Thanks! Great tip on where to position the flap to prevent picking up crap. Also, thanks for the pronunciation. That is definitely one bad thing about reading without anyone to verbally discuss, I have no idea how to pronounce many of the terms. Thanks again for your input.

English pronunciation is shab - rack

Interesting. Here in the Czech Republic it's pronounced cha brak ah :-)

What does it mean?

@@MrDosonhai Lazy bastards ... :D

Spock, that you?

It's wool, super warm even if it's thin. You don't want thin cotton or synthetic fiber blankets because they're not as warm at all.

@@MrDosonhai I'm sure about the wool blanket being ok when thin. :) But the size? It's not possible to wrap into it - not conventionally nor diagonally. On all the blanket bushcrafting videos I've always heard that wool blanket doesn't need to be thick but it needs to be big so that you can wrap with multiple layers over and under you ...

Keep in mind you're also in heavy wool uniforms and clothing so that's extra layers of wool under the blanket. But you're right, it isn't enough for serious cold Temps. This setup would be OK for a single soldier down to maybe freezing Temps. Below that.... 1. Men were just tougher then. They would suck it up. Keep in mind, many of these men ended up very sick and ill. Many got lifetime long diseases from living like this. A Civil War song lyric: "I caught the rheumatism a-campin in the snow" 2. When temperatures dipped too low to be warm enough, fires would be lit. The woods wool blanket sleep system heavily relies on a proper shelter and large fire in below freezing temperatures. If no fires could be lit because of conditions or not to alert the enemy of their presence in the area, men would simply curl up together en masse and share multiple blankets to keep warm. One giant mass of stinky, hairy man @$$es. We still do this today. When I was in the Marines, we would cuddle up under poncho liners if we didn't have access to sleeping bags. You get over the awkwardness real quick if you're cold enough. Trust me. But this is the kind of life that makes brothers.

WeViking! Glad you enjoyed another one of our videos! One of these days we have to get together!

11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry Yes are you kidding me! One of these days I need to go to a event up there and meet all of y’all!

Michael, great question. Even today, wearing a pack on one's back is not generally preferred while mounted horseback. While it is still possible, it is not preferred. Everything that was needed fit just fine on the saddle. If given the option, I doubt many would choose to have something on their back.

To follow on from@@11thovc, you want any weight as close to the horse's centre of gravity as possible

You carry the weapons, the horse carries the camp. If you are separated, you may not have a camp, but you'll still be a soldier. This all evolved from when European cavalry kept their camp in the trains, or billeted in a village; to where cavalry in the Great Plains of the US, that were posted by squadrons and companies hundreds of miles apart, and there were no villages to speak of. The trooper had to be self-contained and carry his camp along as best he could. Experience, and war, tend to cull out what doesn't work pretty quickly, and the cavalry on both sides pretty much had it down to bare bones necessity by 1862. Much the way the infantry blanket-roll took up where troops couldn't get knapsacks. Before the Civil War, troops were posted somewhere, they went on campaigns and patrols, but came back to their post. During the war, troops for the most part, lived in the field all the time; there generally were no post to keep possessions until you returned.

That's not quite right, @@Uhlan_. Whilst tents were carried by the train and use made of quarters, British Napoleonic-era cavalry also carried everything they needed to 'rough it', i.e. three days rations in a haversack, waterbottle, a valise for necessaries, cloak, and blankets for the man, fodder, hay net, water bucket, and waterdeck for the mount.

The original cast drank from nearby creeks and streams. We do the same but using filters or disinfecting drinking tablets. Thanks!

Dennis, Yes they did, the 11th OVC cover that in another video. This one was just based on the items mentioned in the initial manual.

Haha I know, right?! It's Turkish via Magyar, not French...