LET'S START WITH YOUR UNDIES...

[MC One Shot]

I agree, wool is hard to beat and it is HC. I use merino wool as a base layer.

 

[LawrenceA]

No idea if it is correct fro the time and place.
Throughout history people stuffed straw between the layers of clothes as far back as the "iceman".
Further wooden shoes have been used to provide waterproof footwear in Europe and Asia. Clogs were stuffed with straw for the best of both worlds.
More recently newspapers have been used.
Again I have no idea what was used in early America but perhaps this may be of interest.

 

[toot]

when I was in the ARMY, many, many moons ago, we were taught to wear nothing when when we slept in MUMMIE BAGS, and to dress in the AM, when we got up. then you would be warm. so it didn't work fore some of us? see we some of us were in a far away place called VIET NAM! CLASS OF 61. and it didn't get very cold as I was told.

 

[Long monday]

Wool. Wool. Wool.
Keep in mind that like all things wool comes in different qualities and you get what you pay for.
Also keep in mind that you want loftier wool inside close to your body and tighter weaves as the outer layer.
Also no one has mentioned oilcloth is that not PC?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Sportsman's guide? Nope, not making that mistake again. I would advise everyone else to avoid them. Their descriptions can't be trusted and their customer service sucks. They also filter negative reviews on everything but the cheapest clearance items. I am speaking from personal experience.

You might notice that the stuff is currently "sold out", and I was remiss by not explaining the links are only for reference purposes.

When you put in Google "knit leg warmers" you get a bunch of yuppie stuff for women..., hence the online visual aids...

One could, in fact, find an old knit sweater of a large size, and simply cut the sleeves off ..., depending on the diameter of one's calves, to make a pair of leg warmers. As for the kidney warmers, I made mine instead of buying, by simply salvaging a scrap of blanket leftover from making gun cases.

I had heard of kidney warmers when training with German troops in the 1980's. I thought it a weird concept, but then read a Swiss book and then a German book, both on the same modern military topic, and both books referenced them. One cold, wet winter, I remembered the references and made a kidney warmer and tried it. It did seem to make a positive difference.


LD

 

[Sun City]

Jack Daniels' Black Label

 

[Billy Boy]

Wool and lots of it is how I do winter.

If wool was introduced today it would be the new miracle fabric, you can even retain some body heat when it is wet.

 

[Carbon 6]

Wool. Wool. Wool.
Keep in mind that like all things wool comes in different qualities and you get what you pay for.
Also keep in mind that you want loftier wool inside close to your body and tighter weaves as the outer layer.

This is true, different qualities, grades, types and uses. It is not nearly enough to simply wear wool, you need to know how and what to wear.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Jack Daniels' Black Label

I'll take a proper gill ration of rum, thank you...., ..., and GOD SAVE HIS MAJESTY!

..., but not when out hunting, as spirits of any strength and gunpowder do not mix with good results.

LD

 

[LawrenceA]

I know nothing of the fashions of the day but a little of textile use.
Superfine Wool is the only grade of wool that can be worn next to the skin without irritation and it only came from Merino sheep.
In the 18th and early 19th century it was only available from Spain and maybe South Africa.
Cotton could be worn on the skin but again it was a very expensive fabric as is silk.
That pretty much left linen as the base layer.

 

[Carbon 6]

I know nothing of the fashions of the day but a little of textile use.
Superfine Wool is the only grade of wool that can be worn next to the skin without irritation and it only came from Merino sheep.

Better than Merino is Cashmere, it is as fine as a beaver pelt. Alpaca wool is also wonderful, once the stuff of royalty .

 

[LawrenceA]

Better than Merino is Cashmere, it is as fine as a beaver pelt. Alpaca wool is also wonderful, once the stuff of royalty .

So true. Would this have been readily available?

Believe it or not Alpaca today is nowhere near as good as pre Columbian times with the destruction of the royal flocks and the like

 

[Carbon 6]

Would this have been readily available?

I believe Cashmere was more available of the two but the real question is affordability.
We hear more about wool blankets than a down duvet but they were certainly around.
I think we often overlook that people were just "hardier" back then and able to tolerate the cold. As a proud northerner I always chuckle when my southern relatives come to visit and freeze in summer or winter. 55F is pretty much T-shirt weather for me, of course I melt at 80.

 

[LawrenceA]

I hear you.
We had a real cold spell here a little while back. Temperatures plummeted to below 90.
Its about 110 at the minute

 

[tenngun]

Wool. Wool. Wool.
Keep in mind that like all things wool comes in different qualities and you get what you pay for.
Also keep in mind that you want loftier wool inside close to your body and tighter weaves as the outer layer.
Also no one has mentioned oilcloth is that not PC?

Oil cloth is PC, water proof and wind resistant, but lacks any sort of insulation. A tarpaulin coat over wool keeps rain and wind off

 

[Long monday]

That’s what I was getting at with oil cloth, great for an outer layer under my wool.

 

[toot]

Welcome Home. thanks for your service, the thanks we never got. nothing changes?

 

[Danny Ross]

A Harbor Freight wool blanket with a blanket pin would make a great extra outer layer to stay warm and easy to shoot from. You don't need Camo. There are YouTube videos showing how to use them as coverings using the pin, and they would be historically correct. The blankets are 80/20 and cheap, just air them out outside for a few days. You could cut one in half and use it as a cape with a blanket pin also. There is a story about Simon Kenton hunting meat for a fort in the dead of winter. Story went he dug a hole into the ground as he stood next to a large tree, and started a fire in it with some pieces of oak and wrapped a blanket around himself using the heat from the small fire to keep himself warm as he squatted over it. He shot a deer, waited some time after the shot to make sure no enemy in the area came to investigate the shot, then carried the deer back to the fort. I believe what he may have used was a Dakota fire pit. Two holes dug into the ground about 6-7 inches across with a connecting hole from base to base. One hole for the fire one to draft air, you could adjust the burn by covering the air hole with a large piece of bark or carry a 2 small pieces 1/8 inch OSB, plywood, or a damper round that are used in furnace ducking to close it off. One for the air hole and one for over the burn hole to adjust for the rate of burn and heat. They are not large fires usually only burning small branches or twigs, but it would create enough heat standing over it or very close to it, to keep you warm. on very cold days. You can buy folding garden trowels to dig the holes and they are light weight. Then when you are done hunting fill the holes back in or clean them out to use for another day. Deer aren't spooked by the smell of smoke and there are a lot of hunters today that are smoking their clothes to use as a cover sent, at least in the Bow Hunting world. Besides he could use the fire to heat up food or coffee for lunch, stainless or aluminum metal cup or bottle to heat water or soup in. You can get Metal cups in the camping section of Walmart for $5 that holds 18oz. Lay a couple of sticks across the top of the hole to set the cup on while heating. They work to. Just some ideas. DANNY