Medieval Camp Aesthetic 

On Rugs in Tents: For my first Grand Battle at Bicolline, a week long event, I brought a small but very plush rug. By the end of the week that rug felt like absolute luxury. It was the only soft thing my feet touched all week. After 5+ days of combat it was amazing. We modern people tend to scoff at 'riches' like plush carpets, but they really were a luxury item. If you can carry a small carpet on campaign with you, I very much recommend that you do.

I like how you take people's budgets into consideration.

I'm digging your light-hearted fantasy approach. Sometimes the super strict historical accuracy crowd kills the joy.

The fear for campsite security is real! My favorite local faire blogger, Sutton Stops, just reported their camper neighbors at faire came back to their spot to find their ENTIRE TENT AND BELONGINGS stolen! The Suttons were outfitted well enough to put the neighbors up for the night instead, but it drives home the point. It's not just beastly paranoia. 😒

Exactly! Thank you for making note of the "this is a fantasy medieval look... not 'living history' but 'living anachronism." I've always hated it when people point out that some fantasy element never existed or that so-and-so axe was preferred over so-and-so sword... it's for fantasy. Leave the strictly-medieval history to the archeologists and the polemologists. :)

"Everyone likes a nice chest." Truer words have hardly been spoken.

Think throw rugs would really help disguise the, necessary, plastic ground cloth. Had not considered that before. Maybe add a couple of different sized wooden bowls.

I cant wait till your channel blows up. This is actually some solid quality advise for people on a budget and youre so satisfying to listen to, like you actually sound like you've been doing youtube for years

Plush throws are nice, but it can be worth looking for a sheepskin or other type of furry hide. If you can't get a real hide, or just don't want a real hide, faux hide rugs are perfectly fine as long as they have a thick backing similar to the real thing. If it can pass for a real hide at first glance, it'll probably be durable enough for frequent use. Faux fur material from hobby or fabric shops is NOT recommended! Avoid the stuff sold for costuming, as it often doesn't have a suitable backing layer. A good faux hide rug should have a tough, thick backing layer that won't tear, rip or wear thin with reasonable use, a thick and soft fur, and be at least somewhat water resistant. If you can, I'd suggest spraying the back ("hide" side) with waterproofing spray. The kind you can buy at shoe stores works. Just as an extra bit of invisible protection from the elements. Probably work on a real hide, too. Be aware that synthetic fibres can be irritating if you want to use a faux hide rug as bedding; try rubbing it on the inside of your forearm to see how it feels. A real sheepskin would be my recommendation for use as bedding. Fairly easy to get, often thicker and softer than you'd expect, and much less likely to irritate unless you have an actual sensitivity or allergy. For use as an actual rug, or to hang as insulation or a windbreak, faux hides are better. Acceptable bedding, too, if they don't make you itchy.

Really great presentation. I specifically appreciate the pragmatic approach to get people started, where perfection would hold them back. I'd like to add that cheap plywood, finishing nails, and wood glue can accomplish a lot, with regard to chests, with little or no carpentry experience. I've shown several people how easy it is to build a simple wooden box, and they're all happily surprised at how simple it is.

Note to battery candles: in my country they are usually set to blink too fast, so it seems that candle is always catching wind and therefore it looks like a very unstable light source, and is annoying if you want to read or do accurate stuff nearby.

Found you through skill tree. Absolutely adore how your tent came out. I've never been camping, but if I ever do, I'm definitely going to go all in like this!

Love your videos. Found you on Shad recommendation. So many "purists" out there, I appreciate the fact that you focus more on having fun, over "authenticity". Because let's be honest...we arent really drawing Blade and fighting brigands, goblins, or dragons lol. It's all about fun. Where did you get your tunic? What brand? I really like that.

I enjoy adding a " fur " or two to my bedroll or cot. It helps hide some of the fabric since some of the modern wool blankets can look TOO clean and uniform. Speaking of furs, a small fur on top of a stump, or chest adds a little cushion for your seat and makes it look a little more lived in. I have pretty much watched all of your videos at this point, love the content. I cant wait to see what you do next. I have already gotten tons of new ideas for my own kit since I started watching.

