Plastic free camping
- Thread starter Woody girl
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Well, I found a king size cotton duvet cover In the charity shop today, so plenty of material to make a large tarp. I was given a kilo of candle making wax last year, just need to figure out the rest of the mixture to waterproof it. Collecting walnut husks for dye. The tarp project is under way!
Nighthawkinlight youtube channel did a video this year on waterproofing cotton using wax and mineral spirit, the exact proportions etc. to much wax and it just flakes and cracks....
also i think skiltree did one on waterproofing canvas cloak, same principle...
Excited for an update on this!
I also try and avoid plastic kit - not strictly, sometimes it can't be helped,, but that mentality of experimenting with new ways of living to discover what is possible, I think it's very valuable.
From a pure eco-friendly perspective, I try and do 2nd hand kit where possible.
I adore my wool blankets, I'm properly passionate about them. I carry two on my adventures, one as a cloak and one as a floor mat. In good conditions I'd only take one but the odds of my wool outerwear getting wet are usually very high.
I guess it's a security thing, they just feel bulletproof as kit, they're so warm - and a cloaklike design is a sort of portable tent, great for making a pocket of body warmth. They're less stuffy to me than actual rain coats, and you can shift them around your body as you walk to let in more or less air to adjust temperature. And if someone has an emergency, it's like a shock blanket or you can put it between them and the ground. And it's waterproof, and you can embroider on it if you get bored.
I'm currently shopping about for a water carrier and cup, it's going to be metal I think, but a lot of those are plastic. From the POV of my health, I don't want that shedding in my water.
Someone mentioned they got plastic free kit and it wore out in a few years... that's rather the point, and also the difficulty. Natural materials break down naturally and gracefully, and therefore require knowledge and maintenance to maintain (a wool suit you darn forever vs a plastic suit you buy then junk when it looks bad and then it never rots). Part of the problem with plastics is the way they don't decay. Unfortunately, most people being busy and now lacking the skills, it is hard to sell people on participating in an ongoing relationship with their objects of waxing and oiling and repainting and fixing when they could just get a one and done permanent thing. It's Good that non plastics break down, it's The characteristic we want!
Also Dave Canterbury has just started a depression era/1930s trapepr series on youtibe using older kit
and James Bender of waypoint survival has done loads on hobo kit, including a tarp that has been ruberised...
I picked up a cotton single sheet a few days ago, and wondered if the fjalraven wax ..of which I have two blocks ive never used, would work as a suitable and reliable waterproofer with the idea of making a groundsheet, or even a sort of bivvy cover for the wool blanket.
Anyone used this stuff for more than proofing trousers or jackets, and how effective is it?
It would save me having to mix up beeswax and mineral oil and spend days waiting for it to dry properly.
Anyone used this stuff for more than proofing trousers or jackets, and how effective is it?
It would save me having to mix up beeswax and mineral oil and spend days waiting for it to dry properly.
theres many different recipes, nighhawkinlight on youtube did a good comparison...
Umm, I'm not sure I see the problem? Instead of wax, what about oil cloth? - (Boiled linseed oil + a distilate) Cotton tent's are ok, you just need to have a fly and set it up right, wood poles, or even staff's, can be quite light they don't need to be tree trunks. No need to reinvent your cordage etc each time, it is reusable!
Canvas is not necessarily much heavier, it just depends on the size of your shelter. I have one of two very old canvas sheets with eyelets, the sort used for covering goods.
One of our members on here had a light drag cart as he had a bad back and couldn't wear a rucksack.
Although I reuse all, (all,) of my plastic bags multiple times before I dump them, I have bought some waxed wrapping paper, and a local professional Beek has told me how to make some more, and how she makes candles.
I don't think we'll ever be nettle free, I've been trying to get rid of it in my garden for 20 years, although I haven't bothered trying to make cordage with it. Hemp is very viable, and lasts well if looked after, its a key bit of my ladder safety gear. Modern cotton string is rubbish, very weak, poorly made. Old string was a bit thicker and much stronger, and lasted well if you waxed it. On the Victorian farm tv programmne they made a duvet by sewing brown paper.
There are still canvas rucksacks on the market old ones and new. I have several post-war meths stoves, similar to a trangia, set in an old fashioned tin with a lid. I avoid ally pots and pans and prefer stainless steel.
