Traditional Muzzleloading Association
The Center of Camp => Camping Gear and Campfire Cooking => Topic started by: W. Welshman on June 15, 2008, 03:19:20 PM
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I'm putting together my camp gear.I need plans to make a few chairs and I need some kind of stove.Help.
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Miesel Hardwoods has plans for some chairs, tables, etc. They are on the net.
Stoves - don't have a clue. I just went down to an Army Surplus place and bought a sheepherder's stove. Seemed to be OK. Pretty light duty.
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Lynn, wait on the chair and table to you get here Labor Day weekend, we have a trader that makes and seels them for a great price thats not worth your time to do them yourself, he'll be at the Labor day rondy.
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What time frame and type of camp are you looking to set up?
r/
MM
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1840 MM
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1840 - that gives you a lot more flexibility. Any specific type of camp?
- Lone wolf mountain man out to tame the wilderness by hisself?
- Greedy trader with avarice for a soul looking to maximize profit above all else?
- Fire and brimstone evangelist out to convert the God-forsaken heathens . . . and the Indians who traded with those same mountain men.
Biggest thing about what you'll have in camp is the purpose of the camp and the potential support for getting stuff there. Some trappers would have a horse or three to help carry stuff - like camp gear and all of his furs and pelts back to trade. Traders headed out to meet the trappers and indians who traded would have multiple horse or wagons to carry their goods and camp gear. If up in the northern woods of God's territory, then travel could be by canoe and you're back to being fairly restricted in what could be carried.
Hope this helps spark some imagination as to what you could do.
r/
MM
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and all that depends on how PC you want or need to be, or if you just want a camp that fits in to most of the rondys out here in the west, id attend a bunch more and see what other folks have in camp before I went out and spent a wad on either already made stuff or materials to make things, to find out a year or so from now that half of what ya got doesnt cut it or isnt working into what you want, seen lots of folks gear up only to start selling stuff off a year or 2 later at a fraction of what they paid; to finance different gear for their camp! JMHO
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I'll go along with what Beaverman says. You can sit on a folded blanket for a rondy or two until you see what passes at the ones you want to go to. Same with cooking gear. Just don't for the love of G-d go with thrift store aluminum. Had one blockhead argue that "Well, it's old ain't it?" Hard to argue with that lack of logic.
Do your cooking in el-cheapo BLACK graniteware, that way when it comes time to upgrade, you're not out a lot, or just use it for blanket prizes and help someone else start out. It also doesn't stand out and just look silly. Give some consideration to other's sensibilities, You wouldn't like it if you'd spent twenty years researching and obtaining a museum quality camp then have some maroon set up next door with coleman stoves, coleman lanterns, stainless steel pots and pans, and an army surplus bivouac tent, and blue plastic tarps, would you? Remember, dull earth tone colors and keep things simple.
A cheap light canvas tarp can be set up a dozen different P-C ways, make a lean-to or a diamond fly until you get an idea what you'd like and can live with. In my dotage and decripitude, I actually need a cot, so I can get up again in the morning without a lot of pain, but when I first started out, in my mid forties, I slept on a Therm-a-Rest on top of an army surplus poncho, covered with a red trade blanket all sheltered by a tarp lean-to. Used that for a coon's age and was even complemented on my camp. I cooked in two graniteware kettles, a gallon and a half gallon. Drank out of a plain redware mug, still do.
Don't go spending a lot of money, you can gear up on the cheap, then upgrade as you learn.
Three Hawks
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and don't waste your money on ANY color of granite ware..it's wrong and using it for blanket prizes and such just perpetuates the myth.....
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When I talk stoves,Here in Nevada or Northern CA. open fires are a no no.I'm looking at a small sheeperder's stove to take care of open firers.I have cast iron skillet I could use but I'm going with Kettles.I have the tent cover my bedding will work.Thanks for the help
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and don't waste your money on ANY color of granite ware..it's wrong and using it for blanket prizes and such just perpetuates the myth.....
Like I said Lynn, depends on just how PC you want to get carried away with! If your never ever going to go to an AMM thread counters rondy, or do any reinactments at some museum or fort somewhere,or do a demo at a rondy for the visitors; dont sweat the small stuff yet!
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When I talk stoves,Here in Nevada or Northern CA. open fires are a no no.I'm looking at a small sheeperder's stove to take care of open firers.I have cast iron skillet I could use but I'm going with Kettles.I have the tent cover my bedding will work.Thanks for the help
Lynn, look at a braizer and dont buy one from Crazy Crow, if your interested in a good brazier for a reasonable price, contact Jon in Mi, theres a smith in Michigan that makes one heck of a brazier at a great price and various sizes, made from an original.
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I was invited to accompany a Colonial reenactment group that is Officially Batsh*t Crazy over 100% Provable Hysterical Accuracy last Summer. They in turn were invited to a not so nutsoid Mountain Man Rendezvous at the Holcomb Valley Boy Scout Reservation during the Scout's off season.
This group requires at a minimum, three prime sources for everything and I mean EVERY blessed thing they have and use. One of the things they use is charcoal fired braziers. At that rondy no flames were allowed except propane, or white gasoline. So the fellow who invited me adapted two charcoal braziers to use a 20 lb BBQ bottle or 16.4 oz. Coleman type disposables. His design is very clever and makes a brazier Cal. and USFS compliant, is almost instantly reversible and when in use with propane you nearly have to know it before you notice it. I'll get in touch with him and ask for a few photos so you can see what he did. Oh yeah, it's cheap too. I do love cheap.
