Staying warm

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Staying warm

Hallo Kameraden!

Alcohol provides a false momentary "burn" and then procedes to dilate blood vessels causing increased heat loss in the case of radiation and convection.

The question of "bulk" as maximum is a false econony. Two lighter items are often well warmer than one heavier one- as it is the "layering" effect than prevents heat loss due to radiation to the ambient environment as well as convection to the ground, damp non-wool amd some clothing or blankets, or humidity in the air.
I believe that is why a Civil War soldier typically (NUG) received a greatcoat and a blanket- the two being warmer than a far heavier blanket or far heavier greatcoat alone.
In my wilderness experiments (the "worst" on snow and ice at Minus 12 and Wind Chill Factor Minus 60), I "supplemented" my one double blanket with two shirts and a vest- having long since given up on a heavy, bulky, woolen greatcoat which was heavy to carry and less efficient and less effective than lighter layers trapping air and crating "dead space" against radiation and convection heat loss.
While the thought of a very thick and heavy blanket is appealing, too much clothing as well as "too much" blanket will cause to be toasty warm for about 15-30 minutes. Then one starts to sweat. With the sweat comes damp garments. And with damp garments, comes the cold and shivers for the rest of the night. (A second False Economy, that; bundling up in everything one can get their hands before going to bed...)

But, all in all, each comrade is unique and special in their own way. Meaning, not everyone reacts , responds, and deals with heat and cold the same way- and not every woodsy art, period or mdoern skill, craft, method, and trick, is going to work for EVERY lad. A secret is to try, experiment, and find out what works best for you.

Curt-Heinrich Schmidt
Northern European Glacial Type Mess
Sprung Out of a Glacier Fully Born

[TeamsterPhil]

Re: Staying warm

Ethan,

I sure hope you're kidding. Getting drunk is one of the worst things you can do to keep warm - and that's not even addressing the safety aspect of drunk/hungover reenactors.

Phil Campbell

[RebelReefer]

Re: Staying warm

When it's just a little cold, i usually just get piss drunk, lay my ground cloth down first and roll up in my blanket on top of that. I too also wear a sleeping cap. In really cold weather i do the previous and wear a greatcoat.

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Staying warm

I remember one reply saying I shouldn't bring the quilt. Why is that, as it is the warmest article I have.

Pvt.Chris Anderson
5th Geo. Infantry

Chris

I recomend you put this load together and walk about 5 miles with it, and you will see why all those blankets are more trouble than they are worth. Generaly speaking wool blankets and wool coverlets are more practical to a soldier for a couple of reasons. One they are lighter/less bulky, and two wool retains its warming characteristics even when it is wet. Cotton on the otherhand looses all its heat retention when it is wet. There is a referance to a soldier writting his brother who was about to join up, and telling him not to bring a quilt for these very reasons.

[crabby]

Re: Staying warm

"Hot coffee in the canteen" Make sure the canteen is not lined with bees wax, or you will be drinking chunks of bees wax for ages. :cry_smile


Crabby

[Jake Marley]

Re: Staying warm

Good call, Millie Fillmore! I saw that little circular, too. That's a good idea, and right from the horse's mouth, so to speak.

Nic Ellis

[JACKSONVC]

Re: Staying warm

Build a shebang with a least one other pard, 3 is better. An A frame design with one of the sides wide open seems to work best. Make sure you block off all but one opening. Put your fire pit about 3 to 4 feet infront of the opening to your dwelling, and build a reflecting wall of logs, rocks, etc.. about 2 ft high. Keep a small fire burning all night, the heat will be reflected back onto the both of you as you catch some shut eye. Always keep a fireguard up and awake. One or two hour shifts are not that bad, but this is the fellow who keeps everybody from becoming a crispy critter or looking for CJ Daley in the morning. I have used this in survival training and with nothing but pine boughs and pine needles, stayed reasonably comfortable on some pretty darn cold nights.

