Make An Early 20th Century Camping Mattress 2024 04 25T07 59 26

I needed a new camping mattress for The Big Steel Tent that would also do service as a camping mattress/ground pad during Living History base camp scenarios. When I came across some heritage loom linen and a new type of filler hit the shelves at Hobby Lobby, I decided to make one in time for this Spring's Air Fair at the Pioneer Flight Museum. I shot video of the process to show how its done in case you want to make one for your own.
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[@ScottCarlson-cz7wj]

Very neat video, especially the part on improvised insulation. I recall photos of winter WW2 Europe of homemade snow boots; an inner boot with big, clunky, outer boots, with straw stuffed between for insulation. Also, the video reminds me of sleeping under my Grandparent's big, heavy, quilts up in artic northern Minnesota. Shivering to death when I first climb in but, so warm in the morning that I don't want to get up to throw frozen clothes on. I may make my own matress; very cool. Thanks.

[@sargevining]

Thanks for watching! I remain fascinated by insulation for outdoor applications. I might make another without the wool shipping blankets. We'll see how this works after a few nights sleeping on it. I'll be doing that tonight.

[@Peakoilcompany]

Really nice with that linen finish. Hemp linen has come a long way these days too. Easily as soft as fkax linen, but i think hemp might have more antibacterial properties. Great idea with the shipping blanket! Wadding is a challenge. The synthetic stuff is so light and non absorbant.. but, well, it's plastic.. and I'm sure it holds bacteria more than natural would.. But I'm scratching my head in what to use. Wool wadding is still plentiful here in Australia.. but I'm wondering about fabric off cuts. It won't be as confortable, but i have lots of small sheepskin offcits, as well as wool weave cuts. Rather than tufting that, I'm thinking to sew a matress of tubes to stuff, then sew it up the long edge.

[@sargevining]

If you watch my video on Warren Miller's Sleeping bag, you'll see he used "shingled wool batts". By that I took that he had square or rectangular wool felt sheets that he laid on up on another to get a double thickness. (If you make it, increase the width by a few inches at the shoulder, Miller was a small guy.) I'm convinced that I can do something similar with these shipping blankets doubled up and quilted. The would be an air space between the inner shell and the inner blanket, and another between the two blankets that would (IMO) make it warmer than the two blankets and not be excessively bulky.

[@Peakoilcompany]

@@sargevining thankyou, I watched all three videos and ordered the two books you've recommended. It is difficult to match today's expectations to yesterday's methods, but not impossible. Many of the old techniques can be improved on, imo, while remaining within the material limitations. Use of skins is very viable, even today. I use sheepskins, or Eastern Grey kangaroo skins as a bed. Sheepskins are surprisingly light, but bulky. They are very good insulation though. Kangaroo is extremely strong, very light weight, and very soft fleece, better for hot weather. Brushtail Possum (protected Australian native, but a resource harvested in NZ) is second to none! Very light weight, very strong, very silky, very warm. Curious that feather down took so long to catch on. I see you have a video about down, so I'm heading there now.

[@jamesellsworth9673]

I've seen tufts on quilts...but I never thought about HOW they were made. I suppose we went from tufting to sewing battens.

[@sargevining]

Yah, I looked at several methods, including making pom poms with a pom pom maker. They all ended up looking like---pom poms. So I just went ahead with the gathering of yarn that I show. Looks pretty god, now we'll see how well it wears.

[@jamesellsworth9673]

@@sargevining Our family's quilts were tufted. I had hand-me-downs on my bed.

[@57WillysCJ]

Nice. Wouldn't a lot of folks used a cotton ticking? You could use a set of needlenose pliers to help your needle and cord through the wool.

[@sargevining]

Yes, ticking would have been the most common and was and remains most economical. I chose the linen to match the mattress I have. I don't think the wool shipping blankets are really required, I just didn't trust the Cluster Stuff. But its spread out and still held together better than I thought it would. A couple nights spent sleeping on it will tell the tale. Headed out to do zackly that in about 30 minutes.

[@richardabernathy6242]

We call them ticks in the southern Appalachians

[@sargevining]

Yes, and the fabric usually used, that blue stripe cotton, is ticking. I opted for linen as I was trying to recreate an original.

[@misolgit69]

to quote the TV censored version of Heartbreak Ridge Clint Eastwood growls to his CO it's a G D Cluster Flop 😇

[@sargevining]

And a wise man was he. Thanks for watching!

[@jamesellsworth9673]

Naturally, I had to look up Guy Clark, 'The Texas Troubador'. Even Charlie Brown remembers him!

[@sargevining]

Back in my misspent yoot, LA Freeway was an anthem to me. But there's a whole lot more to Guy Clark.

[@jamesellsworth9673]

@@sargevining So I found: a singer-story teller, guitar maker (luthier), and inspiration to many musicians.

[@cynvision]

Made me think of sleeping porches for some reason. I love sleeping in a bridge hammock but am a bit interested in making something like this to outfit a car/van. I love the data about when movement to cities happened. I was in a campfire discussion about why people are in cities and America accepts so much goods from China's partners to keep living costs cheap. I didn't have a counter argument to my associate's 'opportunity in the city' angle. And his firm assertion that capitalism got us here and there was no going back. I'm somewhat on the angle that we need to go back to homesteading as a nation to be rid of China, but my thoughts all fall apart with what jobs people would do for income for these households after they're done minding the crops and the beasts. I might be a pessimistic person but still feel the house of cards of city vs. country is shakily unsustainable.

[@sargevining]

My video on the first commercial sleeping bag is about one that was developed partly because of the health and wellness movement of the late 19th and early 20th century: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6avfJWOaM-thsk&pp=gAQBiAQB Cities have been with us since the earliest days of History, its just that it took until the 1920s that we (as humans) got to the point where there were more people living in cities than in the country. There is, IMO, nothing inherently bad about cities, but I agree that dependence on China for many of our manufactured goods is not the best outcome. But the opportunity that drew people to cities were manufacturing jobs, and our cities have abandoned manufacturing, and a significant portion of the reason is people who see manufacturing as bad for the environment. Rather than perfect our manufacturing processes, we take the easy route and have the manufacturing done in another country that doesn't care as much about pollution as we do. Homesteading is a full-time job. You're "minding the farm" 24/7 and your job is making sure the crops come in and the animals are fed. The good news is that today we have many jobs that can be done in the home over the internet, so serious homesteaders do have an opportunity for a steady income along with such things as making heritage fabrics, organic vegetables, and meat. I can see the possibility that we can rebuild our manufacturing in our cities in a way that it doesn't pollute, and send all of the information and financial management jobs out into the country where people can farm and ranch and have a steady "city income". Thanks for watching!

[@boomshanka8743]

Where did you get that linen from? I might give this a try.

[@sargevining]

Here ya go. The exact stuff I used isn't listed anymore (and was about $2.00 more a yard), but after what I got, I'd buy from them again. fabrics-store.com/linen-fabric Thanks for watching!

[@boomshanka8743]

​@@sargevining Thanks!

[@cynvision]

I've heard of one preservation group that goes so far as to grow the off-white heirloom cotton or linen and weave it. Name of the group escapes me. I found it a quite dedicated idea in the world of fabric from Pakistan, currently. Maybe you can find the video where the weaver is working on a suit for a friend.

[@sargevining]

@@cynvision There are many in the Living History community, especially those who interpret late 18th and early 19th century history who are weaving and looming in the same manner as our ancestors, including those raising sheep to weave some wonderful wool.

[@samueljlarson]

Cluster f**k? lol

[@sargevining]

Yep. I've participated in and directed a few.... Thanks for watching!