[Sca-cooks] OT Air Mattress (was Pennsic Pity Party)

[Stefan li Rous]

UlfR mentioned:
  <<< I'm from Sweden, and every now and then I teach wilderness  
survival
courses, including winter courses up in the subarctic regions. My
definition of cold is that below -20 C or so it is cold, and it's COLD
if it's below -35 C.

 > Plus, as I stated I have kidney (internal thermostat problems).

Reindeer furs are warm, two of them on top och each other is quite a bit
of insulation. When out winter camping I carry one thick (14mm) closed
cell foam pad and one bull reindeer hide (untanned, fall butchered).
That is plenty of insulation for underneath a sleeping bag. >>>

Sounds good. But Reindeer furs, untanned or not, are rather hard to  
come by over here.

Why untanned? Because they are too large to tan? Don't they begin to  
stink or rot after a fairly short time period?

<<< If it looks like a cold night one could allways heat a few rocks  
by the
campfire and take to bed[1].

[1] Fist size or somewhat larger, heat until they reach the "hot potato"
stage, wrap in fabric (rags, spare socks, whatever) and place
strategically (feet, behind back, etc). Lasts several hours. >>>

Yes, this does work fairly well. However, it is rather important to  
avoid rocks that might absorb some moisture, such as sandstone.  
Otherwise this trick can get a bit too exciting.

If you are concerned about these rocks being too hot, you can also  
use this technique to simply warm your bed and then remove the rocks  
and put them back around the fire.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****