camp furniture

I am getting the camp together. I would like to know were I can get camp furniture. I found some but, it was not PC. Does anyone know were I can buy some ready made furniture? :v

Since you want it to be somewhat PC, what time period are you looking for?

What period & locale is your camp intended to represent? I could not find much for late 18th c mid-atlantic & wound up making everything except 2 barrels & 2 ladderback chairs & I found them on ebay!

PS - I made a pair of sturdy chicken crates that we use to transport stuff like copper kettle, brazier & cast iron pot - no plastic to have to hide & you can sit on the empty crate. Most events frown on live chickens so if anyone asks, I tell them that we ate the last one yesterday but are looking to buy more.

1820-1840 would be my time frame

The question of PC camp furniture is interesting. If you are doing a trader with pack mules, there isn't any. If you are doing military, then some folding furniture is correct. If you are doing settler, then there wasn't any furniture except what fit in the wagon, and the wife probably didn't let it get beat up around a camp fire. The one thing that we can be sure was around a camp was wooden boxes and bales of goods.

The 6 board box is authentic to any era that you want to do. Chests are authentic, just don't get too carried away on the iron work.

We know that people who were camped for a few days or weeks made furniture for use in camp. If you wanted to make your own furniture and haul it to camp that would look OK.

With that preface, we roll into the question of what is "correct enough" for rendezvous. My personal opinion is that folding canvas topped stools are OK. Maybe one folding table. The folding stools with backs are great for us older folks with bad backs. I think that tall wooden Kitchen cabinets only existed on the back of Cowboy chuckwagons or in the personal camp of a General of a large Army.

The really neat curved wooden slat chairs are authentic to about 1960. The two-board chairs are about the same era. I don't think I have ever seen any of them in a museum. The folding canvas directors chair is authentic for the wealthy campers by the way.

My camp has 4 folding stools (two with backs), one folding table (my wife insists) and several 6 board chests that hold the food and cooking utensils. We sleep on the ground (thank God for Thermarests). I keep my entire camp, clothing, guns, poles and food pared down to fit in the 6 foot long bed of a Ford F-150. I figure that is about the same cubic feet as the bed of a two-horse wagon.

I have probably started a real donny-brook here.

Many Klatch

What he said. :winking: I myself am a bit upscale with my officer's marquee, bed, dining table and chairs, :v etc.

The 1840s are too recent for me to be able to give you good advice re styles etc. Many Klatch has a good point re does your camp reflect your persona. Mrs Coot & I are relocating to the west (Ingals Ferry to be specific) & so we have about 1/2 a wagonload of tent, dining fly & furnishings - folding table, 2 chairs, 2 stools, a low 3/4 size rope bed & crates & barrels. The other 1/2 of the wagon would be tools & trade goods. I have seen a mountain wagon that dates to about 1800 - looks a lot like a small conestoga. Supposed to have been used with two horses in tandem so as to fit narrow roads. Wish that the owner would consider selling it as I think that a wagon with a fly run out to one side would be a great camp.

I mostly rendevous and use the two piece slat chairs, a small folding table.I have an old wooden Army cot that I put a small head and footboard on ,looks good.I use a insulated board box for a cooler.And a wooden TV tray table next to my bed :shake: so I can have a candle to read by.
I do this for relaxation and a getaway from work so comfort while on the weekend is something I want.My size sitting on the ground or qa small folding stool just doesnt get it....Mark

I'm BACK!! Had a heck of a time getting re-logged in. That's a whooole 'nuther story......

Anyway, finding that right most comfortable chair for us agin' guys has been a challenge! I don't particularly want to use the backless camp stool. I have admired the Civl War officers style chair, but it is a little later than my Southwest period.........which reminds me...what the heck DID those Texans use in the 1840's era??!!! Do I have to construct or, like this original post, where can I find!!!

TexiKan!

.........which reminds me...what the heck DID those Texans use in the 1840's era??!!!

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Rawhide, and then more rawhide, cheap, available, and very workable.

For some ideas, check "The Book of Buckskinning" Vol.2 P 189. Lists all sorts of chairs, cots, etc, that you can fabricate cheaply.

Not sure about your PC time frame, the cot in the above ref was revolutionary war period, some "chairs" were indian so they go way back.......

re-read posts, most of the above looks O.K. 1820-40 :thumbsup:

Yeah! Texican is back...Hi Chris.
If you are doing a camp that is 1850's settler those old style slat back folders are ok.I have seen chairs like them in old War of Northern Aggression photos.Usually with officers sittin in them...

Rawhide, and then more rawhide, cheap, available, and very workable.

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Dang...... rarely have I seen a rawhide chair at a Rondy this far north! My guess is the chair looked something like the modern tourist style rawhide chairs with wood frames and rawhide strips.......

Great to be back, Paul! Like I said at the recent Rondy, I could not figure out how to get logged back in. Tried once more and finally got through! Missed this place!

TexiKan

The biggest reason I "need" camp furniture is so that my wife will camp with me.

I think the site is "historical reproductions" that makes mostly authentic campaign furniture ,folding chairs,George Washingtons folding bed plus tables and boxes and things.I think smoke and fire also has a folding chair and plans for building furniture...Mark

Most Dog Soldiers at a rendezvous won't say a thing about your furniture as long as the plastic is covered. I have a friend that used to rendezvous with all of his gear in the cab of his Pickup. His wife started coming along and now he has a 25' trailer to haul all the foofaraw. Having a wife along will definately increase the amount of stuff that you have to haul, but it is worth it.

Have your wife do some research and have her tell you what to build, it will be easier that way.

Many Klatch

I would say that no camp furniture would be the most PC. To give myself something to sit on and still be PC I made a couple of plywood boxes of various sizes. I then padded them with old blankets, afgans etc found at thrift shops. I just wrapped them around the box and use staples to hold in place. Then I wrap the whole thing with canvas and tie rope around it so it looks like a typical piece of cargo taken off a pack animal. You can place and stack these fake cargo packs to make a place to sit that is far more comfortabel than most wooden, unPC camp funiture.
Now I make these boxes with a removable end so I can store gear in them. They work great and make you camp look 100 times better than one with real furniture

I like whiskeys idea of using plywood boxes that are covered up so you can get some storage use outta them.They would look like a pack bundle, or you could "fake" a beaver pelt or deerhide bundle.Now I gotta run off to make new furniture!

I saw a slick looking cooler on ebay once ,looked like a fur bale with canvas and rope ,hinged top opened right up.Been meaning to try and figure it out...Mark

Mrs Coot has made our cooler look like a bale of trade blankets. She used a coarse stich to make a fitted five sided cover (no bottom) out of burlap & then put an elastic cord in the bottom seam (hem ?) to hold it down on the cooler. We added hemp ropes to the top & sides with hidden stitches to make it look like it is a tied up bundle. You have to pull up the whole cover to get into the cooler but we only take wine & hard liquor in period bottles to events so we are only into the cooler to get food for meals.