[James the Haggard Ranger]

Re: Staying warm

If you can find it, I strongly recommended getting the book "The Tirailleurs of the 4th Louisiana Infantry" by Thomas H. Richey. Richey has found a wealth of information about this regiment which served in the western theater including one of the ways the men used to stay warm outside Nashville in December 1864.
Here is a great quote from page 186.
"The brigade arrived near Nashville about 2 PM, December 2nd. Lee's Corps, with the Tirailleurs, was in the center of the Confederate line with Cheatham's Corps on the right and Stewart's Corps on the left.
At sunset rations were issued: one pound barbecued meat, one pound of corn meal, and three ready made corn dodgers (corn meal, flour, and water in a batter fried in pork grease).
The company was so small at this time that the men all messed together. For shelter, a blanket was pegged down at one end and elevated in the slanting direction on sticks. An oil cloth or rubber blanket was placed on the ground. Two men usually slept together and covered themselves with their blankets and put a second rubber cloth on top of all this. A fire was built in front of this rude shelter. The Tirailleurs gave up on their skillet and fried their salt pork in one half of a Federal-issue smooth sided canteen. It was light to carry and could be used to dig ditches."

Here is another good quote from around late October and early November 1864 at Florence, Alabama page 180.
"...The men of the Tirailleurs had found that life in the open had hardened them to the cold, and most refused to lug around heavy overcoats. Trasimond's illness [Note: The illiness was diarrhea.] had scared him and he knew that if he got sick again he would need a warm coat. [Note: He is carrying a overcoat now.] By this time in the war nearly every overcoat in the army was captured from the Yankees."

I hope this helps.

James Wooten, Interpretive Ranger

Re: Staying warm

Thanks a lot to everybody that gave advice on this question. Most of my unit sleeps in A-frames on cots so I never bothered to ask them.

Pvt. Chris Anderson
5th Geo.

Re: Staying warm

Use the full range of surviving documented "tricks of the trade" to do it as "they did" as they knew what they were doing.

Pray, let me add something to this discussion about another period piece of advice....

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick is in possession of an original little sheet/pamphlet with "Advice from an Old Soldier". I imagine that these were handed out to recruits.

One of the pieces of "advice" was to line your blanket with brown drill, as "the old soldier" claims that it only adds 4 oz. of weight, but doubles the warmth.

I don't know if this will help, but it's something we're going to try. I've got the drill and am going to dye it this weekend.

Cheers,

Miss Katie Guslick

[JohnTaylorCW]

Re: Staying warm

For completeness, here is "Sleeping Campaign with a Pard" by Mike Murley.

Sleeping Campaign with a Pard
by Mike Murley
(all rights reserved)
The veteran "Boys of '61" usually had a 'pard' -- their inseperable companion who shared all the rigours of army life. Your pard toasted your bacon and made skillagee while you rustled up some fence rails or captured a fierce chicken that had challenged the pickets. Pards also shared their blankets on a cold night -- a common practice in a period when sharing beds to stay warm in drafty, unheated, and uninsulated houses was more common than sleeping alone. Once we put our kneejerk 20th century reactions away, its a great way to sleep campaign.

The steps are really the same as sleeping alone - only doubled. Two (or more) pards mean twice the gum blankets, blankets and (sometimes) great coats.

Lay one gum blanket / poncho on the ground - gum side down. If you have straw, leaves or any other insulation, put the gum on that first. Place one (or two - if you have four) blankets down on that.

Now, you and your pard lay down. Use your knapsacks as pillows and follow all the good advice in Mr Heath's piece above. Toss a blanket (or two) and your great coats (if you have them) over yourselves. Traditionally, pards 'spooned' back to front and the importance of staying warm brought them close together (Lee was known to sleep this way with one of his staff officers, as were Jackson and Longstreet - and no one called them anything). Moderns are too phobic to do that, so most modern pards sleep back to back or on their backs.

The "Boys of '61" often slept four to a dog tent or shebang, and often as many as six in a common ("wedge") tent in a fixed camp or winter quarters. Obviously, they got tight.

[GrumpyDave]

Re: Staying warm

How in heaven's name do you carry three blankets? Since I haven't seen it, here's the article by Mr. Charles Heath on sleeping warm:



Sleeping Campaign by Yourself
by Charles Heath

Copyright 1995, 2004

This works down to about 15 degrees. I realize "those people" have much colder weather up yonder, but the "teens" mean cold weather down here. Let's put the fresh fish to bed. If his feet are warm, you have won half the battle. If both his head and feet are warm, you've done well. Just burp him as needed

Bayonet & Pocketknife - Grub any roots, stems and rocks from your pallet footprint. Use the bayonet to loosen the soil, and level it if need be. Clear away pine cones, sticks, gum balls, galls, and other debris. The ground is your insulation, so you want to form a good weld between your ground cloth and the soil. You and improve this a bit by making a cushion of pine needles, grass, or leaves between to small saplings or fence rails as if a feather bed. Yes, that mattress goes under the ground cloth.

