Nineteenth Century Explorers' equipment

[H.Johnson]

With apologies to those who post on it regularly, I feel that 'The Adventurers' Gear' thread in 'General Attire and Accoutrements' (sic) has become unwieldy and has moved away from its original focus of 'Golden Era' adventure and exploration wear and equipment. So I am presenting a thread for those who share my interest in the above topic, which will, I hope, be more concise and useful for research rather than 'chat'. People with an interest in Land Rovers and Orvis will, I'm sure, continue to use the aforementioned thread.

I will start with a posting from The Royal Geographical Society's 'Hints for Travellers' of 1884.

 

[H.Johnson]

Mr. J. Thomson's Crossing of Masaiiland, 1883

I am reading once again The Royal Geographical Society's 'Hints for Travellers' from 1884, in which a letter (dated December 3rd 1882) from Mr. Thomson describes the equipment and clothing that he has assembled for his planned crossing of Masailand, whcih he completed in 1883. I quote,

'For carrying my clothes, books, &c. 8 boxes of different sizes, watertight, well-rounded [original italics] at the edgs, not more than ten inches deep, and not very wide, so that they may be easily grasped when on the shoulder or head. The larger boxes are for carrying clothes only, the smaller for a mixture of clothes with heavier articles, such as books, boots &c. None of the boxes when filled to weigh over 50 lbs.
For clothing I have provided 1 ordinary suit of tweed clothes for the colder regions, 3 suits of tropical tweeds, and as many of white drill; 6 strong loose shirts, with pockets, and as many think jerseys; 6 pairs of thick woollen [original italics] stockings or socks; 1 pair of strong boots for wet season; 2 pairs of lighter make, for the dry season, and 2 pairs of canvas shoes for camp use [!] and when the feet are sore. Heavy boots are to be condemned for the tropics, as the feet soon become scaldingly hot, making travelling in the heat of the day most painful.
Canvas gaiters are of great use, to keep out mud out of the boots when tramping through swamps, and to protect the legs in thorny scrub. A tropical waterproof and a comfortable ulster [sic] make up the clothing list, with the addition of minor articles such as handkerchiefs, scarves, etc.'

Mr. Thomson is clearly determined to be adequately equipped - as well as the tweed he mentions an 'iron bedstead, with cork bed and two Austrian blankets'. As well as a well-equipped medicine chest (with some medecines duplicated to obviate breakage) he includes. 'one .577 Express rifle, one .577 reduced to .450, a 12-bore gun (and) a revolver, with ammunition to suit'.

It is later clear that this is his personal arsenal, as he mentions in passing, 'I shall arm as many of my men as possible with short Snider rifles...'

The degree of planning in the 'Hints' is fascinating, as is the style of dress (Orvis take note). I am also reading an account of Mary Kingsley's travels among the Fang. She responds to an accusation that she wore trousers in the deepest jungle by saying, 'One should not go about Africa in something of which one would be ashamed at home...as for encasing the more earthward extremities of my anatomy in - you know what I mean - well, I would rather perish on the public scaffold!' Contrary to Mr. Thomson's armament, Miss Kingsley (who travelled in much more dangerous country) carried a single revolver, which she pointedly never used. For safety, she relied on trade, rather than invasion, and psychology -in 'understanding the minds of her opponents' as she put it, when under potential attack. Her bravery and confidence are simply breathtaking.

 

[Story]

British M-1871 Wooden Water Bottle w/Harness
[BA2005] $39.95
http://www.ima-usa.com/product_info.php/cPath/1_52/products_id/23

 

[BellyTank]

Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for trying.
This is very interesting stuff.


Mr. Story- the "Italian style" water bottle, although era-correct, is a very heavy and bulky choice for a water bottle/canteen. This reproduction example doesn't actually seem to be useable as a water bottle. I believe this bottle weighs around the same as the volume of water it can carry.

A "Tin" canteen would be my choice for personal water transport of the era.
Also useful as a mirror.


