Rucksack

“ Our boots were wet through by long standing in ice-steps, and we took them off and wrung the water out of our stockings. The others put theirs on again, but, as a precaution against frost-bite, having pocketed my stockings, I put my feet, wrapped in a woollen cap, inside the rucksack, with the result that they remained warm through the night. ”

“ Suppose now that you fix the V point of a pair of braces somewhere near the top of the sack and bringing the webs over your shoulders, fix them, nicely adjusted, to the lower corners of the sack, it will ride quite comfortably upon your back—that is, you have made it from a plain sack into a rucksack or back-sack. Get or make as many good large strong ones as you have shoulders in the party to carry them. ”

“ The list of our additional equipment per man:
Rucksack, which held a change of underclothes (comprising woolen vests, drawers, pair of stockings, a pair of goat’s-hair socks) . Matches in a waterproof bag. Automatic lighter. Housewife. A cup and a spoon. One can. Tobacco. Pipe. Diary. Telescope and all small personal belongings.
In footwear we had ski boots and a pair of boots of our own selection. ”

“ The outfit suitable for undulating wooded ground on which a runner may attain to great skill is not equally serviceable high up. In particular, a cap covering most of the face and neck, smoked glasses or the simple arrangement described on p. 50, a light wind-jacket of some sort, extra-thick gloves, extra-thick socks, and extra-stout nailed boots are essential. The runner should accustom himself to carrying a large heavy rucksack, which is a disagreeable, but, alas! an indispensable, companion on a long mountain tour.—Ed. ”

“ It is dark when you reach the inn yard for the way down is long and these December days are short. And on the threshold you are welcomed by the landlord and landlady—heirs of Auld Will Ritson—and in the flagged entrance you see coils of rope and rucksacks and a noble array of climbers' boots—boots that make the heart sing to look upon, boots that have struck music out of many a rocky breast, boots whose missing nails has each a story of its own. ”

“ The shoe is made not to fit a real foot, but a fashionable imaginary one! The poor unfortunate toes are in consequence screwed up as in a vice!
Let me strongly urge you to be particular that the sock, or stocking, fits nicely—that it is neither too small nor too large; if it be too small, it binds up the toes unmercifully, and makes one toe to ride over the other, and thus renders the toes perfectly useless in walking; if it be too large, it is necessary to lap a portion of the sock, or stocking, either under or over the toes, which thus presses unduly upon them, and gives pain and annoyance. ”

“ THE SHORT AND LONG STRAPS. A common breaching strap is used to strap up the foot. For using, open the loop, keeping the buckle on the outside, put the loop over foot, then raise foot and pass the strap around the fore-arm from the inside, and buckle it tight; this holds the foot up firmly. The long strap is the one which buckles around the foot. To a ring in this is buckled another strap seven or eight feet long. This is attached to the right foot and passes under the girth, or over the back. Its use is to raise the foot when you wish to bring the horse upon his knees. ”

“ I have never seen a lady's spur of this description, but possibly they are made—if not, they easily could be. They are much the most easy to attach or remove, and there is no chance of a strap being cut in walking or otherwise, or of an over-tight buckle hurting the foot. Their principal advantage, however, is not one of mere convenience, but of safety; the absence of strap and buckle removes one element in a great danger—that of the foot sticking in the stirrup in a fall. ”

“ The lap of the sidepiece and forepart, and the lap of the bottom of the sidepiece and top of the back skirt, are explained as follows: A sack coat is wider at the back of the waist and runs down straighter than a frock. A straight line from the shoulder blade down to the seat is shorter than a line running down closer and in a greater curve toward the body. The circumference which the sack coat occupies at the back of waist is larger than that of a frock. The closer the garment fits to the body of the back the narrower it must become, and at the same time it must become longer. ”