Canteen - In the winter, make sure it is only half full. A full canteen will split when it freezes solid. Place the canteen to the left of your head, so you may find it in the dark. (Right side if you are a lefty.) Remember to develop a placement pattern for your uniform and equipment items. This will serve you well in the future when you should have been sleeping on your arms, but a lax commander let you fling your equipment everywhere.

Shoes - Take your shoes off, and put your hat over them. The hat keeps out light rain and dew. They will ventilate normally with the hat covering. If it is pouring down rain, just leave your shoes on for the night, and change your socks in the morning. Shoes can be made more water resistant with applications of bacon grease or other animal fat left over from ration issue.

Feet - Massage your feet thoroughly. Improving circulation leads to increased warmth, and it may get a few kinks out of your back. You can use your jacket as a feet wrapper on cold nights, or as a pillow wrapped around a cartridge box.

Socks - If you have a dry pair of socks, and you'd better, put them on just before retiring for the night. Take the old pair of socks and turn 'em inside out. Place these socks over your nice dry socks. They will wick away the sweat, and become your dry pair for the next night. Your feet will also have 2 layers of socks plus the jacket as protection.

Suspenders - Loosen the suspenders, so you won't pop a button in the night. You can do the toilet tuck, if you wish. What’s that you say? Just undo the suspenders from the rear buttons and shove them into your pocket as if you were taking a dump in the woods.

Knapsack - This is a better pillow, if you have one. Fluff it up a little, and enjoy. If no knapsack, then use the handy cartridge box. It is small, but it works.

Ground cloth / gum blanket / poncho - Use this as the first layer in the foldover sandwich. Lay the gum blanket / poncho rubber side down. The shelter half can be a good substitute, if the you do not yet have a groundcloth or gum blanket. Otherwise, keep the shelter half handy for a dewcloth. For the extra weight, two gum blankets can’t be beat, and gum blankets make a dandy shelter half.

Blanket - Your blanket should be long enough to cover your head and feet. If you are tall, curl up a bit. If you are short, be happy to have such an advantage. If you can sandwich into the blanket/ground cloth arrangement, then fine. If not, don't worry about it. Some like to fold the blanket once on the long axis so you climb in like a sleeping bag, and if have a second blanket, fold it along the long axis and lay the whole thing on top of you - its the equivalent of three blankets. This is nice if you have an extra blanket, but that’s rare. Most people merely mummify themselves with their one blanket in an evil sort of twist. Find your own level of comfort in this.

Headwear - Those funny little smoking hats have a purpose, but a good flannel or monmouth cap is hard to beat in cool weather. Keep some kind of headwear handy, and use it. You'll lose a lot of heat from that old bald head, if you don't keep it covered. Less heat if you still have hair. I see pards use Crimean Balaclavas, and they look mighty comfy, too. A good woolen scarf can be wrapped around your head, as if one of those old cartoon characters with a toothache. Looks stupid, but it is warm.

Wind - Find a place to sleep that is out of the wind. If you have to choose between a windbreak and a fire, go with the windbreak. A good low hanging cedar or other ground hugging tree works well for this in the woodland environment. If you are in a built up area, determine the wind direction, and bed accordingly. Avoid inside chimney corners as they are frequently used as urinals. Getting next to a log works, as does piling up a little berm of soil or snow on the windward side, and those who sleep next to the firewood pile are probably there for more than just the altruistic reason of adding a log to the fire now and then. You can make a lean-to or shebang, but it's more work taking it down in the morning. Besides, if the officer in charge doesn't order it, then canvas shouldn't be sprouting.

Fire - Spoking works well. Use your judgement as to whether you want toasty feet or toasty skull. Documentation has the boys of ’61-’65 pointing feet in or feet out, and don’t let anyone tell you differently. If you are my age, you'll get up once in the night anyway, so don't forget to toss a log on the fire. A good trick is to keep 3-4 pieces of firewood by your side to toss on the fire so you don’t have to go tripping over to the squaw wood pile in the middle of the night.

