I'm curious...I don't wear a knapsack unless an event guidelines calls for it.  But what do you all put in your?  Do you keep it light?  Put a blanket inside or on top?  Etc.

Depends on the impression, but most of the time the knapsack contains a blanket, gum blanket, shelter half, socks, towel, chip of soap, rag, some twine, a housewife, knife, and small whetstone.

Ken

In my knapsack, I carry my blanket, gum blanket, spare socks, testament, sleeping cap, spare shirt.  And for cooler weather events, I will put my overcoat on top.  Sometimes a loaf of soft bread will be put in there, also if I have extra cartridges I will put the packs in the knapsack.

In the spring and summer between events, I will sometimes load it up and use it to walk around the neighborhood in to get used to a heavy load, so when I go to an event, it feels like I don't have anything on my back.  

Extra socks 2 pairs
housewife
camp knife(sometimes)
little tin of spices
soap
huck towel
toothbrush
toothpowder
sleeping cap
blanket and extra gum on the other side, sometimes a shelter half
gum blanket # two tucked in between the sides when closed
sometimes a small frying pan or camp ax(Yes an ax, read how many shovels and ax's were to be caried by a company on a march.)

If it's going to be cold:
Greatcoat on top
extra wool shirt
scarf and mittens if I'm not wearing them.

I always assume it's going to rain. A streak like no other.

Charles,
You forgot 25 pounds of magically appearing food.

Is that a sausage in your blanket roll or are you just happy to see me?

Gum blanket
I keep it rather light

Spare shirt
Spare socks
Gloves if the weather is cold
Blanket
Bar of soap
Testament
Twine
toothbrush
toothpowder
comb
pocket mirror
Spare drawers
pencil and stationary
sleeping cap
Extra rounds in necessary
Greatcoat on top if it's cold
An unusual housewife that is contained in a small tin
Small towel

In my pack:
blanket
rubber blanket
shelter half (If after 1862)
shirt
one pair of socks
extra matches
A housewife
Cleaning equipment for my rifle
A pack of cigarettes in a tin box (What can I say!)
Extra rounds
A length of hemp string
candle stubs

Attached to the outside of my pack:
Hatchet
Tin can for cooking

I carry most of the same crap when I do Confederate. It's just harder to figure out where to stick all this stuff on a blanket roll! The small items usually go into my pockets or the haversack.

 

Well, when I do knap it, it looks something like this:

extra shirt
extra socks
one gum
one blanket
greatcoat on top (in cold weather)

That's it.


In my bedroll:

Gum, with blanet inside, night cap, (mittens when cold)
and I will strap the greatcoat on the back if need be.

Uncle Sam taught me to be lite for 21 years...can't seem to shake it!

 

--Last edited by Ken Cornett on 2007-02-09 16:06:56 --

Quote :

Is that a sausage in your blanket roll or are you just happy to see me?

Oh, sure, you laugh long and loud about that 2.5' x 3" sausage now, but it sure didn't last long at that one halt on a nice warm day on the way to Burkittsville. G-o-n-e.  

I still can't believe Bev and I walked through the pickets into camp with a box of pies and some Ethiopian Tonic, and then walked back out through them on the back road by the Boyer farm.

Quote :

Charles Heath wrote : I still can't believe Bev and I walked through the pickets into camp with a box of pies and some Ethiopian Tonic, and then walked back out through them on the back road by the Boyer farm.

Charles,

So who in his right mind is going to stop a delivery of pies and Tonic? Unless you plan to keep them for yourself.

I pretty much try to follow Kevin O’Beirne 'Packing 101' article because it seems right and works for me.

Let see if I can remember everything.

Blanket folded inside shelter half in the close bag of the knapsack.

On top two oil cloths

In the other bag:

Extra Shirt (at least one)
Extra drawers
Extra sock (at least one pair)
small towel
extra arsenal packs in stripped altoids tins
Large fork for cooking
twine
specialty gun cleaning/repair gear in stripped altoids tins
sleeping cap
shaving gear

and since we aren't allowed to strip the foliage from state and national parks

8 wooden tent stakes and a wooden hammer

Anything I need that doesn't go in the haversack or a pocket.

But then I have an advantage, I'm pretty large and so even 'overloaded' it's a smaller percentage of my body weight than your average soldier

Well,

It looks like I'm the only one willing to admit I hide a Farbisty in my pack. I should start a thread on where do you hide your smokes?  

Quote :

Bill wrote : Well, It looks like I'm the only one willing to admit I hide a Farbisty in my pack. I should start a thread on where do you hide your smokes?

Bill, I'm not a smoker normally but I do carry a clay pipe and tobacco in a small poke sack; period corect and a heckuva lot cheaper than cigarettes.

Quote :

toptimlrd wrote :   Bill, I'm not a smoker normally but I do carry a clay pipe and tobacco in a small poke sack; period corect and a heckuva lot cheaper than cigarettes.

Bob,

Not to mention a whole lot better for you!

If I don't have tent to hide in, I'll sneak off by myself or with another addict, to engage in my solitary vice. I figure if someone wants to follow me off into the woods to have their immersion ruined, that's their problem, not mine.  

Quote :

toptimlrd wrote :   Bill, I'm not a smoker normally but I do carry a clay pipe and tobacco in a small poke sack; period corect and a heckuva lot cheaper than cigarettes.

I have a small pipe and tobacco pouch that I keep in my haversack.  Or sometimes I will carry that in my jacket pocket and in the summer it is like keeping it in a humidor..

Quote :

It looks like I'm the only one willing to admit I hide a Farbisty in my pack. I should start a thread on where do you hide your smokes?  - Bill

The only farby items in my knapsack are a pair of modern cotton socks that I wear under my period socks.  

My car key and cellphone (turned off), are kept in my haversack at mainstream type events.  But for the more history heavy events, the cell phone is kept in the parking lot for the weekend, so the only modern thing in my haversack would be my car key in a poke sack.