Quote Originally Posted by Woodsheal View Post
I'll assume you're referring to highland clansmen, pre-1746 ("Scots" being too broad term, especially when two distinct cultures were involved in that period: Lowland and Highland).

Your common clansman made due with his sporran - for oats and whatnot - the pouches formed by his belted plaid, and a horn cup for dipping his water from the nearest burn.
A step up would be to add a haversack for carrying food and utensils (small, flat sheet-iron griddles are mentioned for cooking oatcakes), and a leather water bottle.
Your uppercrust clan gent had ghillies to carry his gear and a garron to ride, adding to his comfort "in the field."

Linen haversack:
http://jas-townsend.com/product_info...roducts_id=182

Lightweight "trekking" pan:
http://jas-townsend.com/product_info...roducts_id=103

Leather water bottles:
http://www.armlann.com/bottles.htm

I concur (as usual) with Brian.

First off, you don't need to take much with you. If you don't want to toss a handful of oatmeal in your sporran, put it in a small bag first.

Your plaid will serve as your blanket, and if it rains you'll have the full experience. Been there, done that.

You should also take a small flint and steel firemaking kit. Your Highlander might have taken a needle and thread for repairs but I doubt it unless he was on the road all the time, as he could have a female relation do any repairs.

Years ago I read the Highlanders used the folds of their plaid as a pocket to carry what they needed, but I've tried it without much success. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, but I found you can't carry anything with much weight, and almost everything fell out anyway.

Another option instead of the haversack is to use a linen or hemp bag. If you don't want to carry it in your hand, you can tie a strap to the ends to make a primitive pack. I've got a small linen "snapsack" that I use. I also carry a a few small personal items such as carried by 18th century soldiers (housewife, comb, etc), and a small kit for maintaining my firelock. I also carry a small 1-2 cup pot (if I'm not carrying a metal cup) to brew my tea in.