Winter camping using two blankets?

[Man of Tanith]

If there's any good excuse to buld up winter storage it'll be this one

Id not thought of that but I'm gonna use it now thanks

Bladder n kidneys yeah they need protection too Phil I'd forgotten that.

Paul I've not got the resources to make that lean too unfortunately but I may be able to bodge something together. ...

Stu I'm not gonna get chance past sleeping in garden but it'll all help.

Copper head let us know how you get on buddy?

 

[Stringmaker]

im planning on building an arctic lean to ala Paul Kirtly blog post when i go to norway in feb. If you have the wood, it could be a good skills challenge as well as providing the warmth required

http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2012/how-to-build-an-arctic-lean-to/

Reading that always makes me feel cold!

It would have been interesting to have some idea of the total elapsed time it took him to go from virgin snow to sitting in front of the fire.

 

[copper_head]

Copper head let us know how you get on buddy?

Yeah will do Sam, looking forward to it. Going to use a NVA zelhtbahn as a browse bag mattress (Did I see Big Stu using these on the Suffolk Boonies thread?). Might have to cave in though and take a thermarest as some extra insulation.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Think he did yeah.
Added thermarest aint a shoddy idea at all.
I may still pack something like that when I do mine.
Or use the swedish rescue bag with some blankets.

 

[Emdiesse]

Think he did yeah.
Added thermarest aint a shoddy idea at all.
I may still pack something like that when I do mine.
Or use the swedish rescue bag with some blankets.

Where did you get your swedish rescue bag, these are out of stock now at MM. (I'm hoping you say elsewhere!)

 

[mrcharly]

What about using sheepskins?

Ditching one layer of clothing and having a sheepskin cloak/poncho.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Where did you get your swedish rescue bag, these are out of stock now at MM. (I'm hoping you say elsewhere!)

Sorry got em from MM......

 

[Emdiesse]

Doh It's probably for the best... I DON'T actually need more kit

 

[rg598]

I know this is your personal trip and challenge, and as such it is up to you how you do it, but as an interested reader, I would love to see the challenge maintained as a Daniel Boone challenge, i.e. use just the things you have with you to set up a quick evening shelter and spend the night out, much like wilderness travelers from past centuries would have. They were usually trying to get somewhere, or were checking trap lines, hunting etc. They certainly weren't spending most of the day building shelters. I would love to see the challenge done in a way where you spend most of the day doing other bushy things as we ordinarily do, and then when the sun starts going down, put together a shelter with the things you have on you, much like Boone would have done, or we would do with modern gear. The challenge is certainly very doable if we spend the whole day building a cabin and a stone fireplace, but I think it moves away from what our ancestors would have done (at least the image we have of them). Anyway, I look forward to the results.

 

[Man of Tanith]

It'll remain as boone challenge as I can keep it.
I'll still do bushy things during the day however somethings like constructing a debris bed is likely too.
I have t confess my permission doesnt really have the facilities for makin natural shelters nor doni have the inclination to build one for one night (lazy perhaps)

 

[Big Stu 12]

Going to use a NVA zelhtbahn as a browse bag mattress (Did I see Big Stu using these on the Suffolk Boonies thread?).

Yep thats the one.... inside this I carried a Czech Bed Roll with a spare balnket ... tied wtih some old DD hammock Tape.... used that as I had nowt else by the time of the CHallenge, but will def make some straps... with nice wide over sholder bits...

Thinkning about it it would not have been much larger with a roll mat inside... its was light but bulky.. I can do bulky

I have thought about getting two more to make a 4x4 ishhhhhh..... tarp

 

[Man of Tanith]

The kit definitely can be bulky.
But its not too heavy so aint too bad

 

[Toddy]

In the past people wore much of their 'kit'.

My Auntie (84) was on about this just a couple of weeks ago.....sorry gentlemen, but it's a little 'underweary'....she said it's easy to get dressed nowadays, but when she was little it was semmit and nicks (pants) and then a chammy (chemise) and a liberty bodice and then a petticoat and knickers (long ones) and stockings, and then a dress, and a jumper over the top if it was cold......that's six layers on the body, before they put a coat and a shawl on to go outdoors.

We don't live like that now, maybe if you're trying to emulate those who did you maybe need to think of their normal layering systems which were much more than even ours.

I asked the 91 year old Uncle, he said, "Aye, boys got layers too....short pants (UK those are underwear) then woolen drawers and long knee length hose, and another pair of shorter ones on top if you had long trousers on or long ones if you had shorts (which came to the knee), a semmit (vest) and then a long sleeved woollen shirt your mother or granny had knitted, and then a proper shirt and a jumper. Men wore a waistcoat too.....so there's four basic layers and five if you were a working man outdoors before you put your jacket/coat/ scarf and hat on.

The tartan wrapped Highlander wasn't simply in one layer either. He wore long linen sarks (came well below his backside in length) and woolen long waistcoat and woolen jacket and hat and then over the top of that he wrapped his plaid. Pleated and belted the plaid had multiple layers around the waist and kidneys and thighs, and enough extra length to come up and over his head and shoulders too. Hose and gaiters kept the feet warm.

The Auntie and the Uncle both say they never slept alone, always with siblings, and the Auntie only every has slept alone when she was widowed; she says it's a cold bed that, and bought an electric blanket

Basically we don't live in layers nowadays, not commonly day in day out as they did in the past with no central heating, expensive fuel and outdoor lifestyles.
Trying to be as hardy as they were in the past needs more than just a change of kit; it needs a change of lifestyle.