“ With the bar removed, the outward movements of the frog under pressure are naturally rendered of no account, and a proper and intermittent expansion of the wall denied it. The same evil follows, though to a less extent, excessive paring of the sole.
The shape of the bearing surface of the shoe is often to be blamed. Where this is concave—'seated'—and the 'seating' is carried back to the heels, it is easy to see that, when weight is on the foot, there is an ever-present tendency for the bearing edge of the wall to slide down towards the inner edge of the shoe. ”

“ And in all my travels I bear it at my saddle-bow; so whether I happen to lie down with fleas in a villainous Spanish venta hard by to purgatory; or whether I happen to sit at the right hand of potentates in England, Germany, and France, I can take my sack as I like to take it—that is, easily and copiously, with a proper freedom for the mouth, and with a brim that’s wide enough to prevent the nose from tapping against the sides. ”

“ The two pieces of cord that pass between the great and the first toe, and by which the clog is held on the foot, compelled me to wear the Japanese sock, which is made of white cotton, like a mitten, the great toe being separated from the rest of the foot. These socks are short, only coming to the ankle, and are fastened by two or three metal clasps. The shoes are never worn in the house, always being left at the doorways, the thick cotton sole of the stocking protecting the foot. ”

“ They wear loose trousers, cloth gaiters fastened below the knee, a short and close-fitting coat, a leather belt, a frill round the neck, and a felt hat with a broad brim. They are tall and strong, but wiry and angular. Their taciturnity is extreme, and they neither laugh nor sing when driving before them their beasts of burden. ”

“ The sack stands open in the market—you can thrust your arm in it a foot deep, or take up a handful and let it run back like a liquid stream, or hold it in your palm and balance it, feeling the weight. ”

“ A third strap, which passes under the waist of the boot, prevents the heel-strap from slipping up the side of the foot, as it is sometimes inclined to do when the heel is much raised; and a fourth strap, crossing the foot behind the toe-strap, prevents the heel-strap from slipping under the boot sole at the side. ”

“ When the off-side wheeler is struck, the coachman’s right arm should be put out from his body in the same position in which he presents it to his tailor to measure him for a coat, but the blow should proceed entirely from the wrist. The part on which the horse should be struck is about four inches behind his false belly-band, or somewhere near the short rib on his right side. ”

“ There are no stays to the pockets, no reinforcing to the seat, no leather on the inside of the bottoms of the trowsers, and the linings of the coat and vest, or waistcoat, as these semi-barbarians call it, are of the cheapest and flimsiest material that a devilish ingenuity can weave. ”

“ Trousers or breeches should be of some light pattern; material should be strong. They are lined on the seat and inner side of legs with chamois skin.
For evening rides, as in academies, the black silk top-hat, white suéde gloves, single-breasted, black, cutaway body-coat, and strap trousers of the same material. Spurs and crop may be worn.
For elderly men the black body-coat and strap trousers may be worn during the day.
DRIVING
Morning wear is worn for morning drives. ”

“ Enter at opposite sides of rear, wands held in right hands at sides, left hands on hips.
Cross stage toward each other, meet, turn and go to front, then diagonally back to rear center. Fig. 1.
2. Leaders turn to right and left, across rear, down sides to front, across front till they meet. Fig. 2.
3. All put left hands on shoulder of next one, the one at extreme left keeps his hand on his hip. All step back diagonally with left foot one step, bend left knee, and keep right knee straight. This makes the line sink backward. ”

“ These straps or scarfs are about a foot wide, and something like a saddle-girth, and as they form their first attempt in the art of weaving, their texture is of the clumsiest order, possessing no other recommendation than their durability; they are appropriated to the further use of fastening infants to their mothers’ backs. ”

“ Get your boots and socks off; don't go near the fire; rub your feet till they get warm." Boots, gaiters, and trousers were frozen stiff, and socks, except in my case, for I had thick woollen stockings drawn up over boot and gaiter, a far more effective protection than any sort of sock within the boot. ”

