Hudson Bay blanket

[Crewdawg445]

Just snagged another Hudson Bay four point blanket for $70.00 shipped... I'm absolutely thrilled! I have a 3.5 point blanket that I find to be just a tad bit to small. However, I'm able to keep toasty and comfortable even with it's smaller size.

If anyone hasn't had the joy of using one of these iconic classics, I certainly would suggest finding one. In my own personal experience I wouldn't hit the trail without one of these blankets, let alone anything but 100% wool.

The coldest night I've endured with my HB blanket was a frigid Northern Ohio winter night at an event in mid February. The low with a West wind fell into the negatives. I'm not one to particularly risk venturing winter temps and conditions, but our plans fell south and we were forced to hunker down in an old trappers cabin built into a hillmound. Until wood was collected and a stable fire was built, our blankets were all we had. I will say thank the Lord for my HB blanket!

In all, if you have the opportunity to secure a true Hudson Bay blanket, do so! You will not regret It! :hatsoff:

 

[Kansas Jake]

I've snagged two in the last 40 years for cheap. I bought one on an auction in about 1980 for $10. My wife found one in a thrift shop about 4 years ago for less than $10. I also have a knock off that is striped and I think was sold by JC Penny's that we picked up at a garage sale. It was less than $10. All are nice, but the JC Penny isn't nearly as tightly woven as the HBCs.

Just keep your eye at thrift shops etc. They do pop up from time to time. I've also picked up other wool blankets for projects for a couple of bucks or less.

Congrats on the blanket. That was a good price for a 4 point.

 

[Crewdawg445]

I've never been lucky enough to find any at thrift shops or second hand stores, mainly because I don't venture out into the jungle...

I've purchased three, one was made into a capote which is hardly worn. My 3.5 stripe is my go to, just a tad small I feel. This new one is probably to nice to carry around! I'm anal about my HB blankets. I always lay a ground cloth down to also protect them.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I've snagged a lot at thrift stores...and dirt cheap...Wool blankets and sweaters are the first thing I look for.

At one time they were popular wedding gifts.

Estate sales are another good place to find them...I found three that way.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

At an auction nearby, there was a brand spanking new HB blanket in a rather yellowed and aged plastic zipper wrapper. I bid it up to $85.00 and the other three bidders showed no sign of stopping so I stopped. At $150.00, I heard one guy exclaim, "Geesh, It's just a GD blanket" It brought over $200. When the crowd cleared a bit, I could finally see who the winning bidder was. I little lady I had only ever seen at rendezvous. She had driven in from 40 miles away just for the blanket.

I never ever find them at flea markets or yard sales/thrift shops etc.

 

[BrownBear]

I always lay a ground cloth down to also protect them.

I grew up on horseback using a piece of oiled canvas and a HBB for a bedroll. Sure works out well for both a ground cloth and extra warmth.

You need a piece of canvas as wide as the blanket and a couple of feet longer. Spread the canvas, then lay the blanket over it with the head end almost flush with the top of the canvas.

Now fold the blanket longways into thirds toward the middle so you have 3 overlapping layers, leaving the canvas fully spread. Then fold the end of the canvas up over the foot end of the blanket. Lastly fold each side of the canvas longwise just like you did with the blanket.

As a final step, flip the whole works over so the folds are on the bottom where your weight will secure them.

All that folding "seals up" the blanket and canvas and keeps you from kicking it apart in the middle of the night. You climb in between the blanket folds, your choice whether to have 2 of the layers over you or 2 under you. Sealed up just like a sleeping bag and just as warm.

Come morning and time to scoot, just flip the works over and roll it up from the head end toward the feet, then use a couple of hunks of cord to secure the roll. Waterproof for carry, and ready for quick unrolling next time you bed down. The roll is a great pillow in the middle of the day any time you're overtaken by a nap, too.

Kinda bulky on a pack, but no moreso than inside. But no need to put it inside since it's waterproof. Bulk was never my worry tied behind a saddle, and I've learned to put up with it when hiking.

 

[Billnpatti]

I always lay a ground cloth down to also protect them.

I grew up on horseback using a piece of oiled canvas and a HBB for a bedroll. Sure works out well for both a ground cloth and extra warmth.

You need a piece of canvas as wide as the blanket and a couple of feet longer. Spread the canvas, then lay the blanket over it with the head end almost flush with the top of the canvas.

Now fold the blanket longways into thirds toward the middle so you have 3 overlapping layers, leaving the canvas fully spread. Then fold the end of the canvas up over the foot end of the blanket. Lastly fold each side of the canvas longwise just like you did with the blanket.

As a final step, flip the whole works over so the folds are on the bottom where your weight will secure them.

All that folding "seals up" the blanket and canvas and keeps you from kicking it apart in the middle of the night. You climb in between the blanket folds, your choice whether to have 2 of the layers over you or 2 under you. Sealed up just like a sleeping bag and just as warm.

Come morning and time to scoot, just flip the works over and roll it up from the head end toward the feet, then use a couple of hunks of cord to secure the roll. Waterproof for carry, and ready for quick unrolling next time you bed down. The roll is a great pillow in the middle of the day any time you're overtaken by a nap, too.

