Knapsacks & Blanket Rolls Redeux

[Clsinclair]

Re: origional gum blanket and poncho dimensions

Greetings to Germany,

Some of the measurements are 68" X 44", 62" X 38", and 69.5" X 32 3/4". From page 142 of "The Columbia Rifles Research Compendium".

Hope that this helps somewhat.

Regards,

Claude Sinclair
Lancaster, SC

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: origional gum blanket and poncho dimensions

Hallo!

From the wreck of the U.S.S. Maple Leaf, sunk on the St. Johns River, FLorida, April 1, 1864:

poncho: 48 X 71
poncho: 44.25 by 72

gum blanket: 43.75 X 75.63
gum blanket: 45 X 68.50
gum blanket: 47 X 70
gum blanket: 32.75 X 69.50
gum blanket: 44 X 68
gum blanket: 42 X 65.02
gum blanket: 48 X 73.50
gum blanket: 33 X 62
gum blanket: vertical half only, 19 x 62
gum blanket: 32 X 57
gum blanket: 32 X 60

Ideally, 48 X 72 and later 60 X 71.

Curt

[J.H.Berger]

Re: origional gum blanket and poncho dimensions

Oops my mistake, I have meant the Maple leave blankets, not Arabia and as I have stated I have the CRRC dimensions to, thanks.

[DougCooper]

Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

One aspect of this event that was interesting to see was the stress on our equipment and how we all rigged our equipment.

I anticipated fouled weapons, as some companies were firing all day and then had to go on guard at night, not having time to clean weapons with the bad guys so close. But we never had any serious problems there, and in the morning the weapons still worked. The cone pick was feely used and occasionally a cone removed and cleaned, but our company never had a serious problem requiring disassembly beyond that.

Not so with belts, straps, etc. Running, climbing and simple marching over 5 days stretched and broke many a strap , sling and belt during this event, requiring field fixes, new holes, shortening and sometimes complete repairs. I started with a waist belt on one hole and finished with a new hole about 4 inches farther in, as did several of us. The first two days we imagined that we were losing weight, which of course was not true - bayonet, cap pouch and cartridge box were stretching them out. Haversack straps, unaccustomed to being full of bacon and hardtack, etc, were stretched as well - I not only re-sewed the strap on tighter to the bag once but put a knot in the strap as it stretched (cotton haversack).

Additionally, I noticed that correctly made equipment tended to perform better and weighed less as well. Knapsacks were an obvious case, and we had one on the back of fresh fish in our company. The thick straps and poor leather on this knapsack made by brand X tended to break at the joints and have to be reattached. We held this same knapsack up against an approved vendor bag and noted a marked difference in weight, let alone appearance. Most of us had the good stuff, but the not so good stuff performed poorly, weighted more and will likely be discarded before the next event.

Still another reason to use the approved vendor list - probably the best reason.

The other aspect that we all knew would be perfected over such a long marching event was rigging our gear for the best support and comfort on the march. All of us learned that. I had figured that a number of 5-8 mile marches before the event made me good to go, but I had not figured on all the exertion of going up hills, across creeks, skirmishing, etc. I re-learned that a blanket roll seperate from the knapsack was lighter, more comfortable and actually cushioned the knapsack a bit, keeping it in place better while running. We all moved stuff around, and those that had not already, shortened their canteen slings and cartridge box slings.

The practice of running the knapsack shoulder straps under the overcoat straps on the top (if a federal bag) was universal, and made the knapsack ride much better. You can do this with straps or a bit of rope with the wooden piece at the top of an Issac and Campbell bag as well. Most vets know this, but we made sure the young guys did it as well.

It was interesting to note the various ways soldiers carried skillets, boilers, pots, cups, hatches, etc. This was modifed due to being close to the enemy as well. Cups not secured inside the havesack tended to bang on the bayonet or canteen. We needed to be very quiet from time to time.