“ If the latter are deficient in length, raise them by swelling the branches or by low heel-calks.
Fig. 217.
Toe-crack immobilized by lateral toe-clips: a, bearing-surface left free from pressure; b, heads of the rivets (nails) driven through holes previously drilled.
The shoe may be open, or a bar-shoe, or a short shoe with a rubber frog- and buttress-pad. Whatever expands the quarters closes a toe-crack. The Defay’s shoe (Fig. 206) , or the Chadwick spring beneath a rubber pad, or beneath a bar-shoe with leather sole, if the frog be much shrunken, will be of service. ”

“ But it must be observed that persons who sit a good deal and want a loose waist require the allowance in front and side and the back slope should be made liberally large, in order to obtain a longer seat, even if the seat shows surplus cloth when standing. A long back slope prevents the pants from pulling up from the bottom, when sitting down, and we find that pants which fit very neat at the seat when standing, are more apt to crawl up when the person sits down, than such pants which show surplus length of seat when standing. ”

“ Another evil attending the use of ordinary shoes or rubbers is, that, as the lateral movement of the axles takes place, an undue strain is imparted to the brake-beam. These difficulties are avoided by my invention, inasmuch as the sole, B, is permitted to have a lateral rocking motion on the shoe, and can at once accommodate itself to the bevel of the wheel, or to any variation caused in that bevel by the lateral movement of the axle. ”

“ The coating, however, of hard horn or armour which shields the front and sides of the sensitive foot from any obstacle in its course, does not equally extend to that portion of it in the rear, out of harm's way, called the heels, beneath which we find on examination a triangular cushion of an Indiarubber-like composition, which, on concussion, or even by compression, acting as a wedge, forces the heels that contain it, outwards. ”

“ Leather ruck sacks are sometimes used, but are heavier in weight and more expensive but no better. One member of the party should carry some kind of repairing outfit, consisting of an awl, a length of leather thong, a few spare straps and a stout cord, or string. These sacks are shown in Fig. 13.
Knife, Fork, and Spoon Holder
The Holder Keeps the Cutlery in a Position for Easy Selection and Grasping
The holder is made of a piece of sheet copper of sufficient thickness to support the number of pieces of cutlery used. ”

“ Le cul d’un sac et la langue d’une femme gagnent terjoûs.—In former days, when horses were more employed in carrying loads than they are at the present time when carts are in universal use, it was observed that a sack thrown across the back of a horse had a tendency to slip down gradually in the direction opposite to its mouth. ”

“ It will be observed that when the right-hand belt-strap is drawn upon it exerts a gentle pulling influence on the right-hand side portion of the skirt, and when the left-hand portion of the skirt-section of the device is to be tight­ened to any particular extent the left-hand belt-strap is more strongly drawn upon or more forcibly placed under tension. ”

“ Trousers without straps, slipping up the leg of a timid horseman, are an acute form of unnecessary misery, which was the fashion for many years up to 1877, when straps again appeared on the trousers of the more correct riders in Rotten Row.—Illustrated Book of the Horse. ”

“ It only remains to consider the question of damages. Before the invention of these fasteners, straps and buckles were universally used to hold the lid of the trunk fast to the body, in aid of the lock, and dowels appear to have been in common use to prevent a lateral movement of the lid. Trunks with straps to support the lock were considered imperfect and unserviceable, and the dowels had become a recognized necessity, except where strength and durability were of no consequence. ”

“ Disengaging the rope from the handles of the netting, I now applied to these a broad leathern belt taken from the pouches of two of my men, and stooping with my back to the cherished burden with which I was about to charge myself, passed the centre of the belt across my chest, much in the manner in which, as you are aware, Indian women carry their infant children. ”

“ It should be borne in mind that if the toes have full play, they, as it were, grasp the ground, and greatly assist in locomotion—which, of course, if they are cramped up, they cannot possibly do. Be careful too, that the toe-part of the sock or stocking be not pointed ”