Three Hawks
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Dang! Doubled post. Again.
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Jim, The braizer is the unit I've been looking at.Two of the guys in the club have them but larger unit.But that is the perfect size for one person.Thanks
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i agree with beaverman here . you can dabble or go deep into the understanding of things . there also is any given number of levels in between.
what i would tell you is just get started . dont drop alot of money doing it though .
if you want chairs , and if this fella beaverman is speaking of is the same one who sells up at monroe each year , these chairs ar top notch . you cant build one for what he charges ..
stoves are a complete nother story . folks buy stoves from the army surplus and then dont understand why they are so light . remember these stoves were not built for wood they are oil or moe gas stoves . they will burn wood but you shouldn’t stoke them to high .
the other thing i tell folks is getting started is what level do you plan on participating at ?
Just because you go to voodoos and not juried events or re-enactments doesn’t mean you cant be at a higher level of authenticity , if you so wish .
However if you do go with simply whats acceptable at these events , realize that’s what your going to do and don’t let the accessional bugger bother you .
If you decide to go deeper though , have some knowledge of whats in your camp . Just because an item can be documented in 3 different places doesn’t mean its correct .
Take the braziers . These were not as I understand it , used for cooking in the context many use them today . Now there is no doubt that they work and work great but what I getting at is that there is more to an item or having an item then just saying it existed and documenting that existence.
So if you decide to use one then use it . But at least know some background about it so if some new person just getting started comes up and asks you about what it is , you can tell them what it actually is and that because of given situations you use it for cooking
now above all that , go out and have fun , enjoy yourself , take your time . dont dump alot of money , go slow .
after all knowlage is learned and in most cases thats free just for the asking
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Completely agree with easing in to things.
With regards to braziers - had discussion over weekend at out mini-vous and one point got brought out that while braziers may not have been used for a lot of the actual cooking back in the day, they also did not have federal, state and local regulations prohibiting use of open fires or forbiding digging of fire pits. So we sort of get forced into deviating because of constraints we have that were not around back in the day . . .
Just an observation made that I thought I'd pass on . . .
r/
MM
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Thanks folk for all the good info.The tent I order was only 165.00 the braizer is 70.00.I have a chair pattern that will work for me and all the other stuff I'll take my time putting it together.I don't plan on spending a lot $$$$$$$"NEED A NEW RIFLE"I just need the basic.The folks I hang out with aren't picky about being PC it's about shooting and hanging out together and having a great time.Thanks Lynn
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What you're likely to find is that as time goes on, you'll decide on then fine tune your persona. More period accurate equipment will be wanted later as you learn.
It happens to nearly everyone.
Three Hawks
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Lynn, Here is a pic of my camp. The table & cahairs are made by the man Beaverman mentioned ( anothe smaller table is in the tent. (cost under $100.00 ) 0n the left is my "stove in it's "campfire cofigeration"
[albumimg:33eieasj]3045[/albumimg:33eieasj]
Here is a "close up of it in one of it's "cooking " cofigerations"
It is VERY versitile. It can be used in the mode shone ( up off the ground, for us "old geezers" that do not like to bend over or the center part can be used by itself on the ground ( if you are packing light ) ++ the fire pit mode for times that there are fire restrictions.
[albumimg:33eieasj]3046[/albumimg:33eieasj]
It is PC. It is made by the Blacksmith @ FT. Nisqually (HBC) I also have several assy's he made for me. The cost is VERY resonable.
( if you are interested I will email him & get a basic $$$$)
I will be using it @ our GRMM rondy.
Puffer
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Thanks Puffer for the pic and the help for my camp set-up.Like your table and your set-up.I found picture of a bench and a few chairs.I'm also thinking of making a chest and use it to seat on.Then I would have storage and a place to put my big ????.I like your fire pitt but need one that is contain.I'm going for the braizer.I order a Forester Tent it a little large for one person,I need the room,I'm over size.Thanks again "Folks"for all the help.
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One caution for the box you're building. Don't get too ambitious. I'd recommend keep it small and if need be - make two boxes. We got a full head of steam on our project - breat box - sturdy, solid holds lots . . . and is a mother #$!@#$ to move . . . throw in this, throw in that and suddenly the bleedin thing got real heavy.
So just word of warning from one with scar tissue . . .
r/
MM
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Here is a pic of my camp...
Do you pack all that on a horse, or your country wife's back?
:)
[albumimg:1wd21crz]1997[/albumimg:1wd21crz]
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mules
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Shortarm, when you start building boxes you can either fix a standard size e.g. 1ftx1.5ftx2ft or thereabouts or you can lay out all the stuff you want to put in the boxes and build the box around the stuff. I recommend the latter approach. I'd also recommend that you make sure that what ever you put in each box not weigh over 25 lbs or so. If you weigh the stuff and limit it you won't end up with a box you can't lift. One last thing, use 1/2 in lumber rather than 1 in (3/4 in actually) the reduction in weight is really worth it and the loss of strength is not that much. Finally, the simpler the box the better. They are usually easier to construct as well.
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I think HB Forge has stoves ? not sure
think it was them
Keep it light ... all ya need isa place to ploop down.
lol
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Nice camp Rich thats doin it right
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Here's ours from this years SEPR - got grainy for some reason. Need to rescan I think.
http://www.traditionalmuzzleloadingasso ... ic_id=3065 (http://www.traditionalmuzzleloadingassociation.org/forum/phpbb2/album_showpage.php?pic_id=3065)
r/
MM