It was quite a "school of the campaigner" for everyone.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

One aspect of this event that was interesting to see was the stress on our equipment and how we all rigged our equipment.

Generally speaking, after each and every campaign event, as few and far between as they are, some fellow writes a "wow, our gear works as designed!" type post or article. Some of the text is concerned with how well brand X works over brand Y, and other portions are confirmations of lessons learned, and yet other discussions yield themselves to mundane arguments over hooking verses crossing, as in what to do with knapsack straps minus the 1855 rifleman's belt. In fact, that song was sung in the last couple of weeks to the tune of "tastes great, less filling."

The biggest difference isn't in the gear so much as it is the type of event. Putting some mileage on reproduction, and in some cases putting additional mileage on 145-year old equipment, is different from a "walk in the park LH," a SOYA picket post, or the fellows deluding themselves into thinking sleeping without canvas at a mainstream (or worse) event is somehow the same as being on campaign. This may be one of the reasons the more experienced campaigners also enjoy primitive camping (in the modern sense), trekking, long hunting, and those type events. Some, such as the legendary Tim Shaw, moved on to another era where woodcraft, fieldcraft, and being able to sustain oneself was the prime objective well over a decade ago.

The lessons learned vary from event to event. If one went back to read the comments on designer label gear from Red River 2, then the comments would be about 180-degrees out from Banks Grand Retreat. Of prime derision was one (more famous on the runways of Paris and Milan now than then) maker's knapsacks with incredible stretch, and in at least one case where the stitching between the straps and the bag itself pulled out just like a feed bag. Well, yes, there is an admonition not to cut the excess thread from the lockstitch and play open-the-Purina-bag, isn't there? Yep, there sure is. Some of the gear from "no-name" makers held up rather well, too, but campaigning isn't about the gear. Never has been, and Gribble points that out (once again) in his thread about myths, etc.

People learned a poncho or gum blanket would trap and create a minature rainforest effect during warm weather sprinkles, while other folks took a light mist as good wool weather. It's a learning experience every time. Participants learn an offset gum blanket wrap is superior to an even wrap, and a knapsack hook or specialty button is a handy item to have in a convenient location, say....hooked on to the interior closing straps of a knapsack.

In another few days or maybe a week, folks would learn how cotton duck reacts to rot versus twill, and why cotton in tropical and subtropical environments is good for some applications, but not all. The usual lessons learned typically include most of the items on the traditional Sgt. Major's pre-event "101 things you should do now" checklist emailed to participants not long before the event commences. I found, and still find useful those tips such as:

18. Put a couple of extra holes in your waistbelt, as if you were going on the Jenny Craig march. You may need them, and the work done with the proper tool will be neater than a pocketknife or bayonet hole. Yes, someone will have a hole punch in the parking lot, but expect than individual to be a mile from his vehicle when YOU need it. Fix it now.

24. High and tight isn't just a maxim for the haircuts of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. Gear that flops about will wear you out. No floppy canteens. No banging cups. No pendulum skillets. You aren't the Tinman or the village tinker. Shorten. Secure. Tighten. Fix it now.

36. Check all of your gear for any mending that may need accomplishing NOW and sit in front of the TV/idiot box and do it. A loose button may make it through a weekend, but won't make it while being rubbed by a cartridge box belt for umpteen miles. Inspect. Repair. Reinspect. Fix your stuff, now.

37. Whip out the shoe polish/boot blacking and go over your leather gear, and shoes at least twice between now and the event. The moisturizing effect is good, plus the waterproofing is better than nothing. Those early morning dews can soak a pair of issue shoes as if you'd forded a creek. Dry leather is squeaky leather. Squeaky gives away your position.

38. Double check your socks. Need to do some darning? Look up a how-to-darn website and get it done. Get it done now. Need a darning egg? Use an old lightbulb. Bring at least two pair of socks to BGR, because you'll wear holes in one pair the first day, and wish you had a spare pair to rotate the rest of the time out there. Use your knapsack to dry yesterday's socks today, because you will want them to be dry tomorrow. How to do that? Use those three little straps at the bottoms and weave 'em in place. Other methods work as well. Dry socks = Good.

39. Hanging your socks over a fire to dry generally accomplishes three things: The socks shrink, the socks burn, and some nice socklady gets a fresh order for more socks. If you flop down, expect to fall asleep.

40. Sharpen any knives you plan to carry. A man without a pocketknife might was well nail his dick to a wagon wheel and be done with it.. A man without a sharp pocketknife isn't much better off. If you have a somewhat larger knife, you may want to sharpen it and bring it along, too. Being the only man in the battalion with a knife of any kind, and getting the job of cutting 225 lbs. of bacon is not fun. Don't bring a boy to do a man's job.

41. Open your haversack. Dump out the crap in it. See the mold and mildew. Clean it. This is a good time to wash your poke bags, so they have time to dry. Make sure you have a mess rag aka scrap of wool blanket that damn Charles foists on you at so many f'n events. Have a decent towel aka huck howel for washing your face, ass, and mess gear. Understand the order of this cleansing process. Have a ragged but clean towel to rip into sections of ass wipe. You'll want to sacrifice something to get your ass nice and clean, because a shit covered ass crack with develop dingleberries (do not make a cobbler with these) and a nice case of rosey red ass. Rosey red ass will take you out of the game as you limp along like a living Preparation H (not an approved vendor) commercial. Take some time to clean your fork, spoon, plate, canteen half, cup, and/or whatever mess furniture you may have. Do it now, before you forget and get the screaming Schwarz sprints (3S boogie) in the piney woods) and the projectiles from your tender anus becomes legendary. Find some scrap cloth and add in a couple more "wraps" for issue food you may receive, or more asswipe should you have some real problems. A period repop newspaper is a good addition down in the bottom (when soaked with grease, it is an excellent firestarter), as is a handful of pine splints about 1/4" to 3/8" in diameter. When the whole world is wet, and you and your pard have just enough grease soaked paper and pine kindling to get a fire started, you'll be as happy as a coon hound with three dicks.

42. Somewhere in that clump of darkness, have a vulcanized rubber pouch large enough for a toothbrush, some toothpowder, and a tin of your favorite Ibuprofen or aspirin. No shit. Come Day 2 on the march, after some dumbass as led you down 18.5 nautical miles of paths when he said you'd only go 8 miles as the crow flies, your ass will need a couple of pain killers. These will also become useful when your footsoles are blistered and raw, and when that lack of caffiene headache hits. Oh, yeah, you laugh now. Those with straight exhausts may want a couple of Immodiums in their pillbox.

43. Finding a small tin and filling it with salve or Vaseline is a good idea, even if you plan to bring some crotch powder, such as Gold Bond. A small tin about the size of 3-4 quarters stacked together is good enough when the crotch strawberry starts to happen after your crotch doesn't have a chance to dry out. Smotherman's Law = "Lube on your raw man parts is Good."

44. Bring some fresh matches and a match safe. Only about one of ten reenactors brings matches, and of those only about one of five has dry matches after a rain storm. They problem is not so much the water itself, but the humidity. Damp matches might as well be no matches, and you may find yourself the only man out of 100 who can start a fire. If you have skill with flint and steel, then bring it by all means. In July 1998, Frank Aufmuth was the only fellow who was able to start a fire in a certain battalion -- he had a flint and steel. You will be in a land of pine needles and squaw wood. This is the virtual gasoline of fire making. Know it. Use it.

68. Bring some food. The instructions have stated we won't have rations, and then they have reversed this and claimed we will be issued rations. Do any of us look like starving Ethiopians? NO. If we have extra food, we can chow down the first night. What to bring? Any hardtack you have leftover is good. Dried peaches are a real plus. Don't eat too many or you will shit yourself blind, and get off to a poor (albeit authentic start). Some lemon drops or horehound can pep you up once the blood sugar level goes through the basement, but most of all some boiled beef, bacon, spuds and spring onions are cheap and something you can deal with right there. In terms of condiments, some black pepper, curry, tumeric, dry mustard, extra salt, maybe some dried peppers are good choices. A piece of Mexican chocolate will make you a hero. Inkwell = good for salt. Get really hungry? Boil pine needles. It works, and is a period solution.

73. Bring a chip of soap.You can get Kirk's castile soap at any drugstore, and it lathers well. Yes, it is period as of 1839. Keep your cooking gear immaculate no matter how black your hands and face may be during any given campaign, and your bowels will appreciate it. You don’t need to carry a full bar of soap when a chip about the size of three stacked half dollars will do.

86. If you have a small skillet, bring it for the mess. Same goes for a hatchet, and a large boiler. Bring your gear, and sort this out in the parking lot. Organized groups have already figured this out months in advance. Anticipate your sorry asses will cooking on your lonesome otherwise, so be prepared. The reality is folks will have communal meal prep and consumption by day three. One tin, one cup, one fork, and six pairs of greasy hands.

87. Bring a few feet of stout twine - You'll need it when you need it. This is good period pocket trash, and a piece in hand is better than trying to cobble out the same effect with honeysuckle vine or greenbrier. We will probably not be constructing a bunch of shebangs, but who knows when it will come in handy to tie to a Junebug hind leg and make entertainment for the brigade.

88. Strip down your housewife. They are great to stop the breeze when your hiney is hanging out. A housewife need not be the size of a modern coffee can, but need only be a needle, thread, and a couple of buttons tucked away in a corner of your knapsack. That needle may be the only item available for moving the build-up in the cone of the musket at the end of a long, long, day, as the diameter of many reproduction picks are far too fat and otherwise too large for their intended purpose.

98. Pack and unpack all of your gear several times. Will we really need a shelter half? No. It will rain, we will get wet, and a shelter half is useful more as a sun shade than a rain stopper. Some idiot will show up with a great coat. Don't be that man. Don't.

99. A big period handkerchief (36 x 36 inches) made of linen or cotton may be good for covering your face and neck at night to ward off the damn bugs. It may also be good to soak to keep your neck and head cool. It may end up being another piece of ass wipe. Ass wipe = Good.

100. Bring an extra shirt. You will be foul and funky and soaked by the end of each day, but being able to slip on a dry (or at least less damp) shirt is a thing of great comfort. A federal issue shirt dries quickly, and does well in all weather conditions. Having a dry shirt to sleep in at night is also much warmer than the altnernative. Wet shirt + 3 a.m. chills = Sucks to be you.

101. We will be pushed. The march route is generally in a lazy horseshoe shape like a beer can run over by a team of mules, which will allow the rebs (who outnumber us about 13,000 to 1) to have excellent interior lines, thus shorter marches, but they will not have better looking concubines. Imagine lines of attack similar to spokes on a hub intersecting with the felloes. That will be us. Expect to get hit early in the morning, late in the evening, during the route of march, when your drawers are down to your ankles with Mr. Brown's best face to the enemy, and anticipate very little sleep. A soldier never stands when he can sit, never sits when he can flop on the ground, and sleeps whenever he possibly can. You may not understand now how you can sleep in a ditch in full marching order within 30 seconds of plopping your third point of contact in the depression, but you will at the end of four days.

Little hints are useful. Someone should really write these things down.

It was quite a "school of the campaigner" for everyone.

Always is. One of the few good uses of the word "always." Taking a hint from Silas, perhaps the School of the Campaigner booklets could be updated and reprinted as a preservation project, or folks could attend campaign events.

Sharing notes about lessons learned is a good thing. This forum is a good place to do it. Nice thread, Doug.

[DougCooper]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

Well said Charles, and just goes to show that there are no new lessons, only re-learned lessons...and all lessons were first learned by the real deal. Was that list from RR2?

