Bedrolls (again!)

[Harper]

It may have been obsoleted by Greg's experiences even before I could complete the darn thing, but I think it looks absolutely smashing

...So it does!

[Ursus]

Love how it turned out! Reminds me that I'm long over due for some pictures of my own. Fwiw I use the combination of this and a horseshoe and it works well. The horseshoe for me being the combonation of my cloak (when not being worn) and ground cloth. It also serves as a bit of shoulder padding against my bedroll and water bag.

[Greg]

Indeed, it looks really cool. Don't let my constant kit evolution deter you from using something that works!

[Elleth]

I hear tell the war roads are littered with equipment that looks cool.

Still, the things existed historically so it's still worth playing with I think. Ursus - grand idea on separating things out! Now to just get some time away to try all this out!

[Manveruon]

Once again, here is a thread I want to say SO MUCH on, but I don't have a ton of time at the moment, so I mainly just came here to ask a question:

Elleth and Ursus - can you guys give me the rough dimensions of the hide covers you created for your bedrolls? I just got myself two BEAUTIFUL tobacco-brown, deer-tanned goatskins, and I am about to turn one of them into an Aragorn-style bedroll cover, but I don't have a frame of reference for size, so any info would be awesome.

Thanks!

[Elleth]

Elleth and Ursus - can you guys give me the rough dimensions of the hide covers you created for your bedrolls? I just got myself two BEAUTIFUL tobacco-brown, deer-tanned goatskins, and I am about to turn one of them into an Aragorn-style bedroll cover, but I don't have a frame of reference for size, so any info would be awesome.

Awesome!

I just opened mine up to measure - it's 22" wide by 34" long. That said, the dimensions are purely derived from "how big is my folded-up blanket" and perhaps more importantly "how big of a rectangle can I piece together out of this goatskin?" rather than any grand theory. It ideally would be a bit wider to I could more effectively lap the front over a bit more. But it's good enough.

All of which is to say - don't copy my dimensions, but size off what you need.

I know your roll is chunkier than mine (my fault - I don't have my *good* blanket in there at the moment), but if it helps, this is more or less the fold I do to get a nice skinny (ish) roll:

blanketfolds.png (45.86 KiB) Viewed 9623 times

In practice it's messier than that - I'm still working on it - but that's the general idea. The only difference using the cover is that it wraps around as an extra layer over the tarp and under the straps. Here's what mine looks like opened up. It's messy at the moment, and lacking the tarp. The tarp is pieced together from linen, and presently on day 4 of linseed-oil-drying. Once it's ready I'll first give it a try here, then start playing with Greg's horseshoe.

blanket-working.jpg (36.08 KiB) Viewed 9623 times

edit - pay no mind to that particular strap arrangement: it's a pure placeholder stand-in borrowed from a Mark Baker / colonial-ish bedroll. Eventually it will be replaced or - if I decide to copy Greg - discarded and put back in the colonial pile.

[Manveruon]

That's great! Thanks Elleth! I've definitely had my issues with getting my bedroll tied up as narrowly and neatly as I'd like, but I sometimes have trouble visualizing the best way to do it, so it's nice to see someone's method laid out so plainly.

As for the dimensions of the goatskin cover, that really helps! I'm not totally sure whether or not I will be using the cover I am making for *actual* ranging, or just for my Aragorn costume, but I wanted to get a sort of general ballpark idea of the size of yours and Ursus' to give me a frame of reference before I start measuring and cutting my own. I'd prefer not to have to piece mine together, but both of my skins are of somewhat limited size, so I needed to gauge whether doing it in one piece would be possible.

Thanks again! This was very helpful!

[Greg]

Great illustration, Elleth. Thanks for taking the time; very well described.