The TRUTH ABOUT MOTORS

NZ Truth, Issue 1210, 7 February 1929, Page 19

The TRUTH ABOUT MOTORS

UNDER THE STARS

Camping Made Easy and Comfortable

A vision of blissful, peaceful summer time. Into the car and away — country or seaside — it doesn't matter where, so long as we're free from the city dust — the everyday grind.

/^AMPING out used to be such an ar- \*> duous affair — a makeshift, catch-as-catch-can sort of business. But now, for the motorist with a fairly elastic purse, it's the easiest thing- m the world. . Tents, for instance. I saw to-day an auto camping tent, made of rot and rainproof duck, somewhere about 3 Bft. by 6ft., that Would fold up into a 2ft. bag; easy to erect, solid enough to stand wind and weather. Then there was the more homely variety of tent — really more suitable for picnicking than camping made of multi-striped duck, with a centre pole. ■ t ■ ♦ • 'Picnic outfits have become things to marvel at. One I saw comprised a fair-sized table, with cup rests; knives, forks and spoons; .cups, saucers and plates; a primus stove; a thermos; milk and sugar containers; jars for various oddments — all of these fitting into a portable case not much larger than Decca size. Fire-making is apt to be a troublesome business — not so with the latest collapsible camp-stove, competent and

spark-proof, which folds to a 2-inch thickness. There was another variety of campfire stove and billy combined (familiarly known as the "Stovanbilly"), which looked most workmanlike. This is also quite fireproof. It is extraordinary how the manufacturers of these articles have conserved space. One contraption that particularly caught the eye was of aluminium, about nine inches high, which, opened up, brought to view four cups, four plates, a frying-pan, a boiler, a large saucepan and a kettle. Talk of conjuring! A bright inventor has put on the market a most efficient little aid-to-campers — a spade, a pick, and an axe — which are packed together most ingeniously; one handle to serve the lot. But the piece de resistance was an ice chest — a small, portable ice- ' chest — which would strap easily on the back of the car. Shades of the campers of yesteryear! .Verily the motorist has entered into an earthly paradise of camping made easy.