B
T

 

[LordBest]

I am intrigued by the reference to tropical tweeds, a particularly light weight tweed? Even the lightest I have seen would be unsuitable for tropical wear, not that my experience is particularly extensive.

 

[Creeping Past]

Here's a brief article mentioning Col. John Blashford-Snell's tweed explorer's suit, which he's used in the tropics, including up the Amazon. And here's a video clip of the Colonel describing it.

 

[Creeping Past]

King Solomon's Mines

This thread would have been an excellent place for me to have posted my brief review of the clothing in the 1937 movie version of H Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines. That post is located here.

 

[Story]

This reproduction example doesn't actually seem to be useable as a water bottle.

Correct, but my primary intent was to help HJ kickstart his thread. From what I remember, waterskins tended to predominate among both African and Indian 19th century safaris.

Shades of Grateful Dead/Phish concerts gone past -

http://www.silvermane.com/acatalog/DH-P111-wineskin-waterskin.html

http://kegworks.amazonwebstore.com/...froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=froogle

http://www.amazon.com/Spanish-Wine-Botas-2-Liters/dp/B001CWCL6G/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_b

Something about the red cord is just too farby - a leather strap would seem more period correct.

And as a spinoff from the illustrations above, I found this Swedish firestarter. I'd read about similar 19th century items. Dryer lint collected from one's pockets after laundry day and stored in a metal mint box makes for useful kindling.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-my-Fire-Swedish-Firesteel/dp/B0013L8D9K/ref=pd_sim_k_1

 

[Mike K.]

With apologies to those who post on it regularly, I feel that 'The Adventurers' Gear' thread in 'General Attire and Accoutrements' (sic) has become unwieldy and has moved away from its original focus of 'Golden Era' adventure and exploration wear and equipment. So I am presenting a thread for those who share my interest in the above topic, which will, I hope, be more concise and useful for research rather than 'chat'.

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

I really like this idea, especially since it ventures further back in time to the real golden era of exploration! Thanks for putting this thread together for us H.Johnson. Now we have:

• Adventurers' Gear [General Attire] - mostly new apparel/gear with a classic look
  
• Nineteenth Century Expl. Equipment [Golden Era] - true Golden Era and earlier apparel/gear
  
• Fedora Loungers in Action [Steamer Trunk] - field reports & photos from our personal travels and adventures
  
• ...and lets not forget the many other smaller threads that fit into the broader theme - Classic Hillwalking, a few alpine/climbing threads, Safari Hats (and conversions), Bush Jackets, etc.

I think we're finally making headway here. Everything is now getting nicely organized into separate threads instead of lumped into a single massive one.

 

["Skeet" McD]

Perhaps teaching grandmother to suck eggs, but....

Fellow Loungers,
What you're interested in is a bit off my regular paths (I'm interested in mid-19C American sporthunting), but in my poking around for sources to illuminate the shadier aspects of what they actually DID, I came across two books which--while tangential to MY interests--I think are quite central to YOURS. How well they are known in your circles, I'll have to let you tell me.

The first has been reprinted within the decade: Sir Francis Galton's (1822-1911) THE ART OF TRAVEL; or, Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries. It was first published in 1855, went through 8 editions, and the reprinted version is that of 1872. Unusually, the back-cover blurb is accurate: "Essential reading for those who want to know how the Tibetans keep warm at night; how the Chinese stop asses braying, how to build a snow house, pitch a tent, dry your clothes, and a multitude of other tried, tested, and forgotten tips for Victorian (and 21st century) travellers." Sir Francis himself says, describing his decision to write the book (while exploring south-west Africa in the 1850s): "it appeared to me that I should do welcome service to all who have to rough it—whether explorers, emigrants, missionaries or soldiers—by collecting the scattered experiences of many such persons in varied circumstances." This is a GREAT (and well-illustrated) book, and, if you don't have it in your library, I doubt very much you will regret doing whatever it takes to put a copy there:

The Art of Travel or Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries
Francis Galton
Phoenix Press (paperback)
London 2000
ISBN 1 84212 209 6

The second is like unto it....but I think likely to be much harder to find. This was a random discovery for me, original hardbound...but richly deserves reprinting!

AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS being Full Instructions How to Get Along, and to Surmount All Difficulties by the Way
"The Wanderer" (John Keast Lord, F.Z.S., Late Naturalist to the British North American Boundary Commission; author of the "Naturalist in Vancover [sic] Island and British Columbia. ")
Robert Hardwicke (hardbound)
London 1867

This volume is rather more in "my" line...as much of this writer's experience was in North America...though by no means all of it. As he says "The experience of 20 years passed as a rambler in various parts of the world, though principally as trapper, hunter, and naturalist, East and West of the Rocky Mountains....I am induced to offer a few practical hints on the general details of travelling, trusting the rough suggestions I shall offer may prove of use to those who are disposed to venture into a distant country wherein wheels, steam, iron and macadamised roads, are unknown luxuries; and in which, as a Yankee once said to me, in reference to Southern Oregon: "Stranger, you bet your bottom dollar a man has to keep his eyes skinned, his knife sharp, and his powder dry, or he'll hav' his har ris'd, sure as beaver medicine, if he travels thim parts."

As the last bit of dialect suggests...there is a good deal more story telling here than in the first volume, but always to the end of passing on hints. Also illustrated, although not quite as profusely. Nonetheless, you wouldn't want your har ris'd if you could avoid it, right?

This may all be old news to you lads...but just on the outside chance...

Shoot Straight,
"Skeet"

 

[H.Johnson]

Tweed is a type of woven cloth and can come in many weights, thicknesses and tightness of weave. Tropical tweed (which is still worn by some) is a looser weave than thornproof or keepers tweed and thus 'breaths' better, but is still relatively thick and wouldn't be described as 'lightweight'.

When considering 19th Century and early 20th Century tropical clothing, a considerable change of mindset is required when compared to our present way of thinking. Weight and thickness were actually valued as ways of staving off the radiant heat of the sun. Note, for instance, the insulated (with felt) and quilted 'back pads' that cover the upper back and shoulders on many civilian and military topical shirts and jackets. Also, the use of a red lining (British military backpads had a red felt lining) as the colour red was believed to mitigate the effects of the sun. Today, I think we would find that as difficult to understand as some of the more bizarre medieval beliefs, and yet it was the 'latest thinking' until the middle 1930s.

In the Edwardian period, few women travellers in Africa would have gone without their corsets (or 'stays'). Constance Larymore (in A Residents Wife in Nigeria, Routledge, 1908) recommends that to avoid wearing stays, 'for the sake of coolness is a huge mistake'. She is probably talking about a canvas corset with whalebone supports and laces and (based on a description elsewhere in the book) was also wearing petticoats and a dress or blouse and skirt. I venture to suggest that most women today would regard such an outfit as uncomfortable even in mild weather!

I have come to the conclusion that people from different ages think, feel and react very differently to the apparent 'restriction' and comfort of clothing. I'm almost tempted to invoke the discussion of the 'modern' methods of 'breaking in' horsehide jackets that is taking place in another part of the forum - but let us not go there!

I am intrigued by the reference to tropical tweeds, a particularly light weight tweed? Even the lightest I have seen would be unsuitable for tropical wear, not that my experience is particularly extensive.

 

[H.Johnson]

Exploratory reading

Thanks for these excellent references. I am familar with the first of them, but not the second, which I shall seek out.

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]Fellow Loungers,
What you're interested in is a bit off my regular paths (I'm interested in mid-19C American sporthunting), but in my poking around for sources to illuminate the shadier aspects of what they actually DID, I came across two books which--while tangential to MY interests--I think are quite central to YOURS. How well they are known in your circles, I'll have to let you tell me.

