Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
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- Strickland
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Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
I remember reading somewhere and Im damned if I can find it at the mo, about a piece of equipment used by soldiers on the move that is basically a big roll up kit bag for just that, packing up your kit for going on the wagon, and when empty you fill it with straw to make a mat for sleeping on. Am I right with this, and I suspect it would have just been that; a large/long rectangle open at one end of course with a dual purpose. Someone put my mind at ease please!!
Oh and it was for 15thC.
Cheers!
Neil
Oh and it was for 15thC.
Cheers!
Neil
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- Phil the Grips
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Look for "palliasse".
--Angels also carry weapons--
http://www.blackboarswordsmanship.co.uk/
http://www.blackboarswordsmanship.co.uk/
Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
http://www.albrechts.se/Library/Pdfer/C ... artebo.pdf
the above link should take you to a PDF with a similar kind of thing your looking for. basically a sack split in the middle so when worn over the shoulder you get 2 pouches for your belongings and when empty can be used to stuff with straw to sleep on... also fits nicely over the withers of a horse if your lucky enough to have one!!
the above link should take you to a PDF with a similar kind of thing your looking for. basically a sack split in the middle so when worn over the shoulder you get 2 pouches for your belongings and when empty can be used to stuff with straw to sleep on... also fits nicely over the withers of a horse if your lucky enough to have one!!
- Strickland
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Thats it! Excellent! Damn my failing memory!! LOL!! Thank you folks!
Neil
Neil
Its not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years. Nullum est coclear!!!
- chrisanson
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Those shown being carried by soldiers in 15th century art are smaller then those shown above and are shown being carried over a polearm, bow, or staff being carried over the shoulder.
- Strickland
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Thanks for the update behanner I'll be sure to check that out!
Neil
Neil
Its not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years. Nullum est coclear!!!
- Colin Middleton
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Handbag wrote:basically a sack split in the middle so when worn over the shoulder you get 2 pouches for your belongings and when empty can be used to stuff with straw to sleep on... also fits nicely over the withers of a horse if your lucky enough to have one!!
That seems an odd thing to have to me. Won't straw be a comodity which you have to purchase and then only available seasonally. That doesn't seem to fit well with the 'not disposable society' of the MA.
Colin
"May 'Blood, blood, blood' be your motto!"

"May 'Blood, blood, blood' be your motto!"

Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Given that most campaining was done in the summer months (not all, I know, but a lot) perhaps they weren't used with straw as such but with long grass, bracken, or other forage, whatever was available? Pure speculation on my part.
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- Sir Thomas Hylton
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Bracken is supposed to make a very good bedding, apparently. Not sure I'd want to put that one to the test myself though, having seen the sorts of things that live on, or should I say, under bracken.
- The Methley Archer
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
I have illustrated instructions on making reed/grass/straw/twig or similar materiel mattresses. If anyones intrested I'll try and post it up tomorrow.
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- Strickland
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Hmm interesting!! Go for it Methley!!
Neil

Neil

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- lucy the tudor
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Sir Thomas Hylton wrote:Bracken is supposed to make a very good bedding, apparently. Not sure I'd want to put that one to the test myself though, having seen the sorts of things that live on, or should I say, under bracken.
Now we know that the spores released by dry bracken are very carcinogenic, it may be an unwise choice. On our agriculture module, a few aeons ago, we were warnd to be very wary of even walking through dry bracken.
- The Methley Archer
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
As an aside about bracken, did you know that you can eat green young fresh shoots once boiled.
Srickland, Ive fogotten the book but I will go home later and do it this afternoon.
Srickland, Ive fogotten the book but I will go home later and do it this afternoon.
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
lucy the tudor wrote:Sir Thomas Hylton wrote:Bracken is supposed to make a very good bedding, apparently. Not sure I'd want to put that one to the test myself though, having seen the sorts of things that live on, or should I say, under bracken.
Now we know that the spores released by dry bracken are very carcinogenic, it may be an unwise choice. On our agriculture module, a few aeons ago, we were warnd to be very wary of even walking through dry bracken.
Indeed...

Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
I think that there is now a feeling with the affected industries that the cancer risks from bracken are overstated, the way I understand it the animal studies were all in animals that eat the stuff too, there is no evidence off a substantial risk unless you eat the stuff, or drink standing water with the runnoff from bracken patches (which can concentrate the toxins). the big worry with any kind of forage bedding is ticks and lymes desease. That is nasty.
Find time in every day to look at your life and say; 'Well, it could be worse'
Kurt's uncle Bob.
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- Colin Middleton
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
The Methley Archer wrote:I have illustrated instructions on making reed/grass/straw/twig or similar materiel mattresses. If anyones intrested I'll try and post it up tomorrow.
I think that there were inventories of Caister Castle listing straw stuffed palliase.
It's the idea of it being a temporary bed that I'm sceptical about.
Colin
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- Phil the Grips
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
This form of split bag carried on into the C18th as a "market wallet", as ubiquitous in the US reenactment scene as snapsacks are over here and equally ubiquitous historically.
Accounts of them are numerous but I can't think of one where it makes any form of bedding (other than maybe a pillow)
Accounts of them are numerous but I can't think of one where it makes any form of bedding (other than maybe a pillow)
--Angels also carry weapons--
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- Type16
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Dave B wrote: the big worry with any kind of forage bedding is ticks and lymes desease. That is nasty.
Shout that loudly Dave!
I can certainly vouch for that. Its taken me over 5 yrs to get over Lyme - from one tick bite. I know of 1 person who died of it & several who are ill.
Archers have a way of making their point
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Walk softly & carry a big (pointy) stick

www.marcherfreemen.org.uk
www.andysherriff.co.uk ---- First Aid for Re-enactors
.
Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
I'm skeptical in general about soldiers especially in English WOR campaigns carrying anything specifically for bedding. I suspect it was much more a situation of doing with what was availible for the night then anything. If you were going to be in a place for a while such as a siege things might be different.
But I should also say that the reality of the re-enactor is a different thing. You don't have ready access to some things that would have been ready access back in period.
I agree with Colin about palliase, it would seem to more fit into the category of a matress that was intended to be brought out and used for the night and then stored during the day as opposed to something carried for traveling.
But I should also say that the reality of the re-enactor is a different thing. You don't have ready access to some things that would have been ready access back in period.
I agree with Colin about palliase, it would seem to more fit into the category of a matress that was intended to be brought out and used for the night and then stored during the day as opposed to something carried for traveling.
Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Re soldiers need of bedding: when you're on enemy area, just pillage the village and voilá lots of space to sleep comfortably...
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
narvek wrote:Re soldiers need of bedding: when you're on enemy area, just pillage the village and voilá lots of space to sleep comfortably...
That may be how things go in central Europe but that isn't the English way of doing things.
- The Methley Archer
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
Heres the scan of how to make a grass mattress. I have seen a double size platted straw mattress from the early 20th C in the Country Life Museum in Co. Mayo, Ireland. It would have been like sleeping on an archery boss.
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- Phil the Grips
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
The Methley Archer wrote:It would have been like sleeping on an archery boss.
I can confirm that-my granny's house had a straw mattress that must have been fairly ancient twentyfive years ago when I slept on it last and it was certainly "character building".
--Angels also carry weapons--
http://www.blackboarswordsmanship.co.uk/
http://www.blackboarswordsmanship.co.uk/
Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
For mainland Europe, a makeshift bed is very easy to make. Lay out thin, springy material like twigs under a thick, soft, layer of forage material. Bracken is ideal, but the trick is to lay it out in a herringbone pattern, crossing the top of the plants in the middle. I've used a rollmat instead, our Medieval counterparts could have used cloaks or blankets to provide the padding if forage was unavailable. With a shelter over it and a campfire, it can be a very cosy night's sleep!
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Carrick 800 Battle Re-enactment Society
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Re: Sleeping bag/bed/bag thing!
There were few great threads re:orfentik camping already. Worth looking them up.
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