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FOREWORD - Perhaps you have a yen to track down the Abominable Snow­man. Perhaps you are an expert organizing an expedition to the Peruvian Andes. But it is much more likely that you are just a lover of the outdoors who would like to get a little farther away from civilization than a row of diapers hanging in a trailer camp. You might be an ardent rock climber and mountaineer, but there are more of you who just want to camp and hike away from the crowd.

1. MATERIALS - Extensive field trials, experimentation and testing have proved that of the many products available on the market only a few are adaptable to the high specifications demanded by light weight climbing and hiking gear. This chapter on materials is an at­tempt to give the reader the information and data he will need to make an intelligent choice among the hundreds of materials avail­able

2. PATTERNS + SEWING - The job of this book is to make it possible for anyone with normal dexterity to construct the basic gear for climbing and camping. It would be foolish to say it's all easy. It isn't. The secret is in the planning. Before actual construction of any item described begins, it must be understood, carefully planned and laid out. If these preliminary steps are bypassed or skimmed over discouraging difficulties may be experienced later on. This chapter will help with the careful planning necessary for success. No great skill is required—but a lot of patience is.

3. PACKS - In the collecting of a climbing or camping outfit the pack rates first consideration. In it go most of the other items of equipment and whether they are light or heavy they have to be carried on the back! An uncomfortable pack has ruined many an otherwise pleasant trip. It stands to reason, therefore, that the best possible planning and design considerations should go into this pivotal piece of equipment.

4. SLEEPING BAGS - The conservation of the body's warmth is the main purpose of the sleeping bag. The physical comfort, a soft place to sleep, is secondary and usually is supplied by some means other than the bag, such as smoothing the ground and digging hip holes, placing pine boughs or moss and grass for a bed, or carrying an air mat­tress

5. TENTS - On the subject of tents there are almost as many opinions as there are tents. They range in size from one the size of a summer cottage, leaving out the circus and carnival variety, to a little tent which is scarcely more than a sleeping bag cover. We assume here that the tent is for back packing which automatically eliminates about 98% of all tents. This does not mean that it need be a tiny flimsy affair, however. Careful choice of materials can provide a tent with a surprising amount of space.

6. CLOTHING - In hiking, climbing and camping, clothing assumes an impor­tance we almost forget during the course of our centrally heated, aircooled, automobile-run lives. The torture of a large blister on a heel or the misery caused by a sudden snow or rain squall in the high country with improper clothing has to be lived through only once before attention to proper clothing becomes second nature.

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