One of the MANY things I really like about your videos is your focus on the three Rs - Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose. Your tent set up works wonderfully both, as its intended modern fashion, and - with just a little imagination and things you already have - as a good kit to take along on a LARP or solo bit of in-character adventuring. The addition of any rugs/furs/tapestries are not only aesthetically nice, but practical. And kudos on the suggestion of an electric candle for soft (and much safer!) light. Hell, depending on the weather, you could even attach a light blanket, or even sheet, with some kind of rustic/Celtic motif over the top of the tent to give it more of that 'fantasy/medieval look. ♥

When I started my group we were all pretty skint so, apart from the authentic tents, most our stuff was modern covered up or thrifted. Picnic baskets are a great cheaper alternative to chests; lighter too. We've moved on now, being a Noble House, but we still use modern camping cots and sleeping bags. As you said, a wool blamket covers a multitude of sins. Most of our flatware, cutlery, mugs and goblets etc also came from our local charity shops. Old tapestry style curtains are a nice cheap way to insulate and decorate your tent for alot less. My tent may look like the home of a Countess, but the items didn''t cost a Count's Ransom 😉

Nice, have used many of these in my reenacting career. Portraying highland Scots is nice, lots of plaid wool to cover up the anachronistic gear-like the lawn/decor wooden crates perfectly sized for a fair bit of kit.

For chest/trucks: to make it easier to bring from your car/transport, you could add either discrete wheels to the side NOT facing the main part of the tent (there are more modern trunks that come with wheels already), or make/purchase a very simple hand truck with some bungies to easily wheel it. or purchase a collapsable canvas wagon which will help with moving your other things as well. if it's collapsable or very simple, it can either be put back in your vehicle or easily folded and hidden under the blanket-covered cot.

Love this! I use a larger tent because it's easier to dress in (ah, the layers and layers) and made a fabric cover to go-over and hide the plastic. My friends have made covers and sides of heavy upholstery fabric for regular pop ups but I prefer mine. It's better insulated and much lighter and less expensive. A small area rug hides the plastic floor. A lovely piece of fabric covers the plastic tub of clothing, topped off with battery operated candles and a large throw or my cloak cover the sleeping bag. Heaven!

One thing that I've found is that a cheap pavillion "tent" with walls tends to be one of the better starting points if you don't already have a tent. You can replace parts as you go with cloth sides, the one I had was extremely easy to do that with and the same points also work really well for hanging some of the banners and tapestries on them, and with larger ones, you can even use them to partition chunks of them which is especially nice if you're sharing a tent. It also adds space you can set things up in and is less of an issue for internal fire/smoke than more standard camping designs...and they tend to be a rather cheap thing to start with, especially with their footprint. I'd used mine for years with upgrades...you just need to make sure it's fully dry when stored away and in a safer position. I had a pretty bad leak in my basement that managed to soak it when I didn't notice during the cleanup and had to pitch it when I checked on it, thankfully, that year the LARP I was involved in moved to a retreat center that had cabins and hotel rooms on site, and there were still openings in them, but that bothered me.

Rewatching all of Kramer's videos before a LARP is a tradition

I'm so delighted to have found your channel and this video! Someone on tumblr made a gifset from a few scenes from your Middle Earth camping video and included a link, and this is everything I wanted to see in an "aesthetic camping" tips video!

Yanno... I'm a member of the Order of the Laurel, in the SCA, and I'll tell you, I wish more people would take these small steps to fancy up their camp. Yeah, they might not be historically accurate. But they do a lot towards ambiance, and that is a Very Good Thing. It is way too common to say 'I can't afford a period camp', 'My car is too small for period tent poles', or 'I don't have the time/energy to bother with a period camp' and just bring a bubble tent and Coleman camp chairs and call it a day. It is a simple thing to use a basic wedge tent or a Soul Pad, both of which break down small (I've seen them packed in a Prius), cover your chairs, coolers, etc with cloth, and get some battery-operated candles. Small things, minimal effort, big impact. Just my two pence. 🙂

This guy is awesome

Ngl, throwing rugs, or more specifically soft pelts on the floor of a tent just.. looks right.. feels right, and definitely helps with insulation. And it gives that whole "semi-permanent" camp set up. You can relax, you arent packing up anytime soon, just enjoy the time.

Tapestries and Rugs are excellent for comfort, especially in Winter. Tapestries add much needed insulation to keep in any heat you manage to generate. Rugs not only offer plushiness for sore feet, but also add a layer between you and the likely very cold, damp ground.

