gears. Where as true Bushcraft, those practice by indigenous people in Africa, Australia, Canada, and Siberia all makes things from the bush, they don't bring gears, they make the things they need from the bush. So somewhere along the line camping got mixed up with bushcraft. So if you want to know the easiest way to distinguish a bushcrafter from a camper, is a bushcrafter only brings a cutting tool (axe or knife or machete) and a camper brings a backpack full of stuff.
    I believe that a good example analogy...

    Bushcrafters seem to like making "crafts" while out there...and make You Tubes.....But still could be any style.
    Seem to like tarps and hammocks...and have "The Best gear"

    Campers are all different styles,....From motor homes & campers,... family tent camps,....... To primitive/native , re-enactors ...ultra-lite, hikers, canoe campers,... fishermen and hunters,....may even find a logger or miner or two.....have even seen families of croppers "living" out there to save money.

    All like all of us that enjoys the outdoors....any style you choose could, and often does go sideways....and become "Survival"
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  9. #9

    Default

    Lol. Good post. It's a blast from the past. One time during a rainy spell we used the horse trailer to sleep in. It was our "rv ". It wasn't one of those fancy ones that they have these days. It had two stalls and a hay loft.

  10. #10
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Graf View Post
    Reminds me swimming in a lake is now referred to as primative swimming, I was 10 years old before ever being in a pool
    LOL...Yeah....no frogs and turtles in a pool....
    Besides you need all sorts of sunscreen, nose plugs, goggles, arm rings and foam fingers....and you smell like chlorine instead of swamp....

    No "tire on a rope" from the river bank
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  11. #11

    Default

    We always had forts. Tree forts, ground forts, underground forts, rock-deadwood-canvas forts, snow forts. The only ones we didn't sleep in were the snow forts. Hated the cold. Still do. And you only build one underground fort, which is great fun, until it rains and fills with water...

    The neighborhood I grew up in built up slowly. Every couple of years there was a house or two going up and they always had a wood and scrap pile out front (no dumpsters.) Dad gave us kids a BIG box of 8 penny nails and a big box of 20 penny nails (no idea where he got them. FOT he said, which we later learned meant "fell off truck") He also gave me a hammer and a saw with the handles painted day-glo orange so we wouldn't lose em in the woods (we still didbut they always turned up eventually.) For the deadwood forts we'd "borrow" the house axe. There was a great glacial boulder dump about half a mile into the back woods, next to a small feeder creek that had rainbow and brook trout in it. The caves there were too small to be real caves but you could add to em with dead wood and a tarp and have a real nice little shack. Nice and warm too once you figured out how not to smoke yourself out with the fire.

    No guns then but I was darn good with a wrist rocket. We used to get ring bearings at the junkyard and beat the crap out of them with a hammer to get the ball bearings out. Saved those for special "camp meat" (squirrel,) otherwise just used pebbles.

    I never did tell the 'rents about the high school years of having a raft hidden down the river and running the spring rapids or dragging it up to the lake to laze about, just fishing. And the rope swing at "the falls" - THE best swimming hole in the state IMHO. Full of tasty catfish too. Used to be an old mill pond but long disused and the dam opened up.

    So glad I moved out before they tore down those woods to put in more houses. Drove through there not too long ago and didn't even recognize the places we used to hang out. All the big old maples with the long arching branches we used to build tree forts in and used for sugaring in spring, all cut down (I hope they hit at least a few of those 20D nails.) Even the rocks were all gone, along with most of the top of the hill above. The creek runs in a culvert. All McMansions and manicured lawns now instead of the old fallow fields and border thickets. Just another bedroom community for Boston.

    It's very true sometimes when they say, "you can never go back."
    Last edited by LowKey; 03-13-2017 at 08:58 PM.
    If we are to have another contest in…our national existence I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's, but between patriotism & intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition & ignorance on the other…
    ~ President Ulysses S. Grant

  12. #12
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    LK....I hear ya....You know all about forts I see, .....And yeah the dug out debris shelter gets wet....and can be really buggy.
    I think about that everytime is see a "debris shelter"....no one talks about that.....

    Our woods is gone, that was going up abiut the time I was heading out at age 18.
    The mill pond that we ran the boat... is still there, still has a dam...and the famous "Raft Run" in the stream below it....LOL

    Actually that area is now a park...attended many Rondys there for a few years....sadly the rondys are not held there anymore.....

    Seemed funny to camp in my wall tent , now.... in about the same spot that the two shelter halves tent were used in a rain storm........50 years ago
    This confirmed the Bubble gum does NOT patch holes.....

    My parents house look to be abandon...haven't been by in a couple of years...but even looks like it on Google earth.
    We sold it after MM died in 2003.....Went to a realtor that rented it out.
    That's really sad.

    That house was 1/2 block from our "woods"...

    Yeah. kinda sad...but did have a wonderful childhood growing up there.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  13. #13
    Senior Member alaskabushman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Alaskan Panhandle
    Posts
    540

    Default

    I grew up with very few friends, as my parents moved around a lot (my dad was not in the military, just restless), usually to semi-remote places. I learned to "just go" and build shelters(forts), fires and when I got old enough, lugged around a .17 pellet gun for squirrels and chickadees. The only rule was "if you kill it, you eat it", which I did.

