What do scots use to carry around all their bits and peices!?

[Burly Brute]

You could use light weight wool

It does get cold at night in the desert so it might not keep you as warm as you would like come evening.

18 th century camping is very spartan, drink from a stream;
find a natural shelter to sleep under in bad weather; you get wet in a rainstorm, dry out in the sun; small cup to make tea and oatmeal,maybe a piece of cooked mutton

must people back then did not camp unless a barn or inn was not available that night

exceptions would be herders,and foresters,
armys traveled with baggage trains

Yea, it shouldnt get too cold out here at night right now, unless maybe it rains. But I get what you mean. I think lightweight wool would work, as the way it's worn is very loose-fitting and somewhat breathable.

[Pleater]

Don't take the oatmeal raw - cook it first, just with salt and water, and pour it into a square or rectangular thing to cool and solidify at the right thickness.

When cold cut it into chunks, dust a clean cloth with oat flour and wrap sufficient chunks for the journey.

You can then either crumble it into hot milk should you come across an amiable cow, or at a pinch eat it as it is. You don't want to be trying to boil oatmeal for long enough to cook it when wood and/or time might be in very short supply.

Although I go off on holiday with my kilts and plaids I also take Gortex for when it gets really bad.

I have an ankle length poncho style thing with a hood and poppers down the edges which is probably worth its weight in gold, and a plastic backed survival blanket with metal rings along the edges which has kept the weather off me on many a dark and stormy night.

You could also create a primitive backpack for yourself using a bit of branch a little wider than your shoulders, a wide strap with loops to go over the ends - it goes around your back to make two loops for your arms, and then you can lace, tie or strap things to the branch - hey presto, a Marcus the Mule backpack ( Marcus the Mule is the Tommy Atkins of the Roman Legions ) You might need to put something between yourself and the things you carry - Marcus would have had his metal shell for protection.

Put the loops onto the branch fairly close together but not right in the middle so you take the weight just each side of the neck and it is quite a comfortable way to carry things.

I used to have a military man pack carrier which was the most comfortable back pack I ever had. My husband insisted it was tatty and should be thrown away and I have regretted it ever since. It worked on the same principle, something to tie stuff onto with straps attached.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Burly Brute]

Don't take the oatmeal raw - cook it first, just with salt and water, and pour it into a square or rectangular thing to cool and solidify at the right thickness.

When cold cut it into chunks, dust a clean cloth with oat flour and wrap sufficient chunks for the journey.

You can then either crumble it into hot milk should you come across an amiable cow, or at a pinch eat it as it is. You don't want to be trying to boil oatmeal for long enough to cook it when wood and/or time might be in very short supply.

Although I go off on holiday with my kilts and plaids I also take Gortex for when it gets really bad.

I have an ankle length poncho style thing with a hood and poppers down the edges which is probably worth its weight in gold, and a plastic backed survival blanket with metal rings along the edges which has kept the weather off me on many a dark and stormy night.

You could also create a primitive backpack for yourself using a bit of branch a little wider than your shoulders, a wide strap with loops to go over the ends - it goes around your back to make two loops for your arms, and then you can lace, tie or strap things to the branch - hey presto, a Marcus the Mule backpack ( Marcus the Mule is the Tommy Atkins of the Roman Legions ) You might need to put something between yourself and the things you carry - Marcus would have had his metal shell for protection.

Put the loops onto the branch fairly close together but not right in the middle so you take the weight just each side of the neck and it is quite a comfortable way to carry things.

I used to have a military man pack carrier which was the most comfortable back pack I ever had. My husband insisted it was tatty and should be thrown away and I have regretted it ever since. It worked on the same principle, something to tie stuff onto with straps attached.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

Sick, definitely took note of all that and emailing to a friend!

[Nighthawk]

OK, here's my hiking/camping gear:

My housewife is on the table, rolled out for display.



My water bottle sitting on my tent/belted plaid:



My dirk:



I also have a walnut bowl, 2 wooden spoons and a flint and striker, with a bag of charcloth. I made a buckskin bag to carry those items in- it hangs from my belt.Other than that, and a pair of shoes/hose and a nice Ryan Ross bonnet, the average Highland clansmen wouldn't have had, or needed, much else! I'm sorry I don't have pictures of my flint/striker/spoon/bowl setup. I'll try to get pics in the next day or two.

[Brasilikilt]

I dont have much to add to the current discussion, other than to mention the fact that I once smuggled a heavy, stoutly built folding german military shovel into a primitive rendezvous, using the folds and bulk of my belted plaide.

I simply slid it horizontally above my belt against the small of my back. Despite the size and weight of this shovel, I actually forgot that I had it on me.
I actually helped somebody set up their tent and barely noticed it was there!

With practice, the loose fabric of your plaide can be utilized quite effectively as a means of carrying gear. Other than that, a haversack is historically accurate, inexpensive/easily made alternative.

[Legman688]

To OP:

You want to google the term "snapsack." This is a simple canvas bag made of a square or rectangle sewn into a tube and tied at both ends, with a simple shoulder strap, worn in the manner of the "sling bags" that are now so popular. It was the more or less standard means for English Civil War soldiers to carry around their camp gear, and was in use for quite some time on either side of that conflict chronologically speaking. While I don't know that it's actually historically correct for a Highland clansman, it will not be jarringly incorrect either, and it will certainly do nicely for carrying items too large, heavy or numerous to fit in ye olde crotchpocket. You may wish to browse around ECW re-enactor websites for examples and instructions.

[Captain_Cogle]

Snapsacks are the thing to use. They are also what they used. Snapsacks appear in the late 16th century and linger until some time after the American Revolution.

I do not suggest using a linen haversack, they were a military item and unless you are portraying a Jacobite who captured one off the Prestonpans battlefield it would not be appropriate.

Here are some images from the Jacobite rising of 1745 of Snapsacks.





Here is a few good links for them.

http://www.colonialmarket.com/casada/snapsacks.html

http://www.18cnewenglandlife.org/18c...s.htm#Snapsack

http://www.marariley.net/leatherwork/snapsack.htm

http://www.thequartermastergeneral.c...s=true&id=1310

[Kate]

I ranaway once and I used a bindelstiff. It was natural. In my genes. Take your walking stick and tie with kertch....now I am just making things up. ;-)

[James Hood]

Napoleonic-era infantry come to mind as experts in being outside for perioods. Take a look at their kit. Osprey Publishing has a few good low-price illustrated books on the subject.

[starbkjrus]

A large Ford pickup and pop-up caravan?