Escape From The Burning Shack--1908.

the photos are in a book of reprints from outdoor magazines in the 1890-1910 era.some true and some just rousing stories like this one about the trapper Peter Noel.driven from his burning cabin in the depths of the winter he tries to make his way to a lumber camp some fifty miles away.all he came out of the raging fire with was his jacket,sort of a BOB with matches,knife,mitts.out the door he grabbed his rifle,blankets and larrigan's,a kind of soft boot.the three things he lost that were important to him were his ax,snowshoes and cooking pot were all lost in the fire.for the sake of the story he could not find the ax head but did pull out a lump of charred bacon that was left over from a big side he had,he ate the fist size bit first and went off to get help.



i thought the story would have more details about he survived on just those items on his walk to the lumber camp but whoever the Charles Roberts was he was no 1900 version of Bear Grylls.

Are you recommending the book?

Holy cow, it's Sir Charles G.D. Roberts (known in literary circles up here as "Sir Charles G!d D!mn Roberts" for his, uh, unique poetic stylings, which every Lit. undergrad is forced to read).

That's a neat find, Canoedogs. When and where was it published?

Beat me to it Doug.

I recall with no certain fondness having to read Sir Charles G!d D!mn Roberts...

The Flying Wild TV program about bush pilots had an episode where the pilot flew the only 2 residents of the Arctic National Wildlife refuge back to their cabin for the winter.

The brief walking tour of the grounds pointed out the insulated fully-stocked (with firewood & stove) tent that was a little ways away from the main cabin. It was the safe refuge in the event of the cabin burning down mid-winter. Gotta have someplace figured out to go when it's -50F outside and the house is gone.....

It's good to have made preparations :-)

the book is Tales of the Canadian Wilderness and that is just one of many stories,most of them from Outing Magazine.it was put together by Castle Books in 1985.i got it because it has the original accounts of the Hubbard and Wallace canoe expedition of 1903.Hubbard was a assistant editor at Outing and this account has many more photos and maps that than newer editions.
the book is for someone who likes old tales of the Canadian North at the turn of the century--the last one,not this--

There are old Outing Magazines on archive.org. I have a few downloaded (.pdf) and read them occasionally on my pc. There are some very good stories and info in these old publications.

Love that show. Major props to that family for being ready.

so our friends Up North know about GD..well thats a hoot.glad it was not just me that thought the writing was a bit "heavy".

Ah, I'm afraid it's worse than that. The "Sir" gives it away. He's one of ours. <sigh> I guess the mores of the time were considerably different. I need to look up his prose; I hope it's more graceful and inspired than his poetry.

- - -

EDIT: Still a neat collection of stories though. A time capsule in some ways; but in others, an affirmation of the essentials that still apply.

Good idea. I haven't seen the show, but in a situation like that you better have a lifeboat in case the ship goes down in a storm.

Any idea how they insulated the tent?

I found the story in Canoedogs' book at archive.org. It's part of a book called "The Backwoodsmen."

http://www.archive.org/stream/backwoodsmen00robeuoft#page/8/mode/2up

They called it a "four-season" tent, and it had a stovepipe coming out the top. They didn't show the inside. Wood (presumably for the stove) was nearby. No mention was made of how the tent was insulated.

I thought I heard "insulated" but I could be wrong.
No idea how one would go about insulating a tent other than pitching one inside another or building it out of lined material.

C.D.

Good post. I have been able to find several of the books you have mentioned in the last year and have enjoyed reading them.

The material of the tent could itself be slightly insulated - either foam or some "bubble wrap" type lining.

Then again, probably the several feet of snow would keep it decently insulated. Depending where it was situated, if there was a wind break, that'd help immensely as well.

Didn't mean to hijack (again), I was just curious.

I know that insulated tarps are commercially available. They use them when pouring concrete in below freezing conditions, ensuring a proper cure.

I've even thought of making my own insulated tarps. There are many situations where a waterproof layer with, say, R2 inside would be mighty handy. The only question is whether the inside layer needs to be fire resistant; that's a challenge.

A tent is more challenging in other ways. You have to think of moisture management as well as insulation. 'Course, a baby wood stove solves most problems.

Doug..good link to the "back woodsman"..i'll have to do a search for more info on DG,
i don't know about tents but in Korea back in 68 our 2 1/2 ton trucks had insulated covers that were put on during the winter.just puffy looking with plastic windows.i guess there was something between two layers of canvas.

With a wood stove you don't actually need to insulate the tent - just add 10 minutes to the time it takes to get a roaring fire going inside that stove and it is unbeliveably hot in there.

I'm not against insulating the tent, and any insulation will greatly add to your comfort level. But there is little actuall need to do so.


Without insulation the temperature will drop like a brick when the stove goes out. But if you have proper sleeping arrangements that isn't a problem. For me, proper sleeping arrangements means a sleeping bag rated for the outside temperature plus a comfortable safe margin plus adjusting my layered clothing to fine tune so I'm comfortable. Don't know what "proper sleeping arrangements" means to those trappers, but I can take a guess of wool blankets, fur and the like.


If you can't sleep inside something warm enough for the outside temperature you will have to wake up every now and then to get the fire going again. Insulating the tent will keep you asleep longer, but probably not through the whole night. You can also use tricks like hot rocks or bottles of hot water to keep you warm. Disturbed sleep is better than freezing to death or no sleep at all.


And insulating will of course greatly reduce fuel consumption. Probably not your biggest concern when your shack has burned down, but it could be in the long run.