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I think bedrolls are more versatile than sleeping bags, and certainly easier to customize to fit your needs. Mine consists of a large canvas tarp, a light-weight micro-fiber blanket and a US military issue poncho liner. It suits me fine.
It is August and we have had daily high temperatures in the triple digits recently, but I’m thinking about fall hunting camps.
I’m thinking about times when you can see the steam rise from a cup of coffee, when I can see your breath, feel a nip in the air and need a warm place to sleep for the evening. These days are coming and I can’t wait!
When it comes to tucking yourself in for the night in a camp, do you need a sleeping bag or a bedroll?
The two biggest questions you need to be able to answer are what is your budget and how well do you tolerate cold?
I like colder weather. I can dress for the cold, but I can only take off so much before I violate some city ordinance or human resources has to be called in to deal with the situation.
Bedrolls have been around since people had been traveling overnight — literally thousands of years.
The first bedrolls were probably little more than animal pelts rolled up and carried on a strap over the shoulder. Explorers needed something to carry with them on their adventures. Soldiers from armies all over the world have needed something to sleep on/in, that too was a bedroll.
Think of all the western movies and TV shows you’ve seen. What was that tied up behind the saddle? It was a bedroll.
Bedrolls of today are usually made with leather or heavy canvas. They can be easily customized to fit what you need.
Its basic components can be made up of items that handle moderate weather conditions, or they can be configured to handle almost anything Mother Nature can toss at you.
The forerunner of modern-day sleeping bags is believed to be a product of Pryce Pryce-Jones, a Welsh entrepreneur, who created his version of a commercially made bedroll in 1876. He sold thousands of his “Euklisia Rugs” to the Russian and British militaries.
It didn’t take long for civilians to recognize the benefits of a unit like this and began using them as well.
There is documented evidence of these Euklisia Rug units all over Europe and in the Australian outback.
Pioneers in America apparently knew of this invention and adapted Pryce-Jones’ design and made bedrolls to use as the American Frontier moved west.
My personal bedroll is a heavy canvas outer cover with a light weight micro-fiber blanket and a U.S. military poncho liner. My bedroll can take me down well below freezing before I have to add another level/blanket for additional warmth.
When my bedroll is all rolled up, it measures about 10 inches in diameter and 24 inches across. It can be a little smaller if I roll it up tighter. It is rugged and can take a lot of abuse scraping over the ground.
Bedrolls can take a lot more abuse than modern sleeping bags. The canvas I used is waterproof to a great extent and I can rig it so that I have a shelter over my head and shoulders. It is a bivy tent from an earlier time!
Sleeping bags are the modern descendants of bedrolls. They are readily available just about anywhere you can find sporting goods. You simply select the one that fits the temperature range you intend to encounter.
Not all sleeping bags are made the same. Look for the comfort range rating.
Some sleeping bags are little more than a cover for a kid to pull over themselves at a sleep over. Most sleeping bags are made to handle moderate temperatures, maybe down to freezing. Other bags are made for camps in very cold climates.
As you can imagine, there is a great difference in price, too. Sleeping bags can start at about $25 and go up to $600 plus for a bag that is designed to keep you warm on an elk hunt up on the side of a mountain in November.
I have a couple sleeping bags in this range and my favorite is my Butter Bag.
It is a modern hybrid between a sleeping bag and the old cowboy bedroll. If you looking for an ultimate bedroll, check out butlerbags.us.
Sleeping bags use a multitude of materials to keep you warm. For insulation, a sleeping bag may use synthetic fill or down fill, both have their own strength and weakness.
Synthetic fill is water resistant, quick to dry and delivers decent warm even when completely soaked. On the other hand, down fill preserve heat better but its insulation shall disappear if you let the sleeping bag get wet.
Many of the high-end modern down filled sleeping bags come with waterproof shells so you can use them in damp conditions and still stay warm.
The exterior of a modern sleeping bag is made of a lightweight material like nylon or taffeta and cannot take the abuse of an old fashioned canvas bedroll. They snag too easily.
So, sleeping bags or bedrolls, which is better? It largely is a matter of personal choice and the type of camping you do. If you like to travel in an RV or camper, a sleeping bag may be the best choice.
If you plan on spending time in wilder places, a bedroll will handle the task. For me, I prefer a bedroll. I like the simplicity of the design and the connection with simpler times.
We just had the last of the summer’s super moons. Did you see it last Thursday?
We had near perfect conditions and the moon was bright and quite beautiful. These celestial displays are called Super Moons as a full moon that occurs while the moon is at its nearest point to Earth.
August’s moon gets it name, the sturgeon moon, because Native American nations, Colonial Americans and some European sources noted that August’s full moon coincided with a run of the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain and large numbers of this fish being caught at this time.
Have a great week in the outdoors of Nebraska.
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I think bedrolls are more versatile than sleeping bags, and certainly easier to customize to fit your needs. Mine consists of a large canvas tarp, a light-weight micro-fiber blanket and a US military issue poncho liner. It suits me fine.
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