View Full Version : Ultimate Bushcraft Clothing
ChrisKavanaugh
10-05-2005, 23:15
It arrived early this morning. I've always felt at odds with most clothing for the outdoors. You either wind up looking like Rambo, Natty Bumpo or Paris Hilton on the ski slopes. :cool: It's doubly bad in California, what with 24/7 Rennaissance Faire reencactors, Buddhist monks in saffron doing walking meditation, Wiccans looking for Herbs and finding poison oak and this guy in midlife crisis who joggs nude except for shoes ( never a mountain lion when you really need one.) I put it on today and went hiking. It's warm, silent and excellent camouflage. When I came down fom the fireroad, the owner of THE HARE AND THE HOUND brit import shop gasped "look at you know, all ship shape and Bristol fashion you are!" I received my traditional cut, 3 piece Harris Tweed suit from Scotland today in Ghilly Green. :D
BIG-TARGET
10-05-2005, 23:33
I usually wear surplus BDU's. The trick in "demilitarizing" your BDU's is to "mix & match". For example, My favorite combo is the "coffee stain" desert pants, with a woodland pattern shirt. Or Black pants with a Olive green pullover sweat shirt , with sandals.
Use your imagination ;)
I,ll let you into a secret................its only in old films us brits dress like that!
Most british bushcrafters will be wearing lightweights with tights underneath.
:) lots of americans googling lightweights and tights now! :D
BIG-TARGET
11-05-2005, 00:44
I thought they perfered to dress like LUMBERJACKS!!!!!! (http://www.mwscomp.com/sounds/mp3/lumberjk.mp3) :rolleyes:
I prefer to bushcraft in my pink leather catsuit.....GULP!
I thought they perfered to dress like LUMBERJACKS!!!!!! (http://www.mwscomp.com/sounds/mp3/lumberjk.mp3) :rolleyes:
:D Suspenders can chafe a bit though! ;)
i kinda like BDU trouwsers and a supplex shirt a lot in warm weather. They are comfortabel and has plenty of pockets to put my things in.... Mostly green, tan and a little brown and black.
jamesdevine
11-05-2005, 08:44
I read a articule in an walking magazine of a group doing the west highland way. One of the their party did in a tweed suite, old leather boots and flat cap.
They where not camping out as far as I can recall but he was continually wet and stayed that way. I couldn't decide weather he was brave or stupid. Either way he completed it and it have always wondered what it would be like to do a journey like that in traditional garb.
Well Chris enjoy your new suite (you are probable in the cliamate for it).
James
jdlenton
11-05-2005, 09:40
I've climbed in tweeds hobnail boots and a flat cap before now it was most comfortable but I’ve never bushcrafted in them I’ll have to dig mine out and give it a try maybe I wont get looked at so funnily when I’m out and about people might think I actually own the land. :)
Chris enjoy your new tweeds they may not be worn much over here any more but it was for hundreds of years so there’s got to be something in it, I bet you look like a proper gent.:cool:
have you got a flat cap?
Eric_Methven
11-05-2005, 16:46
Braintanned deerskin shirt, army lightweights and Danner boots.
jamesdevine
11-05-2005, 16:55
Is the deerskin suitable to our wet and often cold clim? Does it fell heavy?
I ask because I have always wanted one but I've been reluctent on the grounds it would be inpractical.
James
We'd a mature student who did an entire seasons digging wearing a tweed jacket. He was warm, mostly dry & comfortable. Surprised the H8ll out of the rest of us. He steamed in the sunshine after a shower though :D
Cheers,
Toddy
ChrisKavanaugh
11-05-2005, 17:22
Of course I got a flat hat to go with it. I haven't ripped off any regimental ties like Michael Jackson wearing british service medals to his trial :( Of course it has it's limits like any other clothing system. We went from near record rain up till last week to predicted temps of 90 degrees + next week. Wool has two happy qualities for Urban use too; fire resistance and getting caught in inclement weather. I failed to mention coming up on a small herd of deer on the trail. I froze, upwind. They literally walked past me. Modern clothing has so many brighteners the greater eyesight of some animals and various electronic sighting devices pick you up in the best cammie pattern.
Spacemonkey
11-05-2005, 19:05
..... and Danner boots.
They ARE the best, aren't they? :) I've had mine over 10 years- they don't leak, comfy as ever and they still come up like new. Only had them re soled once-there's a place in Leicster if memory serves who are the official people for it. Well worth the money..
ChrisKavanaugh
11-05-2005, 22:15
Deerskin clothing is VERY practical. Remember leather is nothing more than stabilised skin. Unless you make it yourself the cost can be rather dear. If you look at traditional patterns you will notice lots of fringe. Even T.R. had a very expensive shirt made during his time as a cattleman ( along with a Tiffany engraved '73 Winchester :eek: ) The fringe has the very practical application of wicking moisture of the main body.
In summer : barefeet, shorts, t-shirt, bandana. (Swannie, poncho and thinsulate stocking cap in the pack.)
In winter : fur lined mocs, army pants, polar fleece, gore-tex shell... (swannie, poncho and thinsulate cap in the pack as always...).
Cheers ;)
David
The fringe has the very practical application of wicking moisture of the main body.
Jeez I just learned somethin.
You mean wicking the rain off the shirt ?