I buy new as and when the fancy takes me but much of my gear is very old, and a few bits older than me and came from my parents.
Canvas is not necessarily much heavier, it just depends on the size of your shelter. I have one of two very old canvas sheets with eyelets, the sort used for covering goods.
One of our members on here had a light drag cart as he had a bad back and couldn't wear a rucksack.
Although I reuse all, (all,) of my plastic bags multiple times before I dump them, I have bought some waxed wrapping paper, and a local professional Beek has told me how to make some more, and how she makes candles.
I don't think we'll ever be nettle free, I've been trying to get rid of it in my garden for 20 years, although I haven't bothered trying to make cordage with it. Hemp is very viable, and lasts well if looked after, its a key bit of my ladder safety gear. Modern cotton string is rubbish, very weak, poorly made. Old string was a bit thicker and much stronger, and lasted well if you waxed it. On the Victorian farm tv programmne they made a duvet by sewing brown paper.
There are still canvas rucksacks on the market old ones and new. I have several post-war meths stoves, similar to a trangia, set in an old fashioned tin with a lid. I avoid ally pots and pans and prefer stainless steel.
I buy new as and when the fancy takes me but much of my gear is very old, and a few bits older than me and came from my parents.
Falstaff, instead of waxed paper, just wrap food in waxed cloth, great for wrapping cheese, if it gets too crinkled, just hold in front of oven and it will remelt..
Re victorian farm, some of Ruths enecdotes arent exactly right, some are, but they dont always recreate exactly....
One good use for charity shop duvet covers is to make a quilt by insert a bit of batting ( we use £3 ikea fleece sheets) and then sewing quilting squares/diamonds, makes great quilts for around the house, although my wife tends to make her patchwork...
im intending to find some olive duvet covers and make a poncho/woobie
i used to have one but couldnt stand the synthetic feel...
One good use for charity shop duvet covers is to make a quilt by insert a bit of batting ( we use £3 ikea fleece sheets) and then sewing quilting squares/diamonds, makes great quilts for around the house, although my wife tends to make her patchwork...
im intending to find some olive duvet covers and make a poncho/woobie
i used to have one but couldnt stand the synthetic feel...
Waxed paper.. duh, I mis-typed mentally, I meant waxed cloth, and for the reasons you listed.
I have recently inherited a couple of hand-made patchwork quilts/decorative hanging quilts made by my mother so I am pretty sorted at home, but was considering a whoopie.
So I'll follow your tip, and shall lurk in charity shops and the centre aisle of Lidl.
I have recently inherited a couple of hand-made patchwork quilts/decorative hanging quilts made by my mother so I am pretty sorted at home, but was considering a whoopie.
So I'll follow your tip, and shall lurk in charity shops and the centre aisle of Lidl.
ikea is worth looking at, they do cheap delivery...but a bit plasticy
lidl is always worth a lurk, except for fashlights now, aliexpress seems better for them.
home bargains is good for food, small packets of things.
but regarding cloth, calico would be better than modern cotton sheets, i had a saxon tarp made out of calico when i did reenactment
but cotton sheets from the 40s to 60s were much thicker, and might be suitable for tarp cloth, apparently you need to search for vintage sheets...
Just made a couple or three for my kit a few days ago, (see my other thread on handmade things.) They are very easy to do and last ages, plus are fully compostable too when they finaly wear out.
I've just added a loofah washing up scrubby to my kitchen kit. You could grow your own loofah and be even more ecco.
Waxed cloth is great, great for cheese as helps it breath...
once they wear out, can be used as firelighters as they ahve wax in... old cotton dishclotehs get cut up and soaked in wax for firelighters...
we use a loofah as well for dishes and bathroom, just picked up some seeds but havent grown them yet....grew some goards to make pots!!
once they wear out, can be used as firelighters as they ahve wax in... old cotton dishclotehs get cut up and soaked in wax for firelighters...
we use a loofah as well for dishes and bathroom, just picked up some seeds but havent grown them yet....grew some goards to make pots!!
We've grown it once and did indeed get a loofah, which was fun turning it from a overripe cucumber looking thing to something you'd wash yourself with.
Does need a good warm season but something I'd like to grow again.
I thought the same untill last year when we bought some, so much better to grow your own, if only biodegradable packaing was used more....like in america when dress cloth and cut directions came on flour sacks....
