Modern Bedroll for Overnighter
kit June 14th, 2007
Everything has now been ported over to the new laptop with the minimum of hassle (which is a first!) A couple of software incompatibility issues but nothing that can’t be overcome. Really enjoying the new speed and despite reservations Windows Vista isn’t too bad either. Anyway…enough tech rubbish. Back to bushcraft.
I’m thinking about making a modern bedroll for my next overnighter, which should be this weekend. I want to incorporate the bivvi bag, the Thermarest and a blanket. I also want to include a small cookset, food and enough water for 24 hours.
I’ve been looking at bedrolls used in the American Civil war and I like the idea of carrying the whole thing around the shoulders. I was interested to note that most veteran soldiers quickly dispensed with a haversack and carried personal effects in the bedroll. Their cup usually hung from the belt or on the bedroll strap. I’m sure Sam will put me right if this isn’t technically correct.
Apparently, they carried food in a ‘forager’ bag as opposed to in the bedroll. I suppose this is the equivalent to my possible’s or shoulder bag. This gives me a good excuse to keep this and I’ll put my food in here.
I started by laying out the ex-army bivvi bag which is quite large. I then inserted the deflated Thermarest and covered this with the blanket. I wanted to get a loop as shown in the 4 of the diagram, so I rolled the bedroll lengthways without folding it after putting in the contents which was a Crusader cup, Hexy burner stand, Trangia burner, 1 litre water container and mini axe at one end.
The ‘tube’ ended up quite thick (most of that is the Thermarest), so I had to tie straps along the tube to compress it even more. In the old photo, you can see that the bedroll ends up quite thick anyway. My prototype bedroll actually sits surprisingly comfortably over the shoulder. I’ll try and field test this at the weekend and post some pics.
Thanks for the visit.
Pablo
June 14th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
The Haversack is what is also known as a bread bag – the place where you keep your food. An example of this is the black tarred canvas bag hanging level with the right hand man’s hip.
The blanket roll itself was my preferred method of carrying my blanket and waterproof groundsheet (they had vulcanised rubber back then)
Many other long term campaign reenactors don’t like them and several memoirs note knapsacks and backpacks as being superior. The advantage is in light weight and less extras.
When rolling one up you need to keep spare items either in your pockets or in a bulge on the front or rear side of the roll. Ideally you only want one thin but long blanket as it quite easily gets so high as to become cumbersome on your chest and shoulder.
I normally tied mine across the ends which gave a point for a boiler, mucket or mug to be tied too and also tied it across the shoulder. They tended t work best if you only tied up a minimum of extra clothing in it. I used to have a period version of a tool-roll which fitted in quite nicely.
June 14th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Cheers Sam. I know you would put us right.
Pablo
June 17th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
The problem with taking the military as a starting point is that their equipment has to be robust and is therefore heavy. The Crusader cup is a good example.
When I started camping in the ’50′s I read about some lightweight campers from the early 1900′s whose tents, made of oiled silk, rolled up and fitted into one pocket of a Norfolk jacket. They had the advantage of being able to use an open fire anywhere but a hobo tin isn’t heavy and I’ve brewed up along country roads many a time on a hobo stove or hexy block.
If you are walking you really must look to lightweight, and that means modern materials such as titanium and slinylon, as a priority. I tend to cycle camp now and weight is less an issue than bulk.