Kinda bulky on a pack, but no moreso than inside. But no need to put it inside since it's waterproof. Bulk was never my worry tied behind a saddle, and I've learned to put up with it when hiking.

My grandfather was an officer in the old horse cavalry of WW-I. He went with Pershing on the U.S. Army invasion of Mexico chasing Pancho Villa. I have his old bedroll that was carried behind his saddle when he was out on patrol. It is just as you describe using canvas and a blanket. His bedroll was made of a white canvas material with his name and unit designation on it. There were straps inside it to hold the blanket in place and straps on the outside to keep it rolled up when not in use as well as being able to attach it to his saddle, but it was essentially just as you described.

 

[BillinOregon]

Bill, what a marvelous piece of kit to have inherited. If you ever chance to take photos, please consider posting them.

 

[Billnpatti]

My son has it now. Next time I am down there, I will take some pictures of it and try to post them on the forum. If I don't have success posting on the forum, I will email them to you.

There is a sad story that goes with it. When my grandfather passed away, all of those things went to my aunt. Unfortunately, she had no sementality about such things. At some time, the canvas part of the bedroll was used as a drop cloth and has some paint drippings on it. The blanket that went with it, she saw as a handy dog bed. It became ruined and was eventually thrown away. It was a standard wool army issue and, as I remember it, it was a brown color with "U.S. Army" stamped on it in large letters. I was, however, able to save his spurs. My daughter now has them and they are preserved and displayed in a glass enclosure with a picture of my grandfather in uniform sitting on his horse. it is a beautiful display and I am proud of her for doing it that way.

 

[BillinOregon]

Bill, I think that is how family heritage gets whittled away, piece by unappreciated piece. Glad you were able to save what you did. Your daughter's display seems a fitting tribute.

 

[satx78247]

VERY TRUE.

My Aunt Mary, about 1960, threw out the wedding-ring quilt that PVT. Everett John Bankhead "came home to Holly Springs" wrapped-up in, after he was severely WIA in 1863 & was "sent home to die".
(She told Mother, "Nobody would want that old thing. It had blood-stains all over it.")

yours, satx

 

[Rifleman1776]

that is how family heritage gets whittled away, piece by unappreciated piece

True and sad. My son doesn't have a sentimental cell in his body. I'm sure when the time comes my precious 'stuff' will end up in the land fill.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Went to a picnic over the weekend and grabbed a wool blanket on my way out the door....It was made by Woolrich.
Woolrich has been around since 1830.. A Pennsylvania company...They made a lot of blankets for people heading west and during the civil war.

 

[Stormson]

Thats why Im pretty much "scattering" my things. Thinking very hard about who get each and every thing that is important to me. Some will get BP revolvers, someone else my T/C .50... Still others my more modern stuff. The tools will be dived up with the proper ones going to the one that will use and care for THAT tool, while another gets a tool suited to him or her....

Its damned tedious work.... And fairly depressing at times, but when the end comes I know that everybody will be happy with what they get (except my ex wife that gets NOTHING! LOL), and I will be at peace knowing those things are in the hands of whichever one will care for and use each piece the most.

Of course, we are talking the BEST stuff... They can just fight over the damn cold cuts in the fridge, as well as my dirty laundry in the hamper, I dont really care WHO gets THAT kinda stuff! LOL...

 

[satx78247]

Check your mailbox, please.

yours, satx

 

[coloradoclyde]

I'm taking all my stuff with me....Just like an Egyptian Pharaoh.

Some day future archaeologists will unearth me and discover a treasure trove of history... :grin:

 

[BillinOregon]

Heh, I'd like to be buried on my side in the fetal position with the arrow and dart points I have knapped so very poorly. Be fun to confuse an archaeologist on down the road ...

:stir:

 

[coloradoclyde]

Sitting in a replica of the H.G. Wells time machine hanging onto a dinosaur bone.....

 

[BrownBear]

I've been fighting it in my own way: Labels.

Anything I feel is significant for the future gets a label to help the next generation figure it out, if they so desire. Simple little string tags go onto the trigger guards of guns, etc. I'm doing all I can to help them know what they have, but ultimately it's up to them to decide what to do with it all.

But scattering is good too.

My dad was a leatherworker of some local repute, as well as a deputy sheriff down on the border in the 1950's. I inherited his self-made gunbelt and holster, though tragically not his Peacemaker 45 duty gun (He sold it before I learned it was for sale). I quizzed our daughter about the treasured leather and she had little interest in "that old thing." Checked in with my brother, and his grown son about wet his pants at the thought of owning it. Now safely passed along into appreciative hands.

 

[Twisted_1in66]

I have a couple of wool blankets that I use for bedding. One is a red wool blanket with black stripe (think it's a Witney) and the other is an all-white wool blanket that my Dad had in the navy during WWII.

I typically lay them both out; fold them in half; and fold the foot end up securing it with a couple of blanket pins. Also put a couple of blanket pins along the side where I crawl in. It ends up being a wool sleeping bag.

The best way to keep warm in them is to make sure you have about an 8 to 10" layer of straw under them. That will compress down to about 6" when you've settled into the blankets but will keep you toasty warm in freezing temperatures and no back-ache in the morning. I'm actually more comfortable with that bedding at an event than I am in my bed at home.

Twisted_1in66 :thumbsup:
Dan