Edwardian Camp Equipment

This is a re-post from an earlier entry.  Say what you will about British imperial policy of the 19th and 20th centuries.  They certainly worked out minimalist travel with a fair amount of style and comfort on a very personal level.  These old catalogs give some great ideas for camp living.

From The Army and Navy Co-operative Society Store, London 1907

1907-11907-21907-31907-41907-61907-71907-51907-91907-101907-11There are some excellent items here that should give some inspiration for fabricating some classic and classy gear.  From an era before the activity of “camping” was fully segregated from “regular living”.

Much more of this to come…

Tools from the Last Century

I know I’ve been on a big kick of old gear and tools from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century lately but its good to see the range and availability of these essential items.  I find it interesting though, how poor the descriptions are and the arrangement of the catalog.  It’s like they just invented this whole idea…

1907Tools-1Above you can get an anvil, axe, and workbench on the same page as an Alpine climbing rope, Alpine belt, and a wrist sling (in case the Alpine rope breaks I presume).  I would really like the upper “foreign” work bench.

1907Tools-101Fretsaws, forges, and blacksmiths’ tools oh my.

1907Tools-102I know people who would give almost any left appendage for this nice selection of planes.

1907Tools-103The woodcutters’ frame saw isn’t even pictured (too common most likely) but I would be happy with a few others from this page.  In all the tools I’ve ever used or seen, I have never come across a “walking stick pruning saw.”  German invention, of course.

1907Tools-104I think I own that very same “saw set” as pictured above.  When I was given by my grandfather I was warned I’d probably do more harm than good if I didn’t know how to use it.  Of course, I was probably ten years old at the time.

1907Tools-frame sawAnd in the middle of the page, voila!  The very frame saw I plan to make this weekend, and hopefully make a good instruction set to give out or post.  Known as a turning saw, frame saw, or nowadays, a coping saw, this design goes back a couple thousand years.  Maybe this will be a nice class project for Rabbitstick this year.

Selections from the 1907 Catalog of the Army and Navy Co-operative Society Store, London.

Edwardian Camp Equipment

From The Army and Navy Co-operative Society Store, London 1907

1907-11907-21907-31907-41907-61907-71907-51907-91907-101907-11Waiting for the plumbers gave me a few minutes to put up this post.  This is a lot more than a bunch of nifty images (but it is that as well).  There are some excellent items here that should give some inspiration for fabricating some classic and classy gear.  From an era before the activity of “camping” was fulling segregated from “regular living”.

Much more of this to come…