[Regia-NA] tent canvas source

[Linda Rice]

Hmm, gee, I'm sorry! I must have missed that conversation about cotton =
canvas being illegal in
Regia. I guess that's what I get for missing a few weeks of reading. ;o/ =
 Anyway, as Chris
mentioned, sometimes you have to choose having an incorrect tent over =
having no tent at all.  I
just posted the link because 1) Canvas can sometimes be hard to find, =
and 2) They have extra-wide
canvas, which is even harder to find.=20

FWIW, I've even been told that my bolt of hemp canvas is also incorrect. =
Anybody want to weigh in
on that?=20

Oh, and I have an ancient wall tent that serves duty across many =
centuries and purposes. It's now
so old and gray with mildew stains that it just blends serenely into the =
woods, often times getting
completely overlooked. I like it that way!
(yes, we have since treated it so the mildew isn't still growing, but =
the stains are permanent
anyway)

Pax,

::Linda::

-----Original Message-----
From: list-regia-na-admin@lig.net [mailto:list-regia-na-admin@lig.net] =
On Behalf Of Chris Boulton
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 11:52 AM
To: list-regia-na@lig.net
Subject: Re: [Regia-NA] tent canvas source

> Is all this conversation about cotton canvas evidence that this is
> acceptable?? I thought I heard a very clear "cotton is strictly out of
> period,"  message? I'd have had a geteld in the backyard months ago if =
I
> thought.....

Cotton is indeed out of period, in that although it was known, it was an
imported (and expensive) curio from Egypt at the time rather than =
something
generally used.

The attitude taken toward cotton canvas tents here in England is that =
they
are a necessary evil, as real linen canvas has been next to impossible =
to
obtain, though this situation seems to be slowly improving.

I managed - purely by happening to know the right person at the right =
time,
to obtain a 100metre roll of real linen canvas about five years ago, =
from
which we made our group tent, and I have enough left over to make a =
saxon
tent for myself when I get round to it.

The main problem with cotton canvas at a public display event is that =
the
colour is different - the cotton tends to be a rather brilliant white,
whereas the linen is a very light tan colour. We get around this problem =
by
explaining the availability problem to the public if they ask, rather =
than
trying to pretend the cotton is linen.

A good way to hide the obvious bright white of the cotton canvas is to =
pitch
the tent with the canvas on inside out, and light a small and well =
tended
fire in the centre of the floor space. The smoke will stain and =
discolour
the fabric making it less obviously bright white cotton when it is
re-pitched the right way out.

Chris.