Clothing

**tacmedic** · 02-23-2013, 11:19 AM

The other day as I was going through another large stack of clothing that my son no longer fits into I got to thinking. In a long term survival situation/economic collapse my son would probably need new clothing on a regular basis if not for him wearing it out, but due to the fact that he would grow out of it (he is currently 8 years old). What do you suppose is reasonable to "stockpile"? We already try to buy him clothes that are a couple of sizes too big so he can get the most life out of them, shoes and jackets, etc. I also started thinking about my own clothing as well as my wife. We both have way too many clothes to begin with so could probably get along for quite a while before having to go eau naturale'

. I have made plenty of my own clothing before for historical reenacting etc. Would it be reasonable to buy several yards of denim and/or canvas to use to make pants? Maybe some zippers and buttons/snaps might be good things to have on hand. Thread, needles etc. Thoughts?

**hunter63** · 02-23-2013, 11:56 AM

Personally I/we don't have the problem of not enough clothes, and the kids have kids, so not a concern.

Keeping a supply of repair supplies is much more valuable, needles, (all sizes) threads, intimation sinew, cording of all sorts, nylon strapping, awls, scissors, snaps, buckles, zipper parts.
My turkey vest has several zippers repaired with "stops" at breaks made from thread, Hotel sewing kit, and a lot of gear patched, and stitched up with the sinew.

You need to think about you, and yours, and make that decision, but clothing is heavy, bulky to deal with......

**kyratshooter** · 02-23-2013, 12:28 PM

If you do historic reenactment and make your own clothing for that purpose you are well trained for a long term emergency or even a short term situation. I have ben caught in several situations where I should have brought a coat and did not. Being able to quickly sew up a rough coat out of a blanket or tarp might be a lifesaver if you were hit by a cold snap after some natural disaster had blown your closet ot the land of OZ.

I can do shirts in about three hours, coats take a little longer due to needing edge stitching. I hate to do pants and avoid making them whenever possible. Some of my reenactment pants are the most expensive clothing I own.

"Reenactment clothing" was what people wore from the stone ages until polyester was developed. The U.S. Army was still issuing the same style shirt at the start of WW2 that it had issued in the Civil War. That shirt was very similar to what Otzi the iceman was wearing.

Be aware of the sources of fabric available in an emergency situation. Vehicle seat covers, awnings, abandoned tents and scraps of blankets. On the frontier nothing went to waste and it does not in modern crisis.

The American frontier expanded rapidly mostly due to the need for clothing. All those deerhides the Longhunters sent back to Europe were turned into pants for common laborers. Deerskin pants were the blue jeans of the 18th century. a pair od deerhide pants was expected to last an apprintace for a year.

The longhunters and traders were not tanning them and using them here. Charleston, Mobile and Bulouxi shipped out 500,000 deerhides from each port each year for almost 100 years.

**tacmedic** · 02-23-2013, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by kyratshooter

If you do historic reenactment and make your own clothing for that purpose you are well trained for a long term emergency or even a short term situation. I have ben caught in several situations where I should have brought a coat and did not. Being able to quickly sew up a rough coat out of a blanket or tarp might be a lifesaver if you were hit by a cold snap after some natural disaster had blown your closet ot the land of OZ.

I guess I hadn't really thought of it that way. I think maybe just having a larger stock of things that I use already to repair (thread, needles, canvas/linen, cotton, and definitely wool) and make new clothing as the old ones wear out would be the way to go.

Maybe stock up on some socks and underwear though, I've never been too good at making those.

**kyratshooter** · 02-23-2013, 09:05 PM

Socks are nice to have but underwear is highly over rated!

Honestly, underwear is an invention of the Victorian era. Folks did without it until about 150 years ago.

The shirt was actually considered underwear and used as protection for the other clothing. Shirt tails were long just to protect the pants from staining. (Remember that TP is also a new invention)

Men did not appear in public in their shirts with no other covering