    I got a Coast hatchet for my 9th birthday...still have it. before that I inherited my dads Old Timer with...you guessed it...a broken tip. I filed it down back to a tip and I used it a for several year till I started earning my own money and bought a Buck 110. Promptly broke the tip on it but that's another story.

    I was blessed to be born into a family that already loved camping. Before we moved to the state in '98, we made many trips to Alaska to fish and explore. My dad was/is not much of a hunter but the man loves to fish. I don't even know how many days we spent in tents and Forest Service cabins.

    I agree with Kaze, the modern term "bushcraft" makes me cringe just a bit, even though I catch myself using it. I think the more traditional term should be "tramping". Modern bushcrafting is heavily focused on the equipment, which gets boring (at least to me) after a while.

    I'm a little irked that what I've done my whole life, called camping, has now gone mainstream. I tell people what I like to do and they are like "Oh! You mean bushcrafting!"...."weeellll...I guess...not really".

    Don't get me wrong, I love gear as much as the next guy, but there is more to it. Skills play a part. Common sense too.

    I guess to me the most enjoyment I get is just simply being out in the woods, enjoying nature, sharing moments with friends and family. I don't need a label for it. I don't need a trend. I just want to have fun and live well.

    God forbid if hunting ever goes mainstream it'll get called "Huntcraft".
    There ain't too many problems you can't fix with $500 or a 30-06.

    Him-"Whats the best knife for survival?"
    Me-"the one that's in your pocket."
    Him-"I don't have one in my pocket."
    Me-"Exactly."

  14. #14
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    I don't care what you call it...that seems to be less important.

    I would rather see a group of kids out and about doing things outside....rather then on electronic devices
    I even re-considered Pokemon Go, that I mostly think is silly...But ... is a way to get people out and about.

    This isn't new.......a line in the "Book Shelters, Shacks and Shanties...By D.C Beard...." is so many words "Boys that build shelters don't cause trouble for others.......
    Great book by the way.

    Maybe will find a new dimension in their lives?
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  15. #15
    Senior Member alaskabushman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Alaskan Panhandle
    Posts
    540

    Default

    ^^^^Agreed^^^^

    I was never allowed to have video games growing up. So I found things to to outside. I look back on that and am thankful.
    There ain't too many problems you can't fix with $500 or a 30-06.

    Him-"Whats the best knife for survival?"
    Me-"the one that's in your pocket."
    Him-"I don't have one in my pocket."
    Me-"Exactly."

  16. #16
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    My wife was a cmaper all her life......met her "up north" when she was at their cabin.......City girl...

    My son was camping when he was 5 days old.....Daughter maybe 6 months old?

    Summer, in July was when I could take my vacation.....
    We took them all kinda of camping....tents, campers, re-enacting cabins....staying over-nights at the track while racing sports cars....(didn't sleep much)

    So it became a way of life...as well as bringing several of their friends, that were allowed to join us for weeks on end....(does that even happen these days?)

    DD still camps hunts and gardens...always did....and bring up GS that way....

    So for some....it is the inner desire.....some is bringing up and experience,.... but forcing them one way or another won't work.....as with many things.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  17. #17
    Senior Member alaskabushman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Alaskan Panhandle
    Posts
    540

    Default

    My dad forced me to do things I didn't want to do...like eat my vegetables, take a shower once and a while...oh yeah, and work...

    Still don't like to work.
    There ain't too many problems you can't fix with $500 or a 30-06.

    Him-"Whats the best knife for survival?"
    Me-"the one that's in your pocket."
    Him-"I don't have one in my pocket."
    Me-"Exactly."

  18. #18
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    I was asked several times how I liked my job.......

    Told them the I was a "hunter/gatherer" that took their money to afford my "life style"...but wasn't my "job style".

    Walked into the monday morning staff meeting....big boss says "Whats burning?"
    I said..."Well that would be me ....."

    I find my self turning into my father more and more...LOL.....including making a noise when getting up...."auh"
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

  19. #19

    Default

    Alaskabushman, "tramping" sounds like something you don't want your daughter to be doing. lol Your dad sounds like my dad. My dad push me to be successful but I hated it, I don't care about making lots of money, I just want to have more free time to do as I please. I think that's partly why I enjoy the outdoors because it's all about personal freedom and getting away from all that drama. You're really lucky to be living in Alaska, you probably have more freedom out there than I do in my State of Washington, where the rules for outdoors is "leave no trace" so most of the time I can't even practice my "bushcraft".

    hunter63: Sounds like you have a happy life and wonderful family.

  20. #20
    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    SE/SW Wisconsin
    Posts
    26,866

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by kaze View Post
    .....................
    hunter63: Sounds like you have a happy life and wonderful family.
    Thank you...
    Yes...I have been blessed...but comes with a lot of work.
    I spend a lot of time trying....LOL.....Key word..."Trying"

    Have had many very, very good times, some times of absolute he!!.....

    But.....I do choose to look for good and not worry about the bad.....as best as I can.
    Geezer Squad....Charter Member #1
    Evoking the 50 year old rule...
    First 50 years...worried about the small stuff...second 50 years....Not so much
    Member Wahoo Killer knives club....#27

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •