cld-weath-cmp-msg - 3/21/01 Suggestions for cold weather camping at SCA events. NOTE: See also the files: camp-ovens-msg, firepits-msg, camp-kitchens-msg, lamps-msg, lighting-msg, p-privies-msg, beds-msg, lamps-msg, fur-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 10:27:53 -0600 From: Joan Nicholson <gryphon at carlsbadnm.com> Subject: Re: SC -Sleeping WARM! I've been camping for a lot of years and have found the most indispensable covers for cold weather are fake furs. Get a couple of good sized pieces and layer one beneath your bottom sheets/covers and one over. Make certain that the furry side is toward your body. This traps and holds warmed air next to you and you stay incredibly comfortable. Granted fur is not for everyone's persona, but if you make a really sumptuous Renaissance coverlet, who's to know that it's fur-lined? 8^) Prydwen From: jjordan_12 at my-deja.com Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Cold Weather Camping Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2000 19:05:55 GMT A lot of nice suggestions on your page (and the rest of the site continues to be an extremely useful reference and good reading). One suggestion I didn't see is one that worked well for me during my military time. A chamberpot. For men, at least, it was possible to urinate without leaving the warmth of the bed. In the morning the contents (and a rinse) went into the latrine (and *not* into a dumpster). I leave it as a practical exercise for the female student to come up with a good way to do this. :> Jester of Anglesey From: maeryk at rcn.com Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Cold Weather Camping Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 01:50:21 GMT On Fri, 22 Sep 2000 19:05:55 GMT, jjordan_12 at my-deja.com wrote: >A lot of nice suggestions on your page (and the rest of the site >continues to be an extremely useful reference and good reading). One >suggestion I didn't see is one that worked well for me during my >military time. A chamberpot. For men, at least, it was possible to >urinate without leaving the warmth of the bed. In the morning the >contents (and a rinse) went into the latrine (and *not* into a >dumpster). I leave it as a practical exercise for the female student >to come up with a good way to do this. :> >Jester of Anglesey Surprisingly enough, Harley riders *have* done this. You can find an interesting device, shaped something like a funnel and something like an athletic cup that is for that very purpose. While the term "old lady" used in the advertising usually makes me cringe, it *does* seem a bit of a nifty invention. Maeryk From: owly at hem.utfors.se Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Cold Weather Camping Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 17:07:03 GMT Organization: Utfors AB That reminds me I saw a fine but slightly suprising example of Swedish design at the apothacaries the other day. It's a small chamberpot that a woman can use standing up. Not only that there are these pads you put in it that sucks up the liquid and turns it into a kind of gel so that it supposed to make it easier to throw away. It was like a big, low oval mug with a lid, all in blue frosted plastic. Anna de Byxe in Sweden ;-) From: Lissa McCollum <lissamc at primenet.com> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Cold Weather Camping Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 12:36:38 -0700 Organization: Forest Moon Creations Samuel Walters wrote: > I was reading Mother Earth News magazine the other day and saw an ad for the > "Whizzie" It said "Ladies, stand up and whizz like a man. Cleanly, easily, > privately. Use a Whizzie!" > > After I could sit up straight again I thought about it and it's not a bad > idea. Apparently they are cheap too. > > Rhys Goch > MKA Sam Walters > www.brightok.net/~agincrt Try the device available on http://www.restrooms.org/standing.html . I know someone who gives it good reviews. Gwen From: erilarloFRY at SPAMwin.bright.net (erilar) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Cold Weather Camping Organization: Medieval Academy, SCA Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2000 17:20:39 -0500 Lissa McCollum <lissamc at primenet.com> wrote: > Try the device available on http://www.restrooms.org/standing.html . > I know someone who gives it good reviews. My mother bought a funny-shaped plastic thingy so she didn't need to leave the tent in the middle of the night when we camped. It needed something to sit in, though. A 5-quart ice cream pail is an easier target and you can put a lid on it until you can empty it. Mary Loomer Oliver (aka erilar) From: myrindyl at aol.com (Michelle Picou) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Date: 27 Sep 2000 04:24:45 GMT Subject: Re: Cold Weather Camping At the Wal-Mart in my area (southeast Texas), and at local hunting/outdoor stores, you can purchase a "port-a-potty" that is basically a 5-gallon bucket with a toilet seat attached. You just line the bucket with a garbage bag and go! I know several ladies who say they have gotten good results by putting a few cups of kitty litter in the bottom of the garbage bag - evidently this helps both with any odors and with disguising the sound of a lady 'watering the flowers' in her pavilion at night! Lady Birgitta Kingdom of Ansteorra Barony Bordermarch From: <hrjones at socrates.Berkeley.EDU> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Cold Weather Camping Date: 27 Sep 2000 17:51:57 GMT Organization: University of California at Berkeley erilar <erilarloFRY at spamwin.bright.net> wrote: : My mother bought a funny-shaped plastic thingy so she didn't need to leave : the tent in the middle of the night when we camped. It needed something to : sit in, though. Doesn't sound like the kind I'm familiar with, which is a device aimed at backpackers and campers who may be in circumstances where "dropping 'em and squatting" is undesirable. : A 5-quart ice cream pail is an easier target and you can : put a lid on it until you can empty it. I have heard tell, from those who have tried it, that a Mason jar (complete with sealing lid) is of an extremely convenient size and volume for those times when you've gotta go and you don't want to go outside. (The aesthetics of an authentic reproduction medieval chamber pot are ... um ... attractive, but on the other hand, I'm not sure it's the sort of thing I'd want to leave lying around visible in camp just to show I'm using an authentic one!) Tangwystyl ********************************************************* Heather Rose Jones hrjones at socrates.berkeley.edu ********************************************************** Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 09:05:46 +0200 (MET DST) From: Par Leijonhufvud <parlei at algonet.se> Subject: Re: SC - Way OT: Need advice to prevent freezing On Wed, 4 Oct 2000, Isha ArrowHawk wrote: > The majority of the event is going to be outdoors. I will be helping with > Harper duties, and I have no cloak to keep my old bones warm. I'll toss on > old long johns under my garb, but I will still be cold. *shivers* Another hint. Warm a rock or few until they reach the "hot potato" stage (i.e. you can hold them, but not for more than a second or so). Wrap in some fabric and keep close to your body. According to reports ladies like to hold them tucked up under the bust[1]. If juggling hot stones sounds dangerous[2] you can go past a backpacking supply store and purchase a few handwarmers and use them instead. On winter trips when the cold gets severe I like to keep one in each front pocket on my pants. /UlfR [1] Since there are a Swedish mans name "Sten" and stone in Swedish is "sten" this can give rise to more or less obvious jokes, ranging from him being the ladies favourite. [2] It isn't, we aren't talking red hot or anything like that. I have slept many nights with a few down by my feet, a couple behind my back and one or two in front of my chest. No burns, and sound sleep. - -- Par Leijonhufvud parlei at algonet.se Allt som inte ddar h 0rdar Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2000 10:28:54 -0400 From: "Bethany Public Library" <betpulib at ptdprolog.net> Subject: Re: SC - Way OT: Need advice to prevent freezing Here's some of my favorite ways to keep warm, esp. at night at events (some of which are even "historical"). A) Soapstone slab (or try a pizza stone (which frequently gets tossed when it's broken. Recycle it!) or a couple of bricks). It gets warmed next to the fire, then wrapped in flannel. Put it in your pockets or toss it into your bed. If you're there cooking, you could always warm your sheets or blankets with a few hot coals in a covered pot, waved between the cover before you retire. Be sure to put them outside the tent and back into the fire pit and tend to the fire if no one else is, before going to sleep, though. B) Hot water bottle. Either get a real one, or if you're afraid that you'll instantly look like a crone to the check-out girl, make one out of a 2 liter (or smaller) bottle. Fill with warm tap water, cap tightly, toss into your bed or hold next to your body. A more historical version would to use a tightly-sealing crockery or stone bottle, but my theory is that the water is heavy enough....... I do this all the time for my kids at events, throwing a used 16 oz. bottle, filled with hot water from the restroom sink, into their sleeping bags before they bed down for the night. The heat makes them sleepy. C) My mother, who grew up in poor cockney London, used to take freshly hard-boiled eggs in her pockets to school. They hold their heat for a long time, and have the added benefit of being edible for lunch, by which time they've cooled. The same theory was used by my PA Deutsch dad, in the wild country of Litutz, PA, who used baked potatoes instead.... D) You can buy a really expensive "au natural" hot pad which is made of corn, beans, rice, or other legumes, but it's easy to make your own. Just make a small sack and fill with your choice of the above items. The heating trick: empty them into a pot and place over the fire until very warm, or microwave for a minute or two to heat (i've been known to use a zip-lock baggie though you'll have to really watch it). Then pour the beans or rice or whatever back into the sack, tie it shut, and tuck it into your bodice. I did this for a breast-cancer patient at one event, since I lived close nearby, and he began to feel much better. It will last longer if wrapped in a kitchen or hand towell. The legumes are useless for food purposes after this, much like beans or rice used as pie weights. E)If the cloak-without-sewing is your first choice, however, simply take a large rectangle of thick cloth (or use an army blanket) and wear it as a Roman-style cloak or Irish/Celtic Brat. It's historical, it's warm, and it requires no work at all. Myself, I'll probably do all of the above this coming weekend. I don't weant to miss the chance to see who'll be on the throne for Pennsic XXX. And it's gonna be cold and wet here on the northern East coast of the US. Aoife Subject: Re: Cold Weather Camping From: John Groseclose <caradoc at neta.com> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Date: Mon, 09 Oct 2000 16:07:21 GMT Michelle Picou <myrindyl at aol.comLatch> wrote: > At the Wal-Mart in my area (southeast Texas), and at local hunting/outdoor > stores, you can purchase a "port-a-potty" that is basically a 5-gallon bucket > with a toilet seat attached. You just line the bucket with a garbage bag and > go! I know several ladies who say they have gotten good results by putting a > few cups of kitty litter in the bottom of the garbage bag - evidently this > helps both with any odors and with disguising the sound of a lady 'watering > the flowers' in her pavilion at night! Speaking from personal experience - if you're planning on using something like a port-a-potty inside your tent, there are a few things to remember: 1) Make sure you have some kind of light to indicate where it is - stumbling over it is *not* how you want to find it in the middle of the night. 2) Make sure it's either weighted or braced against tipping over if you *do* stumble over it. 3) Avoid asparagus with any meals at the event. Don't ask - just avoid it. Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 20:23:31 -0500 From: "micaylah" <dy018 at freenet.carleton.ca> Subject: Re: SC - Surviving Estrella War > Using an air mattress is a poor choice in cold weather. Not necessarily. Living up here "in the frozen North" one learns how to get around this. I sleep on a queen sized air bed BUT there is much between me and the cold lumpy ground. I put an artic sleeping bag over the air bed and a foamy (one of those bumpy bed things), and then I put a fitted flannel sheet over all. I also have several blankets on top, one of which is another artic sleeping bag which I have enveloped in some kickass upholstry fabric to at least look nice. I made this to "hide" the sleeping bag and yes I velcro this shut, but that helps when removing to go mundane camping or to have it dry cleaned. Since it is of heavy brocade type fabric it also helps keep me warm. Period? Definately not! Comfortable? Without a doubt! Warm? Yesssssssssssss! Micaylah ~who also has a Catalytic Heater that keeps her warm all night when the temperature dips close to 0!!~ Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 10:09:10 +0000 From: hawkstwr at omen.net.au Subject: Re: SC - Surviving Estrella War I have not had to endure what I would consider very cold camping in the SCA, however if you can get hold of full size sheepskins I can recommend no better thing to put between you and whatever mattress you are using for insulating purposes. I have used sheepskin over a 4" foam mattress with marvelous results, and can see no reason why it would not work as well over an airbed. I have found that the size used for car seat covers is good for a single under blanket. On the humorous side a friend of mine once had a sheepskin sleeping bag made and found that they were unable to sleep with it closed up as it was too good at retaining heat, temp range was 5 - 10 degrees C. D'Gaunt... Date: Mon, 29 Jan 2001 14:33:25 -0800 (PST) From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: SC - Surviving Estrella War - --- "Mark S. Harris" <stefan at texas.net> wrote: > Using an air mattress is a poor choice in cold weather. Thermally you'd > be better off sleeping on the ground. Of course your back may complain > about that, too. I've slept on concrete floors myself, but that was > 25+ years ago. As you move around on the air mattress you move the > air in the mattress, shifting cool air to you and the air you warmed > off to the edges where it can be cooled down again. The first time I went to Estrella, I brought an air mattress and nearly froze, even with a sleeping bag, all my garb on and my cloak on top of everything. The next year, I brought a portable futon platform, which breaks down to two 1"x6" boards about 6 feet long with feet and pegs to hold the slats and 12 1"x3" slats about 4 feet long. It looks vaguely Viking when set up and is easy to transport. It kept me at least 6" off the ground. I brought a thick futon and two down filled quilts and was toasty warm all night, even though the temperatures were just as cold as the year before. I also wore a stocking cap on my head because your head accounts for a lot of your overall warmth and usually isn't protected under blankets. Huette <the end> Edited by Mark S. Harris cld-weath-cmpg-msg 7 of 7