Brisk Morning Outing

Hard Kit is all other accoutrements that are not clothing, weapons or armour. This includes pots and tents, and flint & steel, and other things like that.

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Manveruon
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Manveruon »

Cool, thanks for the info!
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Elleth
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Elleth »

That's awesome Taurinor - yes, thank you!

I find that really surprising though. Given that oilcloth uses linseed oil, and that linseed oil derives from the flax seed, and flax has been in Med-Euro contexts since ancient Egypt at least - I'd have thought oilcloth at least in some form would have been outright ancient.

Hunh. Learn something new every day. :)
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Greg
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Greg »

Thanks for all the kind words! Gotta love being out in the comfy kit.

Maveruon:
No, that's not all 4 yards...I cut a pre-planned 7' off to be the tarp, so that's 5'x7'...just long enough for me (6'1") with a bit of overlap on the ends. What the rest is for...is for me to know and you to wait patiently!

As for being post-medieval...yyyep. Not quite perfect there, but the function is here, and Middle Earth has such a wide variety of technologies that it seems feasible. I make no excuses, but rather trudge onward hoping for a reference that will put me in the clear.
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Manveruon
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Manveruon »

Haha, yeah, no worries. I'm sure it's perfectly fine for Middle Earth. There were so many different levels of technology floating around in Tolkien's world that I have no doubt oilcloth would fit into it somehow. Heck, it doesn't really seem that far off from medieval technology anyway, which is why I was seriously surprised to learn that it didn't date to an earlier period.
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Elleth
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Elleth »

Are you still using this system / made any more refinements to it?

On a lark this morning I re-rolled my blanket this way, and you're right -the difference is amazing! It's *so* much easier to move about with!
I found it sat a little heavier on the shoulder (I think before my hip was taking some of the weight?)... but a bit of shearling or something under the strap might help that. Or just grow used to it, I suppose.

...I guess I should have figured all those Confederates in the Civil War photos knew what they were doing. :)
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Greg
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Greg »

Hey, glad it's working out for you!

Actually, believe it or not, for the first time in the history of my involvement with this forum I have gone out on three separate outings in a row without changing my cargo/bedroll setup. I haven't had much chance to get out and use it, so the Moot in southern IN with Odigan, Udwin, JBook and Straelbora and the recent Cameron Park renaissance festival with my family (see the thread in gatherings for a few pics that show it worn, just as before) the only subsequent chances I've had to get out, but even then...so far, I wouldn't change a thing.

As for padding under the shoulder strap...are you wearing a cloak under it? Mine spreads the pressure out very nicely, and pads comfortably.

I'd love to see your take on the roll, if you ever have a chance to snag some pics.
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Elleth
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Elleth »

I'm afraid I've not given it an outing-test or anything - just saw my existing colonial-ish bedroll in the corner the other day, remembered your thread, and thought I'd see what it felt like.
I'll give it a try with a cloak underneath next time out and see how it works.

I am slowly swapping out the more colonial-themed stuff I have for more Middle Earth flavor. I'm blatantly stealing your bedroll/small snapsack/bean sock idea.. I've about got the "sock" done and am contemplating how to proceed with the snapsack.. I love the "open on both ends" part - thinking I'll put a drawstring in each end, but still debating whether to go with canvas or goatskin.
(edit - just found a nice piece of traditionally vegetable tanned goatskin online - depending on how thick it turns out to be, it might or might not get a linen lining)

Eventually I'll make a new carry strap - still playing with ideas there. Thinking of trying construction similar to Boromir's shield strap from the films:
http://www.fevstudios.com/lotr-boromirs-shield-straps/
Getting a stamp from Shapeways or the like is getting stupid-cheap these days, and it would make a fun winter project
Any suggestions for designs? Something appropriate for Dúnedain?


Also, using shelter ties for tying up the bedroll is remarkably simple-brilliant. I'm embarrassed it never occurred to me!


I'd love to see your take on the roll, if you ever have a chance to snag some pics.
bedroll-in-library.jpg
bedroll-in-library.jpg (119.62 KiB) Viewed 12945 times
(yes, that's a harp tease. neenerneener. : ) )
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Greg
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Greg »

Instrument teasing falls under cruel and unusual punishment, which is not only non-constitutional, but looks bad on the department when the victim is not found guilty. No fair!

Bedroll looks great!
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Elleth
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Elleth »

Ha! I'll take a nice picture of my Queen Mary sometime soon. Unfortunately, she just developed a crack in the arch, so I can't even practice on her until we get a chance to fix her. :(

ANYHOW

I did get a chance to play with your skinny bedroll setup this afternoon - I like it SO SO SO much better! Before my bedroll was a big chunky bulk to move around - this way it virtually disappears!
And you're right, over a woolen hood the weight wasn't a bother at all.