The first has been reprinted within the decade: Sir Francis Galton's (1822-1911) THE ART OF TRAVEL; or, Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries. It was first published in 1855, went through 8 editions, and the reprinted version is that of 1872. Unusually, the back-cover blurb is accurate: "Essential reading for those who want to know how the Tibetans keep warm at night; how the Chinese stop asses braying, how to build a snow house, pitch a tent, dry your clothes, and a multitude of other tried, tested, and forgotten tips for Victorian (and 21st century) travellers." Sir Francis himself says, describing his decision to write the book (while exploring south-west Africa in the 1850s): "it appeared to me that I should do welcome service to all who have to rough it—whether explorers, emigrants, missionaries or soldiers—by collecting the scattered experiences of many such persons in varied circumstances." This is a GREAT (and well-illustrated) book, and, if you don't have it in your library, I doubt very much you will regret doing whatever it takes to put a copy there:

The Art of Travel or Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries
Francis Galton
Phoenix Press (paperback)
London 2000
ISBN 1 84212 209 6

AT HOME IN THE WILDERNESS being Full Instructions How to Get Along, and to Surmount All Difficulties by the Way
"The Wanderer" (John Keast Lord, F.Z.S., Late Naturalist to the British North American Boundary Commission; author of the "Naturalist in Vancover [sic] Island and British Columbia. ")
Robert Hardwicke (hardbound)
London 1867

"Skeet"[/QUOTE]

 

[Creeping Past]

The other advantage of stout cotton drill, for instance, worn on hot days (I'm talking about the height of English summer, not the tropics) is that it doesn't get sopping wet quick so quickly as thinner fabric and is thus relatively more comfortable for longer periods than thin material. Thick cotton drill trousers don't stick to your legs as easily as thin cotton chinos.

 

[H.Johnson]

Yes. I think it's interesting to compare garments intended for 'serious' safari guide or game park wear with 'travelwear'. For instance, compare an African-made bush shirt with a (say) Cabelas or Banana Republic equvialent. One will be two or three times the weight and thickness of the other - one is intended to be worn by professionals who spend all day in the field, the other by tourists.

The 'Golden Era' explorers in general knew what they were about, and the experience still holds true.

Cotton drill and gabardine, of course, are seen to appear alongside (and to some extent supplant) tropical tweed in the equipment of exporers and travellers as the 20th Century came around. Burberry clothing, of course, was used for polar as well as tropical wear. My own equivalent of Mr. Blashford-Snell's Norton tropical suit is a Belstaff Moorlander with matching breeches in green drill. It has similar construction features (e.g. the arm articulation) to the 1920s Burberry suit. Influenced by seeing the above clip on TV some time ago, I followed his lead and added a hood to my Moorlander. It's 'secret weapon' is the waterproof 'bum flap' that lowers to cover the back of your legs - very useful.

 

[Creeping Past]

When you say African-made, do you have any specific makers in mind or are you talking about the sort of thing available in-country rather than through internet retailers, etc.? I ask because I've never travelled to the tropics (northern Australia is the nearest I've got) or to arid lands.

The Beretta shop in St James's has a nice cow-pat-hued khaki bush jacket in the windown that's relatively affordable. I'm going to try it on tomorrow, I think, to see if the fabric and construction matches up to its detailing and cut.

