Plastic free camping
- Thread starter Woody girl
- Start date
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.
