SC - Surviving Estrella War

[Mark S. Harris]

Lars replied to Balthazar:
> jugglethis at yahoo.com writes:
> > ).  And to
> > think I used to chide my ex-girlfriend for sleeping on
> > such an out-of-period air mattress.... a few inches of
> > insulating air between you and that freezing ground
> > can make a huge difference.
> > 
> > Balthazar of Blackmoor
> 
> I take a futon, queen size with me, and a solar emergency blanket goeth 
> between the bed and the ground. Don't care how unperiod it is...the little 
> tootsies hate the cold....

Using an air mattress is a poor choice in cold weather. Thermally you'd
be better off sleeping on the ground. Of course your back may complain
about that, too. I've slept on concrete floors myself, but that was
25+ years ago. As you move around on the air mattress you move the
air in the mattress, shifting cool air to you and the air you warmed
off the edges where it can be cooled down again.

Lars gives a pretty good solution. Although most of the solar emergency
blankets also crinkle with movement. Kind of the same situation as
creaking rope beds. :-( There are also some heavier blankets that are
thicker but are also lined with foil. These might stand up better to
multiple uses.  Lars did suggest putting the blanket between the
ground and the mattress rather than on top of the mattress, so maybe
that would be quieter.

Another item I've used in the past are the ensolite or dense foam
pads which are about 3/8 inch thick. These do quite well at insulating 
and do soften the ground some. Put on top of a futon mattress or even 
an air mattress they would help a lot. I think they are around $10 at 
various discount and backpacking stores. 

Since air mattresses are subject to being punctured by cactus and
other spiney things, I think that is another strike against air
mattresses at Estrella.

Some folks have also had good luck with furs, both natural and
artificial. This is something I've considering looking more into,
especially if I find some fleeces at a reasonable price.

For a bit more on cold weather camping take a look at this fairly
new file in the SCA-CAMPING section of my files. This file also has
some real good suggestions for either sex when you don't want to 
trek through the cold and/or rain to the privy.
cld-weath-cmp-msg (14K)  1/10/01    Cold weather camping at SCA events.

- -- 
THL Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****