I did find managing it with my quiver interesting. Tried it several ways:

Quiver over right shoulder, bedroll over right shoulder: terrible mobility in right arm. Immediately dropped it.

Quiver "backpack style" over both shoulders centered along spine, bedroll over left shoulder (or right, tried both): Not so good. The diagonal bulk of the bedroll kept pushing the quiver out of position - sometimes off to one side, sometimes up over my head. Just a little, but enough to be a bother. It would also shift the quiver such that one shoulder strap or the other wasn't taking any weight, just hanging there begging to get caught on something. Not so good.

Quiver over right shoulder, bedroll over left shoulder: hands down the best. First option I tried, and came right back to it.
Very VERY good mobility in both arms, and not significantly changed center of gravity. My arrow fletchings were in my peripheral vision, so they were easy to keep track of dodging through brush. The bedroll if anything helped keep the quiver in place! I was slightly hoping to avoid the "roman matron" look of crossed straps over my chest, but short of going to a modernish knapsack setup, I don't think there's anything for it.

One final observation: I found trying to simply lift the bedroll over my head after donning the quiver an awkward mess. (my poor fletching)
I think my next burden strap will need some kind of buckle, so the bedroll arrangement can be pulled on like a coat rather than over the head.


Anyhow - you're right, this rocks. I think you've found the answer. :)
Now to sew up a little snapsack...
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Greg
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Greg »

Woo hoo! I'm not crazy! All that stupid trial-and-error for years finally paid off.
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Manveruon
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Manveruon »

So actually, the setup I tried on my trek back in July was quite similar as well, it turns out. Still, I think I rather missed some of the more important details, so next time it'll doubtlessly be getting a bit of a re-working. I tried running the strap through the center of my bedroll, like you both have done, but the bedroll still had too much bulk, and it became exceedingly uncomfortable. Furthermore, the quiver I've been using this whole time is far too bulky to comfortably sit underneath my bedroll, so by necessity it had to lay parallel to the bedroll. This was also a problem with the strap-through-the-center design, because the bedroll kept wanting to slide down to hang at my side, and took the quiver with it. In the end, I landed upon a pretty good system of threading the bedroll shoulder strap through the two closure straps on the outside of the bedroll, which were, in turn, both attached to the criss-cross straps on my quiver, thus creating a sort of single package out of the two. Then, because both the quiver and the bedroll straps had buckles, I could buckle them on like you were saying, Elleth. I also made a small hole in the rear center of my cloak so I could pass these straps through it, allowing the cloak to flow, mostly unencumbered by the burden. This way, both the quiver and the bedroll had straps lending support and keeping them in place, but they were also bound together as a single pack,

The down side to all of this was, of course, that it was a LOT of extra weight on just one shoulder, because of course, the straps ran parallel to each other. At the end of the weekend my right shoulder was seriously bruised and sore (though it thankfully recovered much more quickly than I expected). I found that my movement wasn't completely impeded by this, but it definitely wasn't as free as it might have been. Next year, without a doubt, I am planning to adjust my kit to make it a function a little more closely to the setup you have mentioned here (ad I may be making a slimmer quiver, expressly for this purpose).
Last edited by Manveruon on Fri Oct 16, 2015 5:06 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Manveruon
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Manveruon »

That brings up a good question though: How DO you keep your bedroll slung across the back instead of it sliding down to hang at your side, anyway?
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Ursus
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Ursus »

Manveruon wrote:That brings up a good question though: How DO you keep your bedroll slung across the back instead of it sliding down to hang at your side, anyway?
Its usually a matter of keeping it high and tight. Might I suggest tightening your tumpline?
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Elleth
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Elleth »

I assume you mean the whole burden slides around your body, not that the blanket slides down the strap?
The latter I've never experienced, but that's b/c my setup effectively bound the rolled blanket between the strap ends not unlike a bicycle wheel in the front fork - it just couldn't really move.
The former though I just always assumed was the nature of the beast - and so long as I had no quiver, that was no problem at all. It either carried not unlike a satchel or (more comfortably) with the single strap across the chest like the basket in the "wayfarer" image that's been posted about here.

The "skinny roll" solution also avoids that problem - or at least it does on my torso. I'm not sure exactly why, but even "a trifle snug but not tight" I didn't experience any noticeable sliding of the roll even ducking under branches, clambering down hills, so forth and so on.
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Manveruon
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Re: Brisk Morning Outing

Post by Manveruon »

Interesting. I tried the "skinny roll" thing, but in the end, the whole package just got really bulky again. I'll have to play with spreading it out a bit better. It should also help when I get some kind of satchel or haversack that I can hang at my side to carry a lot of the things I was previously wrapping up in the bedroll.
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