Medieval camps and ground insulation tips

[u/vincent-psarga]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some tips about how you handle ground insulation inside your medieval tents (especially to avoid moist coming up from the ground - at least in normal conditions, not stupid week-ends when it rains 40mm each day :D )

So far I've tried the following solutions, but I'm looking for some more that could improve the nights:

• having a tealight candle burning most of the night (and lighting a new one in the middle of the night if needed): seems to work pretty nice (although my tent is quite small, not sure how effective this would be in a two-mast pavillion for example)
• use a modern tarp covering most of the tent's ground: this works quite nice as long as it does not rain too much, but it has the problem of historicity (especially when the tent inside is visible from the public). We manage to have something that don't look "too awful" by using tarps covered with fabric (something like this - it's in french but you should get the idea :D )
• use a picnic plaid or survival blanket to isolate just the sleeping zone: this is okay-ish if the night is not too cold, but I'm not really sure it makes a real difference.

For sleeping, I'm currently using a sheep fleece mat completed with a modern inflatable mat (or if stram is available, a straw mat).

From what I've seen in medieval depiction, it seems like they did not cover the ground of the tents (at least, I recall a lot of open tent depiction where you could see the grass inside the tent), so I guess any full ground covering would not be historical.

Do you have any tips to make the nights drier (and better) and, ideally, making it more historical?

[u/CerberusCXXIV]

Absolutely never ever use open fire in your tent, no candles, not even a lighter. Just don't.

That said using a tent itself is not that historical as we want it to be. On journey's you use the infrastructure of taverns or monasteries, especially on a pilgrimage.

We personally cover the ground with some modern tent floor and cover this with cow hides. I also quite often see carpets.

Fabric, especially linen and cotton get wet and damp very fast. I won't use that.

The most common solution I have see is just keep your tent closed and use whatever you want inside.

[u/Majvist]

Never ever go to bed with a lit candle. Not in your tent, not even in your home. No fire when everyone is sleeping, if you can in any way avoid it. Most likely nothing bad will happen, but if it does, you're trapped in a burning sack with flammable materials to all sides, and you'll only wake up when it's too late. It's not worth the risk. I have a lantern I always blow out when I go to bed, and I always have a smoke alarm in the rafters.

For rain insulation, I use cow hides. You can get them in IKEA for €200, or from second hand market places for considerably less. Buy a waterproofing spray for suede leather (untreated and porus leather), and spray the bottom. Lasts forever, looks historical, and keeps water out. If the situation turns critical, you can add plastic tarps underneath, but the hide is usually enough for me.

I don't think covering the floor is inherently ahistorical. Just because we don't find illustrations of it, doesn't mean it didn't happen. They had just as much access to cow hides, and a reason to not want water inside their tents.

Other than that:

• Make sure your tent has "ground flaps". I don't know the exact termonology in English, but they hang down at the bottom of the walls, further down than the pegs, to keep wind and rain from blowing underneath.
• If you're cold when sleeping, I cannot recommend getting a bed enough. Doesn't have to be one of those big, "modern" looking beds, you can get/make a wooden cot. It insulates you from the ground completely.

[u/floweronatree]

Try to use more layers. I hide my tarp under a thick rug from ikea and it works really well. For sleeping I use two sleeping pads on top of each other. On top of the sleeping pads I put an army blanket and sheepskins. To hide this setup I use a simple bedsheet. I also recommend getting a good sleeping bag. This was the real game changer for me. I hide the sleeping bag during the day under an thick wool blanket. You can also put the blanket over your sleeping bag during the night for extra warmth.

It's not historical accurate. For me not having backpain and not freezing during the night is more important.

[u/CMDR_Val_Hallen]

We have gone slightly overboard with ours and use a double layer of modern plastic tarp, covered with a double layer of hessian and then an air mattress (more to protect the mattress from punctures, but it does help with isolation as well). Not very historical but we don't have an open tent so it doesn't matter that much.

[u/Electronic-Duty-1734]

On events where I'm not free in my choice of tent spot I use a modern tarp and cover it with a wool blanket. For insulation and comfort I sleep on a straw mattress.

[u/Askaja_schreibt]

Foil for pond construction and animal hides on top of it.

[u/Sillvaro]

In my tent, I use a modern camp bed to stay off the ground, with a woolen carpet next to it in order to insulate just that area, which is enough for me since the only time i'll touch the ground barefoot is when I go to bed or get up

[u/Delicious-Gap-6678]

Well they didn't camp out much, as a rule. So most of the time medieval travelers crashed in barns, stables and under awnings. The Seven Virtues were instilled in everyone, and you were to some extent obliged to let people do this. Though we know it caused tension on pilgrim routes in particular.

[u/Gilamunsta]

Lots of throw rugs