 

["Skeet" McD]

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetails?bi=1306257074[/URL]

And, for those of you who HAVE to have an original...and are prepared to dip $390–490 deeper into your billfold--or wait for the $1.50 lucky copy to come your way, as it did mine :
http://used.addall.com/SuperRare/RefineExact.fcgi?id=090421070219407420&order=TITLE&ordering=ASC&dispCurr=USD&exaAuthor=[LORD,++John+Keast]&match=Y&exaTitle=At+Home+in+the+Wilderness.+Being+Full+Instructions+How+to+Get+Along,++and+to+Surmount+All+Difficulties+by+the+Way.++By+++The+Wanderer++.+

Good hunting, biblio and otherwise!
"Skeet"

 

["Skeet" McD]

Another useful book....perhaps

Fellow Loungers (or Lodgers)
Another volume on the shelf which has considerable relevance for my interests and at least some to yours is

The Prairie Traveler by Randolph B. Marcy, Capt. U.S. Army
originally published 1859; reprinted in paperback by
Perigree Books (ND; 1990s?) ISBN 0 399 51865 7

That's the one I happen to have; an AddAll search reveals many other editions, some perhaps preferable...and at quite a range of prices, unlike the "Wanderer" volume, Thank God! ....:
http://used.addall.com/SuperRare/submitRare.cgi?author=marcy&title=prairie+traveler&keyword=&isbn=&order=TITLE&ordering=ASC&dispCurr=USD&binding=Any+Binding&min=&max=&timeout=20&store=Abebooks&store=AbebooksDE&store=AbebooksFR&store=AbebooksUK&store=Alibris&store=Amazon&store=AmazonCA&store=AmazonUK&store=AmazonDE&store=AmazonFR&store=Antiqbook&store=Biblio&store=Biblion&store=Bibliophile&store=Bibliopoly&store=Booksandcollectibles&store=Half&store=ILAB&store=LivreRareBook&store=Powells&store=Strandbooks&store=ZVAB

This volume was written specifically for Westward emigrants, not explorers nor sportsmen, by a military officer and deals exclusively with conditions and solutions on the North American prairie. Having said that...it is full of useful tips and tricks. Perhaps it will be of some use, particularly to those with a North American slant to their interests....

"Skeet"

 

[H.Johnson]

I don't think the stuff to which I'm referring is available on line. I bought mine in Zambia. I have recently found a couple of 1950s hiking shirts in charity shops (a Lybro and a Bukta) that have all the features of 1930s bush shirts. It's worth a trawl!

I have had a Beretta shooting jacket (from Bookster) for some time and I swear by it. I think the nearest thing to tropical tweed in travel wear used to be Orvis's Rhinohide, (which I also used to swear by) but I visited one of their shops recently and they have given their Rhinohide bush jacket a brushed finish. Horribly soft and ruined in my opinion!
Hey! We're getting fftopic: .

When you say African-made, do you have any specific makers in mind or are you talking about the sort of thing available in-country rather than through internet retailers, etc.? I ask because I've never travelled to the tropics (northern Australia is the nearest I've got) or to arid lands.

The Beretta shop in St James's has a nice cow-pat-hued khaki bush jacket in the windown that's relatively affordable. I'm going to try it on tomorrow, I think, to see if the fabric and construction matches up to its detailing and cut.

 

[H.Johnson]

Thanks!

http://used.addall.com/SuperRare/submitRare.cgi?author=marcy&title=prairie+traveler&keyword=&isbn=&order=TITLE&ordering=ASC&dispCurr=USD&binding=Any+Binding&min=&max=&timeout=20&store=Abebooks&store=AbebooksDE&store=AbebooksFR&store=AbebooksUK&store=Alibris&store=Amazon&store=AmazonCA&store=AmazonUK&store=AmazonDE&store=AmazonFR&store=Antiqbook&store=Biblio&store=Biblion&store=Bibliophile&store=Bibliopoly&store=Booksandcollectibles&store=Half&store=ILAB&store=LivreRareBook&store=Powells&store=Strandbooks&store=ZVAB[/URL]

This volume was written specifically for Westward emigrants, not explorers nor sportsmen, by a military officer and deals exclusively with conditions and solutions on the North American prairie. Having said that...it is full of useful tips and tricks. Perhaps it will be of some use, particularly to those with a North American slant to their interests....

"Skeet"

 

[Creeping Past]

Belstaff Moorlander

As posted previously.

I've been on the look-out for one of those. But no luck so far.