One thing I just did was toss my small Mohawk "sharp but too small" knife in the keepsake drawer and am searching for a serious replacement.

[Spinster]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

A piece of Mexican chocolate will make you a hero.

Even moreso if you manage to emerge alive from the distribution.

I asked one of the young Brits what he needed to go on, and the reply was "A bit a sugar, please".

Knowing that he was obviously not making the old southern request for a little kiss, I went to gather a few things up in my apron. Mexican chocolate was of course repackaged, and not immediately recognizable, so that I had time to lay my loaded apron down and step back.

It took a moment for the pack of hounds to descend........:p

[SCTiger]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

"Some of the gear from "no-name" makers held up rather well, too, but campaigning isn't about the gear. Never has been, and Gribble points that out (once again) in his thread about myths, etc." -The Heef


My equipment performed exactly as I wanted it too, except for the items I did lose from fumbling around in the dark or running from Johnny Reb, I will never know. It must have been a great advantage to a pursuing force, your fleeing enemy literally resupplied you from dropping so much equipment.

Maintenance was the big key here, you can't let that leather gear set up for 2 years then drag it out of the box dried out, then subject it to subtropical humidity. I am not a leather expert but, my common sense tells me that you have to have your equipment oiled up and inspected before hitting the field. Same deal for socks. My old socks had holes, the newly purchased ones didn't.

Ask me about period underwear, just don't march with them wet. As much as I considered the feet. I didn't think much about the fabric around my legs. The flannel is alright when it's dry, when you add salt and water, then it becomes fine grade sand paper.

All of my equipment from the approved vendors on this site held up and performed exactly as they were supposed to. I didn't expect anything spectacular, stuff wears out and I believe that most of this WBTS equipment was disposable and never meant to serve past six months in the field, in reality it was probably shorter, maybe every 3-4 months. We also didn't dig rifle pits or trenches, which will also destroy clothing very quickly.

As to the Brand X stuff, as was said before some of it was too thick, over-engineered or designed for light duty as a costume. Making the gear to the original Army specifications has many benefits, it's accurate and it's in that functional zone, not too thick to be burdensome, not too light to be "theatrical" grade.

Great thread BTW.

[Old Reb]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

I lost my do rag.

[Gallo de Cielo]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

Good stuff here.

In addition to Tom's do-rag, I contributed a few items to the Kisatchie Lost and Found pile- my tobacco pouch (not good) and a poke sack with table knife. I also lost a small cork to my bourbon bottle. Fortunately this came up missing after Captain Murray and I had downed the contents on St. Patty's morn with the Napoleon barking away for background music.

Regards,

[Silas]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

Ask me about period underwear, just don't march with them wet. As much as I considered the feet. I didn't think much about the fabric around my legs. The flannel is alright when it's dry, when you add salt and water, then it becomes fine grade sand paper.

Taking a suggestion from one of the Lazy Jacks, I sewed a pair of drawers using leftover wool fabric from a US issue shirt. At first blush, it sounds brutal ; however, I was comfortable, warm, and dry the entire weekend. I also wore my US issue, wool shirt.

I've learned over time that cotton kills. Cotton drawers and shirt soak perspiration. By the end of the day, you're swimming in your own sweat. If you don't remove your outer clothing and allow your wet stuff to dry, you freeze at night. It's even worse if the temps drop into the thirties as it did Friday night.

My gear took a serious hit. Much chain stitching in my double bag knapsack needs redoing. My brogans may have marched their last miles as seams on both shoes ripped, the sole on one shoe is somewhere on the trail, and a heel plate decided to join the sole somewhere in the wilderness. My hat has worn thin, and I may replace it with a go-fast model like Col. Aufmuth wore. (To the absolute consternation of Doug Cooper.)

