[MedEnc] RE: PE - issues with a rope bed ... was Bedding type s

[Steven Peck]

Greetins,

This is the bed that was featured a Tournaments Illuminated article many
years ago (10?).  I can't remember the author though. 

I made one of these and it lasted a while.  I passed it onto a friend where
a previously small defect in one of the legs became a larger defect and
immediatly onto a failure.

Observations:
IF the two folks (i assume there will be two) are of equal weight or you
sleep alone, then it will be fine with a mattress or padding of some sort.
My lady and I have never had luck with air mattresses (We have tried them
all, repaired them, protected them, it doesn;t matter) so we switched to
foam mattresses, which worked ok.  HOWEVER, if one of the two, ummmmmmm,
outmasses??? the other, by, oh, 2-1 ratio, the smaller one will be squished
by the larger one when the larger one rolls over and the smaller one slides
to the now depressed portion of the bed  :(

This causes sleeplessness and disconfort when the smaller one jobs the
larger one in the side to express a disire to free themselves from being
squished.  I used 1/4 and 1/2 inch polypropolyne, 1/4 and 1/2 inch sisal,
didn;t matter, and yes I pulled REALLY TIGHT.  

The other downside is setup time.  It can take a while to cinch it up and
you quite often work up a sweat.  I am going for a board bed myself.  I will
post it when done.

-Schatan



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Barclay, Peter C. MAJ [mailto:barclayp at eucom.mil]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 7:22 AM
> To: 'periodencampments at ansteorra.org'; 
> 'MedievalEncampments at egroups.com'
> Subject: [MedEnc] RE: PE - issues with a rope bed ... was 
> Bedding types
> 
> 
> Greetings from Master Terafan,
> 
> Lady Marguerite des Fleur asked a bunch of questions about rope beds:
> 
> >How do you like sleeping on the ropes? I am asking because I 
> slept on a
> friends beds that was a ropes bed and it was 
> >really uncomfortable. and swore I would never have one.
> >But there are those the would not have anything else. I am 
> not a small
> women by any means short and stocky, but smiles a >lot. :) 
> But the ropes
> felt like they was cutting
> >into my hips and hurt. not sure if it because of my weight 
> or the design or
> that was how they are suppose to feel like. 
> 
> 
> I may (or may not) be able to answer some of the questions.  I have
> discovered several things about rope beds and I will try to 
> summarize them.
> My rope bed is different from Cariadoc's, and can be seen at
> www.greydragon.org/furniture/ropebed.html
> 
> 
> 1) the bigger the rope, the more you will feel each place the 
> ropes cross
> (over and under).  It will feel like a lump or a knot.  I use 
> 1/4" sisal and
> have never had a problem with strength and it results in very 
> small lumps.
> A simple solution to the lumps is to unfold a piece of 
> cardboard on top of
> the ropes, and under any other padding you are using.  
> 
> 2) the wider the space between ropes, the more sag the bed 
> will seem to
> have.  My ropes are about 6" apart.
> 
> 3) It seems very difficult to get the ropes tight enough with only one
> person.  I use someone to help me (after the bed is laced).  
> Each person
> sits on the ground on opposite sides of the bed.  I start by 
> bracing against
> the rail with my feet and pulling the first rope as tight as 
> I can.  I then
> hold the rope on the outside of the board with my thumb, and 
> tell my partner
> to pull the next rope.  (I hold with my thumb so I can get my 
> fingers out of
> the way.)  My partner pulls the rope, and then holds with 
> their thumb and
> tells me it is OK to pull the next one.  Normally, I am able 
> to put enough
> pressure with my feet that by the 3rd or 4th rope I pull, the 
> 2x6 rails of
> the bed are starting to bow inward.  We let them bow and 
> continue working
> our way down the bed, alternating back and forth, pulling it 
> as tight as we
> can.  The bowed rails keep the bed tight, and even after two weeks at
> Pennsic, I have not had to tighten the bed once.  In the 
> picture of the bed,
> you can see some bow in the side rails.  It takes about 5 
> minutes to tighten
> the bed after it is laced.  
> 
> 4) Obviously, the better the padding, the more comfy it will 
> be.  I have
> used blankets, the thick wool felt that goes under carpets, 
> down comforters,
> air mattresses, and thick foam pads.  My experience is that 
> any padding that
> would be comfortable if you were sleeping on the ground, will 
> be equally
> comfortable on my bed.  Right now we use an air mattress, with a down
> comforter (for insulation) between the mattress and the sheet.  
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> respectfully, 
> 
>                      Terafan
> 
> Master Rhys Terafan Greydragon           barclayp at eucom.mil
> University Chancellor, brewer and probably other things I 
> can't remember...
> Seneschal, Incipient Shire of Blauwasser
 
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