Staying Warm

Ft. Ward Feb 2007

Fellow Virginians,

I wanted to pass along information to our newer members about ways to stay warm at events this winter. I hope this is all “old news” already passed along this campaign season, but being unprepared for the cold can ruin a good event for some. While I hope for warmer events the next 2 months I am prepping for cold!

Hands: The simplest item you can use on your hands to stay warm are woolen mittens. Our Soldiers Manual has a pattern. This year the QM has made 20 of these mitten kits pre-cut from blanket thick wool. They take between 1 & 2 hours to make depending on if you use a sewing machine or sew them by hand. They’re only $4 and you can order on the QM website at http://1vaqm.org/. The Quartermaster has also put together “How to make them” instructions online at http://qm1stva.blogspot.com/. They’re awesome to stay warm around camp. When I made mine I added a “trigger finger” slit. For drilling the best option is fingerless wool gloves & the QM has a number of them as well.

Chest: Most of us can wear thermals under our body shirts unseen. Several of us have made a 2nd Weskit of wool. Mines’ white wool with a wool lining & I swear by it for cold events such as Ft Ward! The woolen Weskit “tips” aren’t in the manual yet, so contact one of us to help you make it correctly… it IS DIFFERNET construction steps from the linen one!

Bottom half: If you’ve gotten overalls (recommended) you’re set as we can wear thermals under them unseen! If you’ll be using breeches the next 2 months, consider making the ‘early war’ Blue Wool Gaiters, the QM has a number of them on hand. They are 3-5 hours to make, mostly because of the number of button holes, but they go over stockings & are warm!! For the feet, make sure you have woolen stockings & not the thin cotton sutler ones. There are several sources with good thick wool ones. Also several of us use larger sized period correct shoes so we can use thicker socks (I even use polypro sock liners!! They’re unseen but help – I stay “correct” when the public talks with us, but don’t want to freeze!). Several of us have wool breeches & wool overalls. All were issued at various times in the war, but be sure to check to make the wool versions correctly with “rough edges” at the right places.

Heads: Many have scarves, and for times when we can most have knitted caps. There’s various sources for period correct styles and several of us have Monmouth caps & Liberty or Death caps to wear when we can take off Cocked hats. Check out these various sites for good caps: Smoke & Fire (Monmouth) http://www.smoke-fire.com/ or http://lcoknits.com/ (Liberty or Death & Monmouth caps).

Overall: Every soldier needs a wool blanket! Our commander has a couple period correct 3 point woven blankets left & the QM has the basic wool blankets on hand. These wrap us up in any event! Several members make Watch capes (be careful, the sutler ones are often way beyond what a Rev War soldier would have had available!!) I made a watch cape with 2 blankets using the pattern from “The Packet III”. It was simpler than I thought & is amazing to stay warm. (Let me know if you want to make one & I can send along the pointers I learned.) It folds up in my Knapsack-haversack & goes to all the winter events with me if you want to see one.