My old Wool System, Sleep and Pack

[Russell Lawson]

Hello!
I wanted to share my old backpacking system that I used to bring with me until I acquired a new backpack and learned from you guys about DIY Apex quilt.

To lay out the land here, This sleeping system I put together for near free and has held me comfortably for shoulder seasons and sometimes in winter camp conditions. I use one blanket and a hammock in the summer when my buddies and I go deep into old growth and locate shelters, generally under boulders, where we stash wood for our fall and winter hikes (2 blankets). How I use the blankets is a system where the more rectangular blanket acts as a bivy, while the other one wraps around me while I lay on it diagonally, I carry a silk/wool diy liner too.

I have been getting more and more hooked on 10+ mile hikes with a newer companion, that's why went for a free fixerup synthetic bag and subscribbed here (I want to make a lighter bag out of 50cent siloxford soon too), but this wool system boiled over out of typical 8mile days of deer trails and testing one's own threshold with the boys.

What I enjoy about this over my newer synthetic 10#2oz bag setup is the comfort of using natural fibers and ability to add to a blanket pile with friends when it's extra cold out, I can drop embers on it without as much worry as synthetic. And it's warm when moist. Also the backpack design fits the body better than ANY backpack i have ever tried, it splits at the bottom after a while which cradles on your lower back, like giving piggieback ride.

Down sides are, very heavy when moist, heavier in general, cumbersome and large blankets (easy to get dirty), itchy without liner or clothing on.

This bag weighs 14lb 12oz, still under ultralight limits?
My new bag (on the right side of a pictures) was a free 35lt mountainhardwear koa with apex quilt at exactly 10lb 2oz. these pictures were right before going on a 4 day trip into a rain storm, where we went from rock to rock drying off.

These are my everyday sleeping blankets, my friend gave me the shoulder piece which came on a military pack, I got the blankets for free from two friends, and the rest has been collected or purchased over time

For all the items that I carry, I put the small ones normally in my vest pockets, but for the shelter (DIY Hexamid, my end cap to a 10×10 group tarp) cooking set, food and clothing insulation, gets stuffed down the top of the rolls or rolled into the top flap. the ground sheet (dead tent bottom) or spare/wet clothing gets shoved into the back crack. Also on the right is my camo urethane poncho, which locks around the exterior of the pack and extends onto my shoulders and over my head (to prevent drips going down my back on normal rain gear) the poncho also acts as a door on my hexamid and is great when combined with the groundsheet as a kilt/ponch combo for going to the restroom in shorts, not rain pants.

How I fold it up is rather fast and lasts for miles if done right, I use 14' of paracord with a loop at one end and a knot at the other. It wraps around the shoulder buckle strap and hipbelt on the outside bottom to tighten the wool to my back (these can be inserted after tied up but takes longer).

SO FOR WEIGHT:
10oz – cotton belt w/ strap, military nylon shoulders, 14' 500para, 3 clips
5# 2oz – Red Wool Blanket, large
3# 7.5oz – grey blanket, bivy
6.7oz – silk/wool liner
6.1oz – torso pad
subtotal: 160.3oz

6oz – ground sheet/kilt
4.5oz – camo poncho
12.3oz – silnylon hexamid
subtotal: 22.8oz

12oz – Raincoat
7oz – rain pants
8oz – wind shirt, wool gloves, wool sleeping socks, rabbitwool hat, m90 stuffsack
5.5oz – headlamp, pocket clock, whistle, squeezelight, small blade
2.9oz – squeeze bottle of soap, 1/4cup steel, toothbrush/paste, salve, TP, meshbag and liplock
subtotal: 35.4oz

7.9oz – steel rocketstove cup, alcohol can stove, 4oz of alcohol, sawyer filter w/ evernew bag
1.5oz – wool potgrabber/bag, lighter, firesteel, random collected tinders.
4.5oz – 900ml ti bowl, used usmail hot pocket, ti spoon
3oz – 3ti stakes and 6+ free chopsticks
1.4oz – foodbag
subtotal:18.3oz
TOTAL 236.8oz = #14.8 on my scale

This setup isn't superlight and plenty of room to swap out materials or leave a thing or two behind, but without knowing it I was lightweight bushcraft hiking before i knew what UL was. The things I forgot to add into this is a 1.4oz waterbottle, and when we know there are trees to clear or wood to process I bring either my 4.2oz hand chain saw, or a 7oz large knife/machete. We hike together as a team and work to allow ourselves destinations in the fall/winter where we can dry off and get ready to do it all over the next day.

As you can see this is a favorite highlight of my interests and passions, I would appreciate feedback and ideas to improve it or go into colder temperatures. feel free to ask questions.

