Nat.Fibre or Plastic

[Wayland]

I guess all my years in living history have had a strange effect on me.

When I used to backpack I used to count every ounce and use the lightest high tech materials I could find.

These days I generally camp with the closest materials to those used by our ancestors and out of the back of a van. Weight is no longer the prime consideration so canvas or linen are the order of the day for most of my camping.

But now the problem, I need a new tarp to get back into some minimum impact camping again, but I just can't stand the idea of getting a nylon basha even though I know it will be lighter.

Quite apart from the horribly plastic feel of such equipment in an otherwise natural environment, there is the flamability issue to consider too.

So, as I see it, there are two alternatives:

1. I find the lightest canvas that can be proofed to a reasonable degree and make my own tarp.

Or 2. I get over my prejudice against plastic camping and go for a modern manufactured basha like any other sensible person.

What do you think?

 

[Stuart]

you could get a big sheet of ventile, would be horribly expensive though

 

[Ogri the trog]

I have a similar mental plight.
Surely the aim of primative man was "to use whatever is available" to keep himself comfortable/warm/alive etc. The same maxim must hold true for modern society, even though the ability to use the natural world is diminishing, are we not trying to halt that just a little here, in preference of the technical soultion.
Perhaps the ideal should be - to be "able" to use natural resources to keep the skills alive, yet use the modern technical solution when that need presents itself.

After all, if we drive to a camp site then use natural materials to stay for the weekend, we have used both ancient and modern skills to gain the same enjoyment of the weekend camp.

Mr Mears himself would not have been able to inspire us without aircraft and television

Ogri the trog

 

[Hoodoo]

Ventile makes a really fine tarp. Expensive but if you average the cost out over the years that you will use it, not too bad (how's that for rationalizing? ). A lot of folks have also bought a couple bedsheets of egyptian cotton and sewed them together. They need some waterproofing though. Some folks will shrink them up quite a bit to make them more waterproof.

This is my ventile tarp. I love the sound of rain on canvas. I think the total weight is around 3.25 lbs for an 8x10 tarp.

 

[Toddy]

How about waxed cotton. I've got a source for wax jacket fabric in brown, black, dark green, navy, oxblood red or 'wet sand' (best description I can think of ) 60" wide for (last time I checked ) under £4 a metre. If your interested I'll find the shops' new website details for you.
The authenti-tent mob love this stuff, they sew in eyelets and lash it onto A frames with top and bottom spars.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[greg2935]

Doh! Got there before me, I was going to mention that waxed cotton should be quite good as long as you reproof it occationally, I have also found out there are a range of waxes available, but I do not know much about them yet.

 

[oakwright]

Toddy,

I have been thinking along the same lines as wayland so would be very interested inthe waxcloth details

Many thanks Oakwright

 

[JimH]

I guess all my years in living history have had a strange effect on me.
...

What do you think?

Selective quoting, eh?

Seriously, having used authentic (ish) stuff along similar lines:

The weight will be much greater, as will the bulk.

Go for cotton if you can bear the sneers of the Dark Age authenticity police I was unable to find a close enough weave in linen at a mentionable price. Wool, as one might expect, is a bit of a sick joke in this context.

Personally, I'd use nylon and pretend it hadn't occurred to me...

...but I am very lazy

Jim.

 

[Toddy]

The authenticity police can sneer all they like. I got some good linen and some hemp cloth too, dyed it, washed it, waxed it, and rubbed the wax in with a heated stone and a cloth...they couldn't tell which bit was cotton, linen or hemp.
I could, but then I work with natural fibres all of the time and I could only be certain at the edges of the fabric. I reckoned the cotton would do fine. I am a little concerned about cinders lying on the waxed cotton surface though. At least wool would only smoulder. Sparks seem to cause no problems at all.
I haven't tried pitch on the cloth yet, if anyone wants a go, I'd like to be involved & I'll happily supply the fabric.
Leather tents have been in use since before the Romans came here....see all those leather suites that are getting thrown out? ....they're becoming ever more tempting
D'you think the wombles were bushcrafters too??
Cheers,
Toddy

 

[MartiniDave]

Toddy,

My Barbour (& other makes of waxed cotton coat) has been ok round countless fires and flying cinders over the years. Much better than my fleeces, many of which have strategically placed badges sown on
Maybe worth trying on an off-cut for your own peace of mind

Dave

 

[Spacemonkey]

Do you think that when cotton was first available that people wanted to be 'authentic' and carry on using linen etc? Once flint and steel had been discovered as an easy firelighting combo, did people carry on using fire drills? Probably not, as just like us they grasped the new technology with open arms as it was miles better than what they had before. Today we are lucky that we can use old tech, but we don't have to, so a lightweight sheet of nylon etc should be ok this once as long as you keep up a good tick infestation for authenticity's sake. Ok, it might not go down in the local by but it doesn't sound like that's where you're going to use it, so go for it I say!

Just don't destroy the image i have in my head of you in a smoky long house, with two slave girls and a donkey turning a large wheel to run all sorts of cogs etc that somehow connects you to the internet in front of me....

 

[Hoodoo]

While nylon may be lighter, it's not always better for a bushcraft tarp. If you want to build a camp where you can sleep next to a fire, nylon is not a very good choice for a tarp imo. Nor are nylon sleeping bags for that matter unless you have a cotton cover for them. Now plastic tarps are not bad. They are pretty resistant to sparks and if you ruin one, you are not out much. Easy to patch with duct tape. Not very traditional though.

 

[Wayland]

Just don't destroy the image i have in my head of you in a smoky long house, with two slave girls and a donkey turning a large wheel to run all sorts of cogs etc that somehow connects you to the internet in front of me....

What, like this you mean...

 

[Wayland]

It's not the authenticity police I'm worried about. I have plenty of stuff to shut them up with.

It's me, I don't like the way nylon feels, looks or flaps about in the wind. I can see all the advantages like weight and non absorbancy but I'm tempted to use natural fibre kit just because it's nicer.

That waxed cotton sounds interesting Toddy, do you have any spec. like weight per squ. metre?

 

[Toddy]

It's not the authenticity police I'm worried about. I have plenty of stuff to shut them up with.

It's me, I don't like the way nylon feels, looks or flaps about in the wind. I can see all the advantages like weight and non absorbancy but I'm tempted to use natural fibre kit just because it's nicer.

That waxed cotton sounds interesting Toddy, do you have any spec. like weight per squ. metre?

Hmmm, not off hand, but *somewhere* in the coup that is my workroom (6 different events, four different centuries in seven days .....I'm beat.); I've got ten metres of the stuff. I'll cut and weigh some when I find it, shall I? It's heavyweight though, excellent quality and wears very well. The first jacket I made from it, five years ago, is still in good nick and it's worn constantly. I'm away from home for the next day or so but I'll find the shop's details when I get back & post them. Do you want samples?

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Spacemonkey]

What, like this you mean...

Something like that, although the slave girls were a little more scantily clad..
Just started reading 'The Lost Kingdom' by Bernard Cornwell. Just hope it's as good as his other stuff. Should be right up your street! I also picked up a book about some chap who had a dream of being a viking so comissioned a Long Boat and sailed across the Atlantic, as you do. Having been on a repro viking Long Ship in Oslo many moons ago, I can see the attraction!