GaryHW
Very Talkative
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SWMBO surprised me with a little inpromtu overnight this week and never one to turn down a gift I decided to do the overnighter hard core style.
Back in the 1990's a man on the tele once said the ideal of a bushcrafter is the be able to go out with just a knife, a billy can and blanket and to live comfortably in the woods. It's certainly something I have aspired to do ever since. I have been lucky enough to do the above a few times - once in Sweden at -10c with a couple of like minded friends - which was fun. But I digress, so with the wives permission I happily decided to do it again and test out my new(ish - i.e surplus and traded) Italian army blanket.
Note here - I did take along a sleeping bag as emergency back up and would advise anyone who tries such experiments to always take emergency kit until they are happy with the kit they are trying out.
Anyway I packed the old haversack with a few bits and bobs and rolled up the banket and off I went.
As you can see I didn't go totally mad and still took a poncho and a few other possibles - but I feel I still went in the true spirit of the adventure. The only thing I did take not pictured was a bail of jute twin like you find in a garden center - I took this because its cheaper than paracord or bank line and will rot down if left in the woods and because it can also be unraveled and used as a tinder.
Set up camp as usual however aware I was using a blanket pitched the poncho lean too style to act as a wind break. Once happy I gathered some fire woods and started prepping for the night to come - but then I decide that rather sit on the ground I'd make a chair.
It is a very rudimental chair but it worked brilliantly and also acted as a rucksack stand and pot holder and numerous other things while on site.
One interesting aspect of this camp was that while I was away collecting fire wood I noticed how invisible it was - aka a proper stealth camp.
That was taken not 20 paces away from my camp and apart from the shine on my billy can and a search and rescue badge on my haversack its almost completely hidden.
As night closed in the warm humid day drifted away so I got the fire going and cooked myself some food.
Before turning in.
Now blanket sleeping is a art form and Dave Canterbury seems to be the best source of info, as I found out later I had already made one mistake. I am a 5' 11" tall guy with broad shoulders and while I'd tested the blanket's size at home I hadn't really worked out the dynamics in as much as old DC recommends a queen size blanket and mine was a double at best so when I tried wrapping myself up burrito style with my blanket laid diamond shaped and my feet wrapped up etc I found now shoulder was exposed and I had no blanket to cover my head. Plus I move about a lot in my sleep and this was never going to stay wrapped around me. So to remedy this I folded the blanket in half sleeping bag style and tried that - not enough blanket again! So all I could do was lay a third of the blanket under me and flap the rest over. This worked and I drifted off to sleep.
This worked until 02:58 when I woke up a bit chilly due to my feet sticking out the end and where I had tossed and turned I'd kicked a fair bit of blanket off me. I put on my wool shirt and readjusted myself and went back to sleep for another 3 hours waking at just before 6 am.
The weird thing was I went to sleep in summer and woke up in winter! The temperature in the morning was low enough I could see my breath and during the time I was asleep a storm had passed and everything was soaking including parts of my blanket.
Well I decided to just lay there and wait til it got a bit warmer - as you do, and as eventually it did.
So what did I learn from this little adventure? Firstly, you need a big blanket to roll up in a standard sized one isn't be enough. Secondly, weighing in at 4 lbs my blankets was heavy compared to a sleeping bag, now I agree a blanket is very versatile and can be used as a watch coat and well as to sleep in amongst other things but I figured that the weight of a sleeping bag and a thermal jacket would still be less. Thirdly, a big plus was that even wet the blanket was still as warm and of course its a fire retardant material too but was the weight justified?
Personally I don't think so. I slept ok -- and I didn't die which is a bonus - but for winter camping you would need a hell of a lot of weight in blanket to keep warm.
All that said I enjoyed the experience (ticks and all) but maybe I'll leave the ideology to the man on the TV next time and go back to my usual little set up!
Back in the 1990's a man on the tele once said the ideal of a bushcrafter is the be able to go out with just a knife, a billy can and blanket and to live comfortably in the woods. It's certainly something I have aspired to do ever since. I have been lucky enough to do the above a few times - once in Sweden at -10c with a couple of like minded friends - which was fun. But I digress, so with the wives permission I happily decided to do it again and test out my new(ish - i.e surplus and traded) Italian army blanket.
Note here - I did take along a sleeping bag as emergency back up and would advise anyone who tries such experiments to always take emergency kit until they are happy with the kit they are trying out.
Anyway I packed the old haversack with a few bits and bobs and rolled up the banket and off I went.
As you can see I didn't go totally mad and still took a poncho and a few other possibles - but I feel I still went in the true spirit of the adventure. The only thing I did take not pictured was a bail of jute twin like you find in a garden center - I took this because its cheaper than paracord or bank line and will rot down if left in the woods and because it can also be unraveled and used as a tinder.
Set up camp as usual however aware I was using a blanket pitched the poncho lean too style to act as a wind break. Once happy I gathered some fire woods and started prepping for the night to come - but then I decide that rather sit on the ground I'd make a chair.
It is a very rudimental chair but it worked brilliantly and also acted as a rucksack stand and pot holder and numerous other things while on site.
One interesting aspect of this camp was that while I was away collecting fire wood I noticed how invisible it was - aka a proper stealth camp.
That was taken not 20 paces away from my camp and apart from the shine on my billy can and a search and rescue badge on my haversack its almost completely hidden.
As night closed in the warm humid day drifted away so I got the fire going and cooked myself some food.
Before turning in.
Now blanket sleeping is a art form and Dave Canterbury seems to be the best source of info, as I found out later I had already made one mistake. I am a 5' 11" tall guy with broad shoulders and while I'd tested the blanket's size at home I hadn't really worked out the dynamics in as much as old DC recommends a queen size blanket and mine was a double at best so when I tried wrapping myself up burrito style with my blanket laid diamond shaped and my feet wrapped up etc I found now shoulder was exposed and I had no blanket to cover my head. Plus I move about a lot in my sleep and this was never going to stay wrapped around me. So to remedy this I folded the blanket in half sleeping bag style and tried that - not enough blanket again! So all I could do was lay a third of the blanket under me and flap the rest over. This worked and I drifted off to sleep.
This worked until 02:58 when I woke up a bit chilly due to my feet sticking out the end and where I had tossed and turned I'd kicked a fair bit of blanket off me. I put on my wool shirt and readjusted myself and went back to sleep for another 3 hours waking at just before 6 am.
The weird thing was I went to sleep in summer and woke up in winter! The temperature in the morning was low enough I could see my breath and during the time I was asleep a storm had passed and everything was soaking including parts of my blanket.
Well I decided to just lay there and wait til it got a bit warmer - as you do, and as eventually it did.
So what did I learn from this little adventure? Firstly, you need a big blanket to roll up in a standard sized one isn't be enough. Secondly, weighing in at 4 lbs my blankets was heavy compared to a sleeping bag, now I agree a blanket is very versatile and can be used as a watch coat and well as to sleep in amongst other things but I figured that the weight of a sleeping bag and a thermal jacket would still be less. Thirdly, a big plus was that even wet the blanket was still as warm and of course its a fire retardant material too but was the weight justified?
Personally I don't think so. I slept ok -- and I didn't die which is a bonus - but for winter camping you would need a hell of a lot of weight in blanket to keep warm.
All that said I enjoyed the experience (ticks and all) but maybe I'll leave the ideology to the man on the TV next time and go back to my usual little set up!
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