As you can see this pamphlet dates back to 1924 which gives some idea of how long people have been grappling with the idea of lightening their load on the trail: http://www.outdoors.org/articles/amc-outdoors/the-dawn-of-ultralight-backpacking/ The Whelen Forester Tents I talked about here http://www.theultralighthiker.com/col-townsend-whelens-forester-tent/ and here http://www.theultralighthiker.com/new-tyvek-forestertent-design/ date from about the same time. I must come back to that design (like so many others!) and finish it off!
Comey was a renowned town planner so it is little wonder that his ideas were ahead of his time.
Two photos from Comey’s 12 page brochure are instructive.
Hiker’s Pyroxylin tent for two. Weight 1 lb 6 oz.
Tent with front attached Weight 1 lb 12.5 oz.
His tents are quite similar to the ones I have been designing right down to having a fire just out the front to warm them. (Try a search for ‘tent’ in the search box top right to see some of them) Of course with today’s materials we can beat that weight, though curiously most hiking tents still do not!
I see he also carried moccasins for camp shoes of a night, and an axe (I usually carry an machete for much the same reason). The brochure is well worth reading in full. I recommend it to you not just as an interesting historical anecdote.