[Justin Baker]

That looks like a nice set up considering that your gear choices are limited. I would highly recommend getting a decent down bag which would drop your weight considerably. You can make a cotton bivy or cover thing to keep sparks off the nylon. A 5 pound wool blanket won't keep you warm at freezing without a fire. You also need some kind of ground insulation to keep you warm. I don't see any kind of insulation for the top of your body. You can find cheap fleeces at thrift stores which work fine.

[Russell Lawson]

thanks! for the ideas. It's true even these two blankets won't work well in freezing. that's why we find shelters under boulders here, so we can have long lasting fires when we return in the winter until we slim down our reserves. for insulation I layer twigs, rottenwood moss and fern under my legs, less soft items under my torso pad (which damage the environment less) takes a good 15 to 20 minutes to get right. sharing body heat works well too in combination. I overcompensate with my worn wool items(which weigh a lot too), plus I sleep hot. I've got this style of hiking to work for me.

I did make an apex climashield quilt which is working better than expected, yet to go through a winter with it. I just cannot spend 300-400 on a recreational down item yaknow, plus down gives me a headache.

[Justin Baker]

Where are you hiking?

[Andrew F]

This is exactly what explorers used for hundreds of years. Most of us these days are too soft to even try it for a night, let alone use it as our primary backpacking gear. Kudos.

Quoting Daniel Arnold from Early Days in the Range of Light:

"The men had no tents or even sleeping mats. At night they rolled themselves into blankets atop piles of pine needles. Trees offered some protection from weather, but when it stormed or snowed they simply got wet. [William] Brewer described the sensation: 'You cannot imagine how cheerless and uncomfortable it is to lie out in the rain – how one looks up at the black sky, lets the rain patter on his face, saturate his hair and beard, as he thinks of home and its cheerful fireside and luxurious comforts.'

… And yet, from under a blanket there is a prickly kind of pleasure in the anticipation of an oncoming mountain storm. Our ancestors made gods out of wind and lightning for a reason: the power in those forces is awesome to behold. The only difference now is that we rarely expose ourselves to the weather. We're urged not to, as if our bodies were too soft and weak to endure the experience. Well-meaning protectors tell us these sorts of things. Find shelter! Seek cover! But it's hard not to stay and look when the clouds start to rub up against the mountains and the whole sky begins to crackle. Brewer may have dreamed of the fireside, but he never turned away from the mountain.

With a tent, those evening thunderheads would have been an annoyance, a reason to retreat under the rain-fly and read a book. Without the tent, those same clouds reclaimed their natural stature as elemental powers. Met forthrightly, a good storm wakes my insides and reminds me that, just like the bears and marmots, I am built for this place, built to survive and enjoy these rumbling demonstrations. The equipment and machinery we use to make travel in the wilderness more comfortable cannot help but blunt the experience. The loss is our own. At worst, we grow forgetful that the same basic potency that animates the storm animates ourselves."

[Russell Lawson]

Well thanks! I appreciate it, not to mention nylon wasn't heard of, longstrand Egyptian cotton in tight weave was probably hard to pay for, I tried an iron oxide impregnated shelter. works well for at home, weighs a least a million pounds.

I live and hike in Wa. olypics. where we're happy when it rains because then it's probably not freezing

[D M]

Thanks for sharing. Reminds me of my youth nearly six decades ago…..I grew up in PA outdoors, my poor parents couldn't get me indoors very often, I lived to be in the forest, rain, or snow. In fact the more the better! I learned to prize my inherited pendleton blankets like the treasures they are. And I made clothes from the canvas I was lucky enough to find at sewing stores. I learned to wax it to make the canvas last longer. Survival skills came early in life for me and I never had the adversions to eating natural foods my schoolmates had. I packed my kit in my blankets but used a waxed canvas ground cloth to protect the wool from briars and stickers as I preferred bushwhacking to trails and tracked game everywhere.
Now I feel quite SPOILED with all this high tech gear, but I'll never forget the "good old days" when I slept out in the storms loving every thunderclap and enjoying the snowfalls glittering beauty and stillness.

[Justin Baker]

Hey Russel, have you heard of the site bushcraftusa.com? I think you would like it. The people on there are into the same kind of minimalist/old school camping that you are. Lots of good info.

[Russell Lawson]

No I haven't thanks for sharing. I do enjoy bushcraft activity and talk but I find they prefer to camp and nest. I like the push your calorie efficiency, go anywhere mentality here. glad you guys enjoyed this, i wanted to share a gear setup and figured this would be a more interesting sight over my typical 10# bag. thanks!

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