David
Squidders
11-05-2005, 23:46
For me it's a choice of us army poncho for its versatile nature or my belt because it stops my trousers from falling down and that makes nearly all bushcraft possible ;)
ChrisKavanaugh
12-05-2005, 05:13
The fringe wicks excess moisture off the shirt itself.
The fringe wicks excess moisture off the shirt itself.
http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/orkneyhood.htm
It's a very old idea, fringed cloaks did the same thing, it's easier to dry the fringe in the air than a soaked garment. I believe it was he purpose of the fringes on the blanket coats of North America too.
Cheers,
Toddy
jamesdevine
12-05-2005, 10:04
I am hoping to do a brain tanning course next year so I might be able to enlist the instructor to help make a good shirt.
Thanks
James
The fringe wicks excess moisture off the shirt itself.
There is an alternate theory (don't know enough about it to have an opinion myself). It's a bit difficult to explain without pictures but bear with me.
Take a look at how your clothes are put together; typically the thread holding the bits of cloth together is exposed (you may need to put a bit of pressure on the back of the seam to see the thread). This is an obvious weak point in that the thread may be damaged and the clothes start to fall apart at this point. Therefore to avoid the thread being exposed a third piece of deerskin was sewn between the two pieces of material. This would obviously need to stick out a little to protect the sewing.
This third/middle piece of cloth would add unwanted stiffness and since it would tend to rub on other things (since it would stick out) would be a little cumbersome. To avoid this and make it more aesthetically pleasing the third/middle piece was made into a fringe.
Now the fringe might help in wicking away water (though I think Thomas Elpel says in his experience it just means an increased amount of wet material hanging off the wearer) but this theory sugests why 'fringe-ing' started in the first place.
ChrisKavanaugh
12-05-2005, 17:12
You are correct in the construction. I managed to go swimming with a full pair of traditional shotgun leggings ( think HEAVY cowhide) when my mule stumbled crossing the Colorado. Standing in the Arizona sun, i watched the water suck down to the fringe and evaporate. My indian friends state it also serves to somewhat muffle your sound in a good wind. In any case, it looks good :D
There is an alternate theory (don't know enough about it to have an opinion myself). It's a bit difficult to explain without pictures but bear with me.
Take a look at how your clothes are put together; typically the thread holding the bits of cloth together is exposed (you may need to put a bit of pressure on the back of the seam to see the thread). This is an obvious weak point in that the thread may be damaged and the clothes start to fall apart at this point. Therefore to avoid the thread being exposed a third piece of deerskin was sewn between the two pieces of material. This would obviously need to stick out a little to protect the sewing.
This third/middle piece of cloth would add unwanted stiffness and since it would tend to rub on other things (since it would stick out) would be a little cumbersome. To avoid this and make it more aesthetically pleasing the third/middle piece was made into a fringe.
Now the fringe might help in wicking away water (though I think Thomas Elpel says in his experience it just means an increased amount of wet material hanging off the wearer) but this theory sugests why 'fringe-ing' started in the first place.
This opens a whole new thread. ('scuse the unintentional pun) :rolleyes:
Firstly, if you have skin then the cut of the garment need not follow the cut of modern cloth ones. In fact the *fewer* cuts the better and since the skin once covered a mammal then it's already partially shaped for you.
Secondly, the first broad cloths woven were done so on a warp weighted loom and had three finished selvedge edges....and one of cut warps that could either be woven into a kind of basket weave pattern edging or a fringe.
I've hand spun & woven wool, sewn garments from it, and the fringing does work to help dry off the jackets and hoods.(well, in a wet, windy Scotland it does :) )
In a shoe the extra piece of leather is a welt or rand and is used to hold the sole and upper together and does protect stitching there because the stitching is inside and doesn't rub away on the ground. I have no knowledge of it's use in a piece of clothing except as a kind of piping or as the attachment point for fringes.....people have a love of ornamentation.
I would really like to hear of any examples anyone may know of where it is used as a structural part of the seam strength in clothing, not in shoemaking or saddlery where it helps create shaping too.
Basically, if I can spin a thread strong enough to weave with, then I can make a thread strong enough to hold a garment together effectively, and I can sew a seam that is not exposed and vulnerable too, or a re-inforced one that won't give easily (see your jeans flat fell seaming). The stitches appropriate to one material, wool/linen/bast may not be appropriate for leather/hide/grass, etc..
Hadn't heard of Thomas Elpel before...I'll go and google :)
Hey Tony, How do you fancy a sewing workshop at one of the moots? We could cover everything from fibres and fabrics to cuts and sewing techniques. There are a lot of good leather workers on the list too, leather working techniques for clothing would be excellent. :D
Cheers,
Toddy
toddy,
sounds like a good idea, but could you teach a left hander to knit?
Buckshot
13-05-2005, 12:48
This Hey Tony, How do you fancy a sewing workshop at one of the moots? We could cover everything from fibres and fabrics to cuts and sewing techniques. There are a lot of good leather workers on the list too, leather working techniques for clothing would be excellent. :D
That sounds interesting....
toddy,
sounds like a good idea, but could you teach a left hander to knit?
That one's easy :) Sit opposite a right handed knitter and let your hands follow the movements!
Seriously, it does work. We have a vastly underused talent for watching something being done, and building up some sort of muscle memory of how to do it later.
Cheers,
Toddy