Medieval Bushcraft Camping

[Mhearadh.macleod]

I am trying to figure out how to historically camp (9th or 14th c.). I have all my gear but I am missing just 2 more items. I know many people slept on fur hides or also known as skins but what would they have used for:
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1) warmth
2) shelter
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Would they have used a tent or a cloak makeshift or build their own out of wood and branches or under the start? How would they transport it if they are walking and not using a horse and carriage? Sleeping bags did not exist and they would have slept on top of their furs which kept them from getting on the wet ground but what about what went on top of them to keep them warm?
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For context. Let's call this person a Scottish Highlander peasant and not a noble and/or wealthy soldier. They have no horse, no carriage or wagon. It's cold and raining so...not summer. They are going a far distance and not to the next nearest town.
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*I am an autistic man, I know I am odd, please be kind with helpful answers and sited resources if possible. If this is not your intent please do the right thing and move along.*

 

[Mesquite]

 

[Mhearadh.macleod]

Edit: Wasn't the video I thought but is VERY helpful. Still need some more advice on Scottish winter but VERY helpful.
I actually just got done watching this one lol but didn't really tell me much about Scotland and the winter

 

[Toddy]

Thing is that 'Scotland in the Winter' depends crucially on where you are.

Yes, we do get snow, but mostly we don't live in the snowy bits, because they are high and pretty barren (post glacial landscape) and really only used in the past for Summer grazing, and latterly for shooting birds as the Estates took over.

The farms, clachans and towns are pretty much all sited in the milder patches, even through the Highlands.
So, it's not snow that's the issue, it's rain.
We are a wet country, a very wet country in Winter.

Where it is snowy, and folks had to travel through it (no reason to stay there), they just laid down a plaid, bundled together on top of that and threw another on top of them. If it snowed, then it snowed on top and it kind of insulated.
We have written proof of this. (Burt, for instance)

Other than that, well the phrase goes, "Better a wee bush than nae bield". Better a small bush than no shelter. Throw a plaid over a broom, a big heather, (heather makes a surprisingly comfortable bed, was much used in the past as the 'springy underlayer in a built in bed for those who could not afford a feather mattress) and curl up in the dry underneath. If the plaid is dampened first the wool swells and becomes very showerproof. By the same token if it is sheltering, and then gets damp with rain or dew, it becomes more impervious.

The other thing to note is that one can wear a plaid, without it being a burden, unlike having to carry a canvas or leather tent.

Friends and I sometimes camped like this in our youth in late Summer/early Autumn. We had no wish to repeat it in Winter. We didn't have plaids as such, but we did have woollen blankets.
Not something I'd try for those long nights, tbh. Sixteen hours dark is a long time to try to sleep.
That said though, my Dad said that on a cold clear night, when the Moon is bright, and known as the poor man's lantern, then it's easy to travel miles, even in the dead of Winter. Night marches were also a known thing. On a miserable cold, wet and windy night though, better to find shelter.

 

[Mhearadh.macleod]

Thing is that 'Scotland in the Winter' depends crucially on where you are.

Yes, we do get snow, but mostly we don't live in the snowy bits, because they are high and pretty barren (post glacial landscape) and really only used in the past for Summer grazing, and latterly for shooting birds as the Estates took over.

The farms, clachans and towns are pretty much all sited in the milder patches, even through the Highlands.
So, it's not snow that's the issue, it's rain.
We are a wet country, a very wet country in Winter.

Where it is snowy, and folks had to travel through it (no reason to stay there), they just laid down a plaid, bundled together on top of that and threw another on top of them. If it snowed, then it snowed on top and it kind of insulated.
We have written proof of this. (Burt, for instance)

Other than that, well the phrase goes, "Better a wee bush than nae bield". Better a small bush than no shelter. Throw a plaid over a broom, a big heather, (heather makes a surprisingly comfortable bed, was much used in the past as the 'springy underlayer in a built in bed for those who could not afford a feather mattress, and curl up in the dry underneath. If the plaid is dampened first the wool swells and becomes very showerproof. By the same token if it is sheltering, and then gets damp with rain or dew, it becomes more impervious.

The other thing to note is that one can wear a plaid, without it being a burden, unlike having to carry a canvas or leather tent.

Friends and I sometimes camped like this in our youth in late Summer/early Autumn. We had no wish to repeat it in Winter. We didn't have plaids as such, but we did have woollen blankets.
Not something I'd try for those long nights, tbh. Sixteen hours dark is a long time to try to sleep.
That said though, my Dad said that on a cold clear night, when the Moon is bright, and known as the poor man's lantern, then it's easy to travel miles, even in the dead of Winter. Night marches were also a known thing. On a miserable cold, wet and windy night though, better to find shelter.

Thank you Lord Toddy, you have been more than helpful. This has been very insightful towards my goals and journey

 

[JB101]

Have a look at this chaps channel

May have some useful info for you

 

[Mhearadh.macleod]

Have a look at this chaps channel

May have some useful info for you

Really good fellow however he is more of the 17th century but I am subscribed and have loved his videos

 

[Laurentius]

I like watching this chap

 

[Mesquite]

Really good fellow however he is more of the 17th century but I am subscribed and have loved his videos

TBH there would be hardly much difference between the 9th through to the 17th centuries as to how they they sheltered themselves whilst travelling.

Cloth during that period was either wool or linen and all created on hand looms from thread spun on a spinning wheel or by hand on a drop spindle prior to the 14th century.

So my advice is to stop fixating on purely the time period you follow for some things because shelter is shelter regardless of those time periods and someone from the 9th century would do things virtually the same as someone from the 17th century.

The things that would change between those periods would be style of clothing, the standards of metal etc. and that's what you should be looking at.