Wood - Put denser wood such as cherry, beech, or persimmon on the fire before retiring. The fire should still be warm in the morning. Pine burns fast, and you’ll be up in a few minutes looking to put some more wood. Wet wood warmed near the fire can be both a reflector and a way to dry it.

Musket - Put it in the fold of your blanket. This discourages thieves, and keeps your piece nice and warm. Stacking is good at events with some form of security, but if it is only you and the messmates, think about securing the musket next to you, and putting other pilferable items close at hand.

Great Coat - If you happen to have one, you almost have a sleeping bag. Use it as a second blanket, and with the cape flipped up it covers the head nicely.

Optional Sweet or Irish Potato - Stick a sweet potato about 4" under the coals, so your breakfast is cooked and ready to eat when you open your peepers at the first tap of the drum. Laugh now, eat hearty later.

There is a huge difference between sharing the discomfort of the elements and being miserable. A little chill or breeze up the blanket opening should be expected. Use common sense, and if you are having problems let someone know, or, better yet, spoon with them to share some blankets and body heat.

Re: Staying warm

Thanks for all the great tips. I've tried to get my pards to spoon before but they do have a certain 21st century homophobia, so I just freeze to death normally. I remember one reply saying I shouldn't bring the quilt. Why is that, as it is the warmest article I have.

Pvt.Chris Anderson
5th Geo. Infantry

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Staying warm

Hallo Kameraden!

"I did that at Averasboro and woke up to find Charles Heath stamping out a flaming shelter half on my greatcoat."

As did my Kamerad Jay White at Outpost. The ember caught the shelter half, the (Daley) greatcoat he had borrowed from me, and his trousers. Chris Daley did a great job of making period repairs to the coat, but every time I see the scortched portion of his trousers... ;-) :-)

All of my 18th century comrades' C.J. Wilde hand-woven blankets have at least one or more burn holes from jumping embers and sparks. Her blankets do not burn, but the ember catches and starts the wool glowing in a growing circle or ring- some times they go out on their own right away and one only gets a so-called "cigarette burn." Other times, the hole may grow to an inch, and I have seen some as large as 6-8 inches.

We have gone to a concept of "fire watch." Rather than everyone go to "bed" at once, when needed, we "do rotating duty" keeping the fire going for the warmth and benefit of all, and the "watch" assumes the responsibility for jumping embers and smouldering blankets, greatcoats, etc. It works well, as everyone benefits and gets more sleep, instead of everyone being cold and awake when the fire goes out two hours later....not to mention the "spark catchers." ;-) (In wilderness areas, it also works well for unwanted Night Creatures such as snakes, bears, and Indians...)

Curt-Heinrich Schmidt

[Bill Cross]

Re: Staying warm

Sleep next to a fire.

I did that at Averasboro and woke up to find Charles Heath stamping out a flaming shelter half on my greatcoat. :cry_smile Several other folks have had expensive or potentially dangerous close encounters with flying embers, so I prefer to sleep away from the flames. I can't always get away from the flames on the Internet, so I suppose it's just instinct at this point. :tounge_sm

Getting out of a wind will make all the difference in the world.... The best way to freeze is to sleep by yourself under a pile of blankets.

Pogue's right and what he says is authentic, too. Spooning's what they did, because they couldn't wait until the drive home from the event to catch some Zzz's at the rest stop. Lots of fellers will just get up and talk around the fire if they can't sleep, effectively ruining everyone else's beauty rest, too. My son and I spoon unless I'm an officer, even though I snore and he tosses & turns all night. Between us, on the coldest nights, we have two blankies, four gummies/ground cloths and two greatcoats (if we're Federals).

One tip not mentioned in the Heath article on the old RP web site (but which I'm pretty sure I learned from him) is, warm or cold, dig out a small depression where your hips and shoulders go. This allows you some ability to turn on your side in the night, which is especially helpful on chilly nights when you want to tuck your legs up close to your body or if you're spooning and the pile "turns over." It also allows a tighter "fit" for your ground cloth and blanket, preventing a cold air pocket from making you miserable.

Finally, try to eat well before turning in. Hunger makes you sleep lighter, at least it does for me. A cracker or two before extinguishing all lights will make the tendency to wake up a little less noticeable.