I'm with rg598 though; I think it's interesting to hear how you get on with it

I think I'd be inclined to make a big sac of something water proof but lightweight (99p stuff from..(I'll find the link, it's OD ripstop) and use that as a stuff sack for everything from leaves to grass and brash, just to get me off the cold heatsink that is the ground.

atb,
M

 

[Man of Tanith]

Yeah back in the day where central heating wasnt available more layers just for day to day.
And its a more practical approach really.

The stuff bag sounds interesting.
Kinda like the kochanski survival scarf (I'll see if I can find a link for that)

 

[Stringmaker]

In the past people wore much of their 'kit'.

My Auntie (84) was on about this just a couple of weeks ago.....sorry gentlemen, but it's a little 'underweary'....she said it's easy to get dressed nowadays, but when she was little it was semmit and nicks (pants) and then a chammy (chemise) and a liberty bodice and then a petticoat and knickers (long ones) and stockings, and then a dress, and a jumper over the top if it was cold......that's six layers on the body, before they put a coat and a shawl on to go outdoors.

We don't live like that now, maybe if you're trying to emulate those who did you maybe need to think of their normal layering systems which were much more than even ours.

I asked the 91 year old Uncle, he said, "Aye, boys got layers too....short pants (UK those are underwear) then woolen drawers and long knee length hose, and another pair of shorter ones on top if you had long trousers on or long ones if you had shorts (which came to the knee), a semmit (vest) and then a long sleeved woollen shirt your mother or granny had knitted, and then a proper shirt and a jumper. Men wore a waistcoat too.....so there's four basic layers and five if you were a working man outdoors before you put your jacket/coat/ scarf and hat on.

The tartan wrapped Highlander wasn't simply in one layer either. He wore long linen sarks (came well below his backside in length) and woolen long waistcoat and woolen jacket and hat and then over the top of that he wrapped his plaid. Pleated and belted the plaid had multiple layers around the waist and kidneys and thighs, and enough extra length to come up and over his head and shoulders too. Hose and gaiters kept the feet warm.

The Auntie and the Uncle both say they never slept alone, always with siblings, and the Auntie only every has slept alone when she was widowed; she says it's a cold bed that, and bought an electric blanket

Basically we don't live in layers nowadays, not commonly day in day out as they did in the past with no central heating, expensive fuel and outdoor lifestyles.
Trying to be as hardy as they were in the past needs more than just a change of kit; it needs a change of lifestyle.

I'm with rg598 though; I think it's interesting to hear how you get on with it

I think I'd be inclined to make a big sac of something water proof but lightweight (99p stuff from..(I'll find the link, it's OD ripstop) and use that as a stuff sack for everything from leaves to grass and brash, just to get me off the cold heatsink that is the ground.

atb,
M

Don't forget being sewn into your vest!

I like Ross's basic premise; don't spend all day prepping a shelter but effectively act as if you've been travelling and now need to camp for the night.

I would be useless at this as I feel the cold if I'm not mobile so big respect for the idea and thanks for the thread.

P.S. If you don't make it can we have your kit!

 

[Man of Tanith]

Nope my kits being raffled off and sold for what its worth not what I've told Lisa i paid for it....
I ain't gonna spend the day building a shelter its not my style

 

[Emdiesse]

I don't know about anyone else.... but that's still how it happens in my parents house.

Dad: "If your cold, put another layer on. The heating is staying OFF"

I can't say I don't agree with him, but my mum and sister probably think otherwise...

Great post Toddy, I've been thinking about my 'Bushcraft' clothing recently and about adjusting it to suit the theoretical question: "What if I were to live outdoors?".

So I thought about what I might wear in layers that'd suit all round UK weather and figured up something a long the lines of:

Underwear (Clearly)
Woolen Thermals (Top & Bottom)
Cotton Shirt & Trousers
Wool Trousers & Woolen Jumper
Woolen Bushshirt
Cotton Smock
Oh, gloves, hat, gaiters (or putties) and all o' that
Perhaps a poncho for when it rains...

Then in summer I've got trousers and a shirt at the minimum
Winter I've got wool thermals, wool trousers, thermal top, shirt, jumper, bushshirt and a smock.... surely it can never be that cold... but for sleeping out with just a wool blanket, maybe ideal?

 

[Uilleachan]

I like Ross's basic premise; don't spend all day prepping a shelter but effectively act as if you've been travelling and now need to camp for the night.

Me too, but I would temper that with the fact that people who know what they're doing also take care of themselves, and factor in time for it. So one needs to be cautious and not under do it. If the likes of Mr Boone took a given amount of time to get arrangements squared up and be ready to get the dinner on, it wouldn't be unreasonable for someone not in the routine of the trail to take quite a bit longer to pull together the same chores.

 

[Stringmaker]

Me too, but I would temper that with the fact that people who know what they're doing also take care of themselves, and factor in time for it. So one needs to be cautious and not under do it. If the likes of Mr Boone took a given amount of time to get arrangements squared up and be ready to get the dinner on, it wouldn't be unreasonable for someone not in the routine of the trail to take quite a bit longer to pull together the same chores.

Absolutely; allowing adequate time to be as comfortable as possible was half the skill I imagine.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Yup seting up camp etc was something that took a little while when we did boone challenge in Suffolk in September. Come winter when its dark so much earlier the settin up etc needs t be done and dusted before its too gloomy.