I lived in a tent in 1968 - 1969 and I covered the floor with a rug and the walls with cloth hangings. I had furniture inside too. Very comfortable. I traveled the US.

it’s 9:30PM on a Saturday night and my nerdy butt is thinking about setting up my tent in my living room and seeing how anachronistic I can make it look. Thanks ;)

Greetings and salutations.

I skipped the sword and got the period accurate tent, can't wait to take the inspiration from this video and get it all set up and decorated. This is still the best video on RU-vid.

Putting together my supply list for my first time camping "in game" at a LARP and so excited by all these tips you've passed on!

As far as candles in tents go, check thrift stores and garage sales for old camping gear, I found 4 mini lanterns from the 80s that used votive style candles as a light source

I went with Victorian explorer for years. Bell tent, folding wooden furniture, oil lamps. Fun days.

I would LOVE to play a role-playing game with you.

Found you via recommended, this is maybe the fifth video of yours I've watched today. Absolutely adore your video style and conversational casualty + budget considerations and as someone who both is very funny and wanting a medieval aesthetic without the desire to give up modern convenience, this video is perfect! Your channel is truly a gem of a find!

Alot of these are generally good tips for cosying up your living space.

Woodworking for Mere Mortals made one of those chairs a few years ago. I do believe it is still up on his channel. I'm so getting one of the white tents for camping. If I'm going to be dramatic, I'll going all the way! Hahaha

I always find treasure chests at Ross and hobby lobby. Bottles and baskets too. Hobby stores are a larper's best friend.

Video idea: best transportions in a medievel or fantasy setting

I have the same tent. Was surprised to see you use the same one. Thank you.

So one thing I'd add is maybe instead of just using a tent pole, one could substitute that with a Roman furca or something similar. It's a long pole with a crossbar that legionnaires used in place of a backpack. You can fit a haversack and small backpack on there by just hanging them from the crossbar, and tie everything else you might need/want around the first two bags

We have a couple indoor outdoor carpets that we use when camping. Definitely keeps the tent clean, as well as the area under our sunshade.

Fantastic information sir! Thank you for doing what you do. It's good to know we're not alone out here in the wilds.

You are the greatest!!!! Happy to learn from you.

This is my new favorite channel. Been watching all day and I enjoy the logic of mixing the lifestyle philosophies.

Love what you do. Great foreword on the reasoning behind this video, and how you decorate. We use a lot of the same methods, but I definitely came away with some new ideas! Nicely done!

I am very poor, but still interested in doing this sort of thing. I am making most everything I need. My wife an I are old poor woodworkers, so we have made cotton trousers and tunic for me and a simple long sleeve dress for her. Back packs, pouches, and belts are made from crocheted jute. Nailbinding would be more appropriate, but I have not learned that skill set yet. There are all kinds of modern items that can be used and taking a trip to Goodwill or many other resale shops will result in helping to supply you with plenty of gear

Always so very practical 👍👍👍

Flokatis make good floor coverings and they will cover a bed as well. I used an Airbed and covered it with a flokati in my Viking tent

ive seen some sort of a very medieval looking lantern made to hold a candles on this one website i like. would surely help with the looks you showed us

Great video! Glad I was able to squeeze in a quick hello at the end of the faire today!

Met you at the renfaire today, you did an amazing job playing your role, you are definetly a talented theater actor.

One tip for your camp: take three sticks, about 5 feet /150 cm, best with bark, tie them together at about 4" 120cm and form a tripod. Famous to hang your weapon, belt, pack, rope, whatever ready and decorative. Inside the tent use electric candles, unfortunatelly they are mostly much darker then real candles, so use several, all over the tent. Looks real elvish... In front of the entrance you can ut a small lantern with a candle or even one or two oil-torches. Believe me, light is the key. A small wooden table (60 x 80 cm / 24 x 32) is luxury and perfect to show your tableware.

I think the carpets in medievl tents where a real thing because they hadn´t included the tent floor in the tent, they probably had just the upper side of the tent. And I guess it would be preferable to naked ground. I think you should add some rugs, carpets sheets on the top of your tent because the material is quite modern looking and with a bit of covering it would look better.

Love these videos! Yours and Skill Tree's videos have so far been MASSIVELY helpful in making fun LARP stuff for friends, and actually usable items for camping, archery, hiking etc. I like when stuff looks cool, but when it has actual functionality I am SOLD! Side note: seeing the bell tent there got me wanting to make one of those of my own now.

This is my absolute FAVORITE video on RU-vid. I must also remark on the fact that EVERY video by Living Anachronism is entertaining enough to watch 20+ times easily (thank you for being the Legend that you are).

This video is so cool!!! Right now my D&D players are settling down in a town, and setting up their camp. This is the perfect video to help immerse them in the game. This has helped me so much by giving me a thorough reference I can go off of for my D&D game. Your content is so helpful and inspiring! I wish you luck on your next adventure 👍

Hobby Lobby has some cool chests.

I love going out on a camp with the guy's over a weekend 1485-1500 century England all period clothing, period cooking, ware ,period food campfire getting the longbow out marching and combat drills. Then some drinks in the night.

This is a rare gem to find you deserve good amount of support

You can get cotton canvas tarp for a reasonable price. Around 100 €. And A-frame or single pole tent is a step-up from that, but they start at around 200 €. It's possible to sleep under a tarp, especially if you have a fire going in front of it. I put a sleeping mat under it, and cover it with a blanket. For sitting around our fire, me and my group of north men just use our chests. The bigger ones pull double duty as tables as well. If you want to lean your back against something, you can sit in front of the chest and lean against it. This way, we don't have to pack extra chairs or tables.

I have no idea why this was recommended to me, but I'm thankful lol

I can't wait until it's ren fair season again. With the help of your videos i'm learning so much. Can't wait for your channel to blow up and get on the same level as Shad's channel. the production quality is already really good. (Aside from maybe the audio, It feels like you're talking from the left of me instead of center.)

Super cool... loved the ideas

8:00 A friend of my dad's made us one of those once. That was thirty years ago, I'd never seen another one until now. I loved sitting at the campfire in that. That guy's a very talented woodworker, but not good with deadlines. Dad knew some real characters, that's for sure. Channels like this make me miss my dad a lot. Townsends too. He would've LOVED these videos. He ate this stuff up.

I LOVE this video man...and all your other ones too! Romantised medieval camps are a favourite of mine.

Rugs in tents reminds me of middle eastern, silk road style travel. Or maybe Native American tents? They look quite lived-in and even luxurious

Very fun.

Concrete and glass box, I loved that comment, totally agree. Give me medieval cozyness any day. I wonder why architects these days just can't build anything pretty anymore.

Does anyone else think this is so intents? Great ideas. My coworker has a yurt in the back yard and im a bit jealous I don't live in one. This totally adds enough believably to blend right in to camp areas at festivals

Treated canvas tarps make good floor covers because they clean up easily...and that chest looks sturdy enough to sit on so you just need to be clever and make some legs for your board so it will be a table.

Your channel is extremely underrated, love your content!

You are definitely correct, I'm a WW2 reenactor, and you do actually see things like modern coolers where a crate was built for it, and just is done up as say an ammo crate. You'll also see people have gatorade that they put into a period cork-top beer or wine bottle, even a sandwich from Subway where they discarded the wrappings and such and wrapped it in butcher's paper (unmarked brown paper lunch bags are also a good choice). Even in reenactment we generally tend to get the basic stuff first which can vary in prices, but it gives an opportunity to pair things up with one's budget until the impression is completed, which when planned out properly can be less time than one might think. For making Medieval items, I would say that especially if you look around it is most often cheaper to make. For example, a nice chest can be made out of wooden pallets which are often free, and planning things out such as measurements, and such about something like a tent can give enough time to put some money aside. But as with anything, doing a little shopping around can lead to finding a tent for a very good price, especially if there's a sale going on, but in most cases, a pre-made tent, especially something like a Norse "Oseberg" tent used from the Viking Age and Early Middle Ages (without the frame), and other period tents are generally in the thousands of dollars. For those that might read this and wonder why the wooden frames aren't shipped/sold is because they're too expensive to ship. If you're planning on making a tent I recommend 10oz cotton duck canvas which is already waterproofed, the store "Fabric Wholesale" is the cheapest I've come across and have discounts the more yards you buy. For example, I bought 25 yards to make an Oseberg style tent which was $8.59/yd which is a 14% discount plus free shipping to here in Canada from the states, whereas the same product from a different store would've costed over $500 if not $600.

Man, now I want to go camping in that style

Neat! Have a comment for the algorithms!

"... modern cot will probably still feel a lot like a medieval cot." I dunno. You don't get the genuine medieval experience without the fleas, the scratchy hay base layer, the bendy greenwood staves that might break at any moment, the plant-based lashings that stretch so that your cot sags under you, or the rough hewn finished timber that gives you splinters in your nethers. Modern cot? :thumbs_up:

On the candles, if you want the look, but not the open flame in a tent, right around now in October you can find packages of battery powered candles for Jack-O-Lanterns for just a couple of bucks in any grocery store around the pumpkins. One of those in a used up jar candle provides the perfect ambiance without the open flame.

Nicely done, good job on the setup. I've done camp at Ren Faires and SCA. Haven't done any LARP events yet.

I have a kuksa and wooden spoons, a wooden toychest(rounded top trunk) and several other things.

JFC, dude you've got almost 7k followers? People are resonating with this! Good job!

We had a friend who brought her hand held vacuume to camp.lolling.

Great video man! Love your channel :)

Always blows my mind that you find time for these videos while doing the CT faire lol. Also, a lot of my larp friends don't even realize you're the guy from this RU-vid channel while we are there! Love your content!

I was exactly wondering about this seeing you were using a super modern tent in your andventuring short movie

30-odd years of 'medieval'-ish camping. Get a floor cloth to go inside your tent - even just a relatively cheap canvas 'painter's tarp' from the Big Box store. Some sites require you to have some sort of mesh or cloth under your plastic floor cloth - you can easily make one cut to size from a roll of 'shade cloth' from the Big Box rather than buy one ready made. Ikea (and their opposition) sell small cotton/hemp/jute mats for a few bucks - one for outside the door for the mud and wet leaves, one inside the door to catch drips from the tent opening and to put your footwear on for that late night privy run. Candles in tents - every few years someone looses their tent and much of their gear when an unattended candle falls over, burns thru the candle holder or something falls on the candle - don't let it be you. Chests - a 'six board' chest is relatively easy and cheap to make if a few friends get together - make sure it is 18" (45cm) tall to use as a seat, 2 feet (60cm) long will hold enough gear for a weekend camp and (important) can be carried by one person - once you get to 3 feet (90cm) long they become 2 man lifts unless they are empty and only going to be carried a short distance - the book 'Before the Mast' covers most types of late Medieval chests as well as heaps of other wood gear.

very cool video.

absolutely love your videos. The Bell is activated!

This is a pretty cool video

Im probably gonna get one of those citronella candles to warx off the bugs, and keep it propped outside near my tent entrance for the sake of air quality

I am so used to creators including affiliate links in the video description that I was flummoxed when you did not have any in your video. I would not mind it, that pack is really sweet, and you can tell when people are linking gear they actually use, vs another top 10 list of useless junk they are trying to make a quick buck off.

Dude, this is awesome! I so want to try this the next time I go camping and hope sometime in the future you can do a video with Shad from Shadiversity!

I found that driving a sharpened wooden board into the ground with a mallet makes for a great backrest to a plank chair on the ground. You can also use the sharpened board for plenty of other stuff.

Love your videos man keep them coming

Meh, I would prefer the adventurer or "ranger" bivouac campsite. D&D adventurers rarely could afford the luxury and liability of an entire supply chain for their camps. Bedrolls and hammocks would likely be the order of the day. Much simpler and cheaper than all this noble and merchant Gucci gear. 😁 One particular question I have about festival campsites is shelter security. How do you keep nefarious goblinkin out of your hooch when you're off mixing and mingling? In period, you would leave guards posted at camp while you head off to town or to battle. But that's not practical for an adventurer's party camp.

I put a rug in my regular camping tent and, let me tell you, it makes my tent WAY more cosy. I don't know why most car campers don't have a rug for their tent.

Just a side note- please don’t store larp weapons tip down, it will ruin the tip and make it unsafe. (I’m a weapon maker) not sure if the sword was touching the ground or suspended somehow as it seems to be tied to the pole, but I thought I’d mention this.

Something you could do for the tent is make a more "period" cover for it that just goes over the modern tent

You might want to consider putting some wooden drink coasters under the feet of your cot so you don't damage the floor of your tent.

Working on something inspired by this and your medieval style fantasy but going in another direction by throwing in the concept of magitech

love your videos bro ; }