The corn boiler was a godsend to my mess. Boiled coffee in the mornings. Carried my uncooked meat ration during the day. Cooked rice pilaff one night, boiled rice the next, and made cornmeal mush the final night. Didn't burn the inside once. All were good meals made in conjunction with things made by Charles Mathis using Doug Cooper's skillet. Best hoe cakes I've ever had were those cooked by Charles on Thursday night. I still have some of the bacon issue in my fridge and am planning to drop it into some field peas I purchased in Louisiana.

I relearned the lesson that soldiering isn't that hard if everyone in your mess contributes. The lesson is that many hands make light work. Those who tried to get by on their own labor had a much harder time than those who knew the lesson.

I'm so glad this wasn't my first campaign event. I felt sorry for those who were experiencing their first true campaign event. Did my best to help ease the suffering of the newer guys in camp and on the march.

Thanks for the cards, Gribble. Folks in my platoon sported them in our hats. Seeing a scattered pack on the trail was a great period moment. Looked like someone was afraid to be caught dead with the Devil's tools in his pocket.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

Ask me about period underwear, just don't march with them wet. As much as I considered the feet. I didn't think much about the fabric around my legs. The flannel is alright when it's dry, when you add salt and water, then it becomes fine grade sand paper.

Then again, you've read the paragraph above, albeit written by others, at least 500 times over the years. Probably next in line would be the woe of the cotton sock, and the fallacy of packing the general store (what was Winnie (Bago's) real name at Burkittsville 2005 ? ...or that overloaded pack mule at a certain Chickamauaga NPS LH....wait....that latter feller was Gribble) in the knapsack. See the learning curve? In my collection of purchasing mistakes kept as props, er, "training aids," for the "comparative shopping" class, I keep a certain knapsack from a well known maker of gear that that has about 1.75 times as much carrying capacity as an actual issue knapsack. Those things have probably sworn off more would be campaigners than all the myths combined. Why? Well, empty spots must be filled, right?

Just for fun, I wore an old pair of osnaburg wet/dry sandpaper drawers made by a wonderful gal who is no longer in the vendor world of the hobby (what a shame), and had no problems. These drawers are about eight years old, and doing fine. The designer name canton flannel drawers blew out at the usual stress point seams, and you can guess the rest.

Learn. Relearn. Learn again. It is good the hobby has a campaign event every few years to bring back the memories of fieldcraft and soldering and marching and "whoa, you gonna eat that?" ;)

[Emily Burns]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

I lost a hand stitched handkerchief. If you found it, please keep it with my compliments. You might want to wash it first.

[Old Reb]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

Perhaps do rag is not the proper authentic term for the handkerchief I lost at BGR. But it was a special handkerchief. Actually, a Bob Taylor handkerchief that Fred Baker, at the risk of ruining the entire Rich Mountain scenario since he was suppose to be captured at the base of the mountain and not at the top, used as a tourniquet on my mortal wound received after firing one volley at the stalwart Yankees. On a more serious note, and closer to the topic, for I do not dare risk being mod whipped or having anyone take off their mod hat on me, except I do think Justin does a good job of taking off his mod hat, I attended to one main thing at BGR when it came to equipment and that was taking good care of my feet. I wore a pair of Robert Serio shoes and a pair of Karin Timour socks and they served me well and I had no blisters. I lost nothing else and all my equipment held up well. It wasn’t the first time I had been to a dance.

[Rob Murray]

Re: Stress on Equipment and learning how to best wear stuff

With the exception of my original scabbard tip coming off (found and fixed the first evening) all my equipment and clothes performed splendidly, though my "Abe Thomas" blanket was to thin. I was very envious of Rob Carters Charlie Childs blanket. Anybody want to sell one let me know (I know,wrong place for this). I did make the march wearing Mickey Black socks, no problem. Did have a pair of wool ones though. Dry warm socks at night can't be beat. I was amazed at what I saw come out of packs and haversacks. A lot of folks went way to heavy IMHO. Fred, it was nice celebrating St. Patties Day with you. Great background music.