Middle Earth Ranger Forum

In prep for my upcoming trek, I'm trying to track down a good source for oilcloth, but I'm having the devil of a time finding one. I initially went to JBook about it, but sadly he is clean out and may not be getting it back, from what I understand. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find many other sources. Does anyone have resources for finding decent oilcloth by the yard? I really need to have some in my hands before the end of the month.

The only site I've found so far, through a gentleman over on the Middle Earth Reenactment Facebook page, is http://periodfabric.com/oil-cloth/ , which offers what looks like good oilcloth at a reasonable price, but their site lists them as currently being out of stock of anything but the most outlandish colors. I'm going to contact them anyway, just to see, but I'm not very hopeful :/

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Not sure how much free-time you may have but I'm sure you could follow the tutorial I posted a while back. Its made with I believe a bed sheet although I'm not certain of what you need it for. This is more so a tarp/groundcloth piece.

http://ranger.budgetauthenticity.org/fo ... =3&t=2941

A few places that I know of for oilcloth by the yard, from cheapest to most expensive -

Crazy Crow Trading Post - $15/yard ($13.50/yard if you order more than 6 yards), 10 oz weight - Not a "true" oilcloth (not linseed oil-based), but it's a little cheaper than most. They call the color Spanish Brown, but it looks more like Spanish Red. From what I understand, it's a historically appropriate color, but maybe not the best for blending into the woods. http://www.crazycrow.com/mm5/merchant.m ... ange_high=

The Scarlet Scarab - $20/yard and 8 oz weight, with a few color choices. http://scarletscarab.com/oilcloth.htm

Tentsmiths - $22/yard, 6 oz weight - More expensive, but more brown looking than Crazy Crow's and lighter than Scarlet Scarab's. I have an oilskin tarp made by Tentsmiths, and I like it well enough. http://tentsmiths.com/tent-camp-accesso ... coats.html (scroll down - it's listed under the watchoat specs)

Panther Primitives - $25/yard, 8 oz weight - The most expensive, but the darkest color as far as I can tell. Page 72 of their online catalog - http://www.pantherprimitives.com/catalo ... g23web.pdf

Remember, the weight is oz per square yard, not oz per cut yard. Most cloth is around 60" wide, so the above options would range from 3/4 to 1 1/4 pounds per yard.

Thanks Taurinor! As it happens, I ended up stumbling upon most of those places myself during my search. I'm torn... I really, REALLY want either brown or green, but I would settle for black. That being said, it doesn't look like anywhere carries any of these colors in stock at the moment except those over $20 a yard, and that's pretty rich for my blood. Based on the pictures over on periodfabric.com, their "burgundy" looks like it could work, but I'll need to contact them about it. Theirs is definitely the best deal. Still, it looks like the stuff from Tentsmith's is basically exactly what I'm looking for, so if push comes to shove, I may just bite the bullet and order three yards from them.

On the subject of making my own, does anyone know if there is a good tutorial out there for making non-linseed-oil-based oilcloth? I haven't been able to find one yet. I'd love to try my hand at making some, but I am perfectly willing to sacrifice a bit of historical authenticity in favor of having a cloth that isn't going to light on fire at the slightest provocation, heh.

If you don't mind a modern alternative, Mountain Gear Surplus sells OD canvas that's been treated to be fire, water, and mildew resistant for $8 a yard. http://military-tent.com/cotton-canvas- ... uot69.html

Oh HELLO! That certainly caught my attention. Thanks Taurinor!

WOOHOO! It's perfect! I'll be getting that, without a doubt. Thanks, man!

Happy to help! Just as an FYI, those guys also have good prices on wool blankets. That's how I found them in the first place.

Fantastic! I wish the canvas wasn't olive drab, but I suppose ya' can't have everything, heh. I just hope it doesn't look TOO modern military - otherwise, I'm fine with green.

By the way, did you get a blanket from them yourself, Taurinor? And if so, is it the green blanket shown in your full-kit pictures a little while back? Their pictures look a little odd. I'd like to order one from them at the same time as I get the canvas, but I'd like to know if it's a decent quality first.

Yes, that's where I got my blanket - it's one of their 100% wool ones. It's not huge, maybe twin-ish size, but big enough that I can wrap it around myself and it's pretty thick.

I went and measured my blanket - it's 6'x5' and somewhere around 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch thick. If you're book accurate height for a ranger, it might be a little short, but for a Breelander-sized gent like me, it works fine

Excellent, thanks!

Ooooookay... so I went ahead and bought three yards of that canvas... It arrived today, and let me tell you, it's some seriously tough stuff. SERIOUSLY. TOUGH.

So tough, in fact, that three linear yards of it weighs exactly 7 pounds.

Soooooo... yeah. Not sure what to do. It's durable, that's for damn sure, but it's stiff as all hell, and incredibly heavy. I 'm not sure where they got their measurement of 6 oz, buuuuut... at 2.3 pounds per linear yard... yeah. I'm sure it would make an excellent ground cloth, but I'm not so sure it'll work for a hammock, and I know carrying that much weight in my bedroll is going to be un-fun.

So I think it's back to the drawing board :/

Oh gosh, I'm sorry the description was misleading! I feel bad for recommending them.