If you can assemble a comfortable pack, not too tiring to carry, and from it live in the wilds happily and easily for four days to a week, depending on your age and size, then you are a real camper and worthy of your coonskin cap.

Real campers start brooding about their equipment months before they are ready to go out. Half the fun is in planning a trip and preparing gear. Much of it you can make or adapt to your needs. If you must buy a few things, spreading the expense over several months makes it easier. Camp outfitters’ catalogues, supplied free, will show you hundreds of things you can buy, from dehydrated beans to tents, and give you ideas for making some.

In packing gear there are three rules: Keep weight down. Keep bulk down. Be sure each item is usable plus. A jackknife with a can opener in it makes one item out of two. Plastic dishes weigh much less than aluminum or enamelware. Bring some beef jerky with you when you go camping.