Frontier Festival encampment

[Tomcat1066]

Chehaw Park in Albany Georgia recently held its annual Frontier Festival. This is about the only event I get to attend due to proximity and a lack of knowledge of what else is nearby. Last year, I finally got to dress out, and this year I made it a point to camp. The wife and kid stayed home for the evening and came out during the day. My son due to weather, and my wife because she was seven months pregnant. I am NOT putting a pregnant woman on the ground! :shocked2:

Here's the camp though:

I put the lean-to together with some cloth webbing and a 6'x9' canvas drop cloth treated with Thompson's Waterseal. The poles were cut down from behind my house and had a cut nail driven in at about a 45 degree angle for the webbing to hold on. Yeah, they're tall, but I had this idea that the same poles could be used on multiple set-ups.

There's plenty of modern there, but I did my best to keep it all hidden. In reality, I suspect this is still way to heavy to camp for a longhunter type, but I don't want to go to much lighter!

Here's a pick of me scarfing down some more modern breakfast when the wife and kid came out on Saturday. The offending bag disappear shortly thereafter.

It ain't the fanciest, or even the most authentic, but I was pretty happy with it. There are some tweaks for me to consider for my next event, but they're small potatoes

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

I'm not the most correct type. But it sure looks good and fun to me. :thumbsup:

 

[flyfisher76544]

I heard they had a really good turn out this year. I am glad that the weather held out for ya'll (unlike the last couple of years)

 

[flyfisher76544]

Ooooooh...sorry I couldnt make it. I had duty that weekend. :hatsoff:

 

[onepaw]

nice simple setup often leads to more enjoyment...thanks for sharing

 

[chance]

Looks like alot of fun!!

 

[BillinOregon]

Tom, the important thing is you are getting out there. I'm just moping in front of the computer, and that's the far opposite of historically correct!

 

[Tomcat1066]

flyfisher,

Yeah, we had a good turnout and the weather was MUCH more enjoyable than last year. I only day tripped Saturday last year, and Sunday was too cold for me. This year, it got down to 33 Friday morning, but being next to the campfire with several wool blankets made it nice and cozy.

You missed a great time! Hopefully you can make it next year. BTW, the folks up in Andersonville are talking about putting on a rondy in the same vein.

Bill,

I know the feeling. I screwed around most of the year and kind of threw my set-up together in the last month. Still, I was really happy with it. And yeah, it was a LOT of fun!

Got to get an A-frame for the wife and soon-to-be baby girl to stay in, but I plan on keeping my lean-to for a long, long time

Everyone else,

Thanks for the kind words. I'm really happy with the set-up overall. The one tweak I plan on making is a loop in the middle to pull it back and make a bit more room underneath so my 10 year old son can join in the fun next time.

I just wish I had more Rondies I could make.

 

[MeatStick]

Less is more, with the exception of Pics. More Pics.

 

[ny griz]

:hatsoff: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: Griz

 

[Tomcat1066]

Here's the only other pic I got of my encampment. There wasn't a whole lot to really photograph. I had stuff kind of spread out, but there wasn't all that much of it. In this one, you can see my modern pillow sticking out. No pillowcases because I figured the ticking didn't look completely out of place. I didn't realize that it wasn't sufficiently covered until after the photo was taken.

Just a note, but there were only a couple of other lean-to setups out there that weekend, and I'm apparently the only one who actually used his. That's a shame too, because I suspect that a lean-to was far more common than the wall tents and A-frames that are so common. Not to knock those in the least, because I see their advantages and don't blame folks for using them. I just wish shelters like the lean-to got more play.

(For the record though, there was a gentleman there with a diamond, which is kind of lean-to-ish, but something different as well)

 

[omarick1948]

Tom, Not to knock your first outing, as mine was about the same, but if you were in my part of the country. You soon would know why there probably were more covered shelters than open leanto's!

There was a Rendezvous here two weeks ago and the high on Saturday was 9 degree's!

Just saying.... Nice warm weather set-up!

Rick :thumbsup:

 

[Tomcat1066]

I don't know about a tent being warmer than the lean-to Horner. I slept up close to the fire which helped me stay pretty toasty the one chilly night we had last weekend. One advantage to this kind of structure is how close you can be to the fire without your shelter bursting into flames :grin:

I've done cold weather in full tents, and there are some advantages to say the least, but I've never found lean-tos to be all that bad for cold weather myself.

 

[omarick1948]

What I was referring to was the different climates between your area and mine. __ I've camped out to -26 below! __ Not bagging, but just passing on some information. Since 1975, I have had three leanto's (Whelan, Baker and Fly), 2 Tipi's, Two Marquee Tents and a Large Wall tent. The wall tent is still my favorite. It is 14' x 16' x 9' high. Talk about warm, I have a wood burning stove in it that will take a 24" log and also it (stove) being flat top, I can make my coffee and breakfast in the morning, when many are blowing on their coals trying to get their fire going.

But I think that two of the best things going in my tent, is that I can get off the ground and there is no cold wind blowing smoke under the flap in breezy or bad wet weather and I'm warm all over, not just when I'm hugging the fire!__ My wife and four kids loved the privacy also. __ Of course I didn't bother with the stove in the tent in the warmer months!

The fly is a good warm weather start for many new people getting into more primitive camping, as other shelters are expensive, but many of us like the stoved tents for warmth.

JMHO

 

[S.Kenton]

thats kinda what I would like to have..where did ya get your drop cloth? The only thing I see missing that I would probably have in my encampment is beer bottles.. :haha: :haha:

 

[Tomcat1066]

I snagged mine from Lowe's. I'd imagine any home improvement store would have the same.