Guide Camp bedding roll
The purpose of a camp bedding role is to keep all your camp bedding together and prevent it from
getting wet especially while transporting and setting up / striking tents. (You can more easily source
dry clothes, but once your sleeping bag gets wet, it will be a very cold camp for you). Although some
of our tents have built in groundsheets these days, in wet weather, the inside gets very muddy as
girls walk in and out. So when you ready to sleep, you unroll your bedroll on top of this mess. After
having aired out your sleeping bag in the morning, your will roll up your bed into a bedroll again to
store it out of the way during the day.
1.
Groundsheet: about 2 - 2.4m x 1..2 – 1.5m. Thick (150 Micron or 250 Micron) black or clear
builders plastic from hardware store. Comes in 2m or 3m width (in 2021 will be approx. R25 for
the 2m width to R45 for the clear) or an outdoor purpose made tarp. The orange Survival bags
are a bit small unless you slice them open. A black garbage bin liner or painters dropsheet is
NOT recommended as it is too thin and will rip during camp or might even be mistaken for
garbage!
2.
Sleeping mat – either the closed cell hiking mats ((in 2021 approx. R150 – R220), or the selfinflatable type, or a yoga mat or even a thick blanket folded in 3. (NOT the INTEX blow-up
matrasses as they are too big and can easily be punctured)
3.
Sleeping bag: it is possible to safety pin together2 blankets and a sheet in a sleeping bag
format. A duvet is not recommended as it is very bulky in a tent, and won’t protect you from
the cold coming up from underneath.
4.
Inner sheet (optional), made by sewing the sides of a single flat sheet, useful to keep sleeping
bag clean and to use in summer if bothered by mozzies.
5.
Pillow – either a small pillow or a pillow-slip which you stuff with clothes or a kikois under
which you put clothes
6.
Extra small blanket – ideally this is your campfire blanket (a Guiding and Scouting tradition, see
separate note – blanket adapted to wear around campfire on which non-uniform badges are
sewn.)
7.
Rope – 3-4m is sufficient. Ideally cotton or poly core braid, 3 – 6mm. Not the slippery ski rope
nor washing line rope, as this is very frustrating to tie a knot in. NOT string either as it gets into
knots which usually have to be cut.
Label all your kit above, including the rope.
Fish Hoek Guides, Cape Town, 2021
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How to tie the bedding role: (see diagrammes)
It can help if you have someone to help you.
1. Lay out the groundsheet, with your sleeping mat on top of it. On top of that put your
sleeping bag (with optional inner sheet already inserted), and blanket folded in half, and
pillow (and optional teddy).All ready for bed.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Roll (or fold) up the sleeping mat with the bedding inside it, tightly as you can.
Take up the short ends of the ground sheet, and roll it down till you meet the bedding.
Tie a PACKERS knot, and tighten around your bedding roll.
Sit on your roll as you roll in one of the edges. Put the rope around this edge and under.
When you get to the underneath rope, go around it once, and carry on round to the other
side.
7. Roll that side in, and bring the rope up back to the top and go around the starting knot and
pull tight.
8. Then end off with two half hitches.
9. Tie away the remaining rope. You can do a series of slip knots (like finger crochet) with the
remaining rope (so that it is easy to pull out) and tie off the last piece to make a handle.
There are other ways to do the bedding roll (depending a lot on the size of your groundsheet), but
the main thing is that it is waterproof and that it doesn’t fall apart when thrown around a bit.
PACKER’S KNOT
The packer’s knot is used whenever you want to tighten the rope around something like a
bedroll, or parcel.
1. Take the short working end of the rope, and
loop it behind the longer standing piece.
2. Make a figure 8 with the working end– over
and then tuck it under the first loop.
3. Pull the longer standing end to tighten
How to do finger crochet / chain sinnet / monkey braid with the end of the rope to
form a handle:
Click on this link to see animation:
Animatedknots.com Chain sinnet
Fish Hoek Guides, Cape Town, 2022
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Fish Hoek Guides, Cape Town, 2023
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