Rabbit Skin Blanket

[corndog-44]

Has anyone slept out in the woods in cold conditions with a rabbit skin blanket? Do they really keep you warm when the temperature drops down to 20-30 degrees below 0? If I can find enough bunnies I'm thinking of making one if they really do the job. I've done cold winter camping before with straw bales when the temperature drop down to 20 below zero and the wind was howling. I slept warm and snug. Cold winter camping to me means having no fire or gas heater or other heat source.

[pilgrim]

Never used a blanket but my rabit skin hat is the warmest piece of clothing i own.

[trax]

You're going to be looking for an awful pile of rabbit skins to make one decent sized blanket there buddy. Don't much care for rabbit skin myself, it tends to shed, if you want something really warm, look at animals that spend a lot of time in the water beaver, muskrat, otter, and the main predators in the north country, wolf, (although I think I should be allowed to hunt people who hunt wolves, but that's another story) coyote, wolverine is awesome.

If you can get a bearskin, you're set, but it's going to be really heavy if you're packing it in and out of places.

[Tony uk]

I like synthetic fibres better and i think that there lighter and more usefull (altho they might not be warmer)

[LadyTrapper]

Very good advice on the water animals and thier fur. The beaver hides/blankets we have prepared for self use and fur auctions are top notch for thickness and warming abilities.
A bear hide would be the warmest, and I have seen some thick carpets of blue black fur that would be great insulation from the cold.
I had a local native drum maker make a drum from my bear hide last year...its speaks again through the drum.

[corndog-44]

What's the weight differance between a beaver blanket and a rabbit skin blanket? Also how many beaver skins would I need for a blanket?

[trax]

The beaver skin blanket would be substantially heavier, as far as number of beaver pelts, how big of a blanket do you want and how big are the beaver pelts? If you had six to eight really big beavers you could make a single sized blanket or blanket liner out of them, provided they've been stretched and dried properly. Average sized beavers and a larger blanket? Might be as many as twenty.

Rabbit fur, though, does tend to shed away from the skin, use it for a blanket and I'd say you're going to spend a lot of your sleep time sneezing.

[corndog-44]

The shedding of rabbit hair isn't so objectionable if I have to contend with zero or below weather. Along with the blanket I would need a good night cap.

Even though a rabbit blanket appears bulky it weighs around 8 pounds. When rolled up it measures around 10 inches in diameter by 20 inches in length.

[trax]

Rabbit makes me sneeze, it floats around when it dislodges from the hide and tickles my nose, kind of like cats do to some people. The only thing I recommend using them for is decorative fur on moccasin slippers or the edges of mitts, but to each his own, I'm not meaning to sound critical here.
How big of a blanket is that rolled out and how many rabbit skins does it take to make one?

[HOP]

Old time outdoorsman Calvin Rustum swears by taking a rabbit skin blanket and sewing a shet on each side no rabbit hair problem and it is even warmer . Snowshoe hares were what was used back when. It trakes a lot of rabbite the fur is cut into long strips then wove basket pattern .

[hello15944]

what about deer with hair left on the gard hairs are hollow helps with warmth

[corndog-44]

100 rabbit skins are required to make a blanket to fit a double bed (80 by 90 inches). Could cut back the number of skins required if I went to the twin bed size (66 by 90 inches).

[trax]

what about deer with hair left on the gard hairs are hollow helps with warmth


Traditional Inuit clothing was made with two layers of caribou, inside layer with the hair inside and outside layer with the hair outside. I'm thinking if you want to know how to stay warm, check with the real experts :)

[marcraft]

i wouldnt use rabbit , not waterproof enough , go to a trappers table (the biggest one is annually in thompson manitoba in dec 23) the prices for quality pelts in manitoba are at the government website (http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/wildlife/trapping/harvest.html) wolverine is hands down the best fur there is but its more expensive then lynx so i wouldnt bother. you could try coyote since its cheaper but still about as warm and waterproof.

[corndog-44]

i wouldnt use rabbit , not waterproof enough , go to a trappers table (the biggest one is annually in thompson manitoba in dec 23) the prices for quality pelts in manitoba are at the government website (http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/wildlife/trapping/harvest.html) wolverine is hands down the best fur there is but its more expensive then lynx so i wouldnt bother. you could try coyote since its cheaper but still about as warm and waterproof.

If it's warm enough for rain a rabbit blanket is not needed...that is the time to use the woolen blanket. The fur on the outside may be more or less wet, presumably from the moisture which the blanket throws to the surface. This is only on the outside fur and will soon dry off if the blanket is hung where the warmth from the fire can reach it.

[dilligaf2u2]

The warmest winter blanket I ever used was horse hide blanket. Wolf is often used on hoods. Condensation does not stick to it. I have an old army field jacket hood with wolf fur liner. It is often to warm for this area of the country.

Don

[Bladesypher]

The killing of wolves was against clan laws in primitive times, infact the killing of any hunter that wasnt prey in the forest was breaking clan law Diligaf :p. If your planning to catch rabbits its gonna take ALOT, I mean ALOT of rabbits.. your better off getting yourself reindeer hide, its fairly thick.

[woodwose]

The killing of wolves was against clan laws in primitive times, infact the killing of any hunter that wasnt prey in the forest was breaking clan law Diligaf :p. If your planning to catch rabbits its gonna take ALOT, I mean ALOT of rabbits.. your better off getting yourself reindeer hide, its fairly thick.

Smaller towns out in the eastern parts of Oregon and probably Washington (or maybe your part of the country?) have 55 gal. barrels set out on the streets for hunters to drop off their hides of deer after they dress them out... and at the end of hunting season.. you might try fenagling a few of those hides. I would talk to the local authorities in those towns first though.. don't want to get into one of those local jails for the sake of keeping warm in the winter. :)

[Nativedude]

Caribou, bison, beaver*, moose, bear, deer. . .these are some of the better choices for blankets, clothing, mittens, footwear (Moccasins & Mukluks.) You can tan the hides with the hair on and they shed very little. I had a set of deer skin mittens with rabbit fur lining and they constantly shed, to the point where the hair almost completely wore away. I took them and re-lined them with shorn beaver plews. . .Much better!

*For outer wear you have to make sure that the beaver plews are not shorn. The outer guard hairs need to be intact to keep it resistant to rain, snow, etc.

[FVR]

I had a coat once, I called the TENT.

My grandpop gave it to me. It's outer shell was made of a tight military style canvas. The liner was wool that was a little over 1/2" thick. It came down to my knees and in the coldest winters in Jersey, kept me cozy warm duckhunting on the Delaware river.

The coat was a US Army special cold weather coat that was used in Siberia. Always wondered what happened to that coat. I spent many snowstorms in the pines, I would sit at the base of a pine tree, pull my legs up under the coat and nap. I would wake up, oh so warm, with ice and snow all over me.

Drawback of the coat, if I had ever gone overboard into the river, it would have taken me straight to the bottom.

I'll stick with wool.

[carcajou garou]

My father in his youth was very poor and used rabbit skins as socks in winter in rubber boots, constantly had to replace them as they wear poorly. they were snaring rabbits all winter just to keep themselves from getting frost bite.