Lucky’s Trekking Tips - Muzzle Blasts, February 2023

 Lucky’s Trekking Tips

By Gerry “Lucky” Messmer

This month I’ll tackle sleeping while trekking, whether on foot or horseback. I like to keep my gear very simple, multi-purpose and as light as possible. Doing a fur trade era impression, I tend to use a poncho, that gives me rain protection for both me and my gear. Addition ally, I use a wool poncho that doubles as a wearable poncho for warmth while traveling and a blanket at night. 

Typically, I flat camp and do not carry a “diamond wedge”. I cannot find documentation making them proper in fur trade use or even on trade lists. That doesn’t mean tarps weren’t tied up by the corners. Did they carry tents? I am sure some did until they wore out or were stolen, but they also built open face, three wall cabins to hold out in during the cold winter months. While traveling I am sure that they flat camped most of the time. In Osborne Russell’s journal he notes coming into camp where 19 of 23 men did not even have a blanket in January, but were instead, curled up around a large fire for warmth. 

My “sleeping kit” is simple. My ground cloth is my personal rain poncho that has a trimmed hole in the center to pull over my head. It is 7 feet long and 56 inches wide. When I am riding my horse, I also have a piece of oil cloth that hangs over the horn and can be opened to cover the saddle and gear tied to the cantle. When I have the poncho on, the water does roll off me, my gear and my horse. Next is the wool poncho, 80 inches long by 60 wide that is folded in half the long way and laid in the center of my ground cloth. This has two functions, first as a cushion and second as a barrier to the cold ground. This is followed by my wool blanket folded in half the long way again, to accommodate for my height, and finally my top oil cloth. The last picture is all these items folded up and ready to be tied to my cantle on the saddle or put into a pack to be carried on my back. When folded up for the saddle this entire package is 30 inches long x 13 inches wide x 5 inches thick. 

Other things to keep in mind when trekking by horse are the use of your saddle blanket as a sleeping pad and a second wool blanket as a saddle blanket, that can be used for sleeping. Typically, I put the thick saddle blanket under my upper body and then the second wool saddle blanket that goes over the pad is used as an additional layer on top. They may smell a little horsey, but they are worth their weight in gold and help eliminate extra gear and serve as “dual purpose”. 

Once again, keeping it simple is what I have found works the best for me and multi-use is imperative in cutting down weight and bulk, especially if trekking on foot. I prefer thicker oil cloth as it is more durable. Another consideration could be to use a large “diamond fly”, if you are set on using one, as your top and bottom cover by folding it in half and then in rainy conditions for a shelter. In most rain situations I simply wear my poncho until I am ready to sleep and then make up my sleeping arrangement or sleep with it on sitting against a tree. It’s not ideal, but conditions in the fur trade era never were! 

I hope this helps you in some small way to minimize your sleeping gear and to get more focused on lightening your load.

Special thanks to Lucky Messmer for allowing us to reprint his trekking articles. Incidentally, the format has been modified slightly for your reading pleasure.

Additional posts on the subject can be found here:

• From Bedroll To Bedtime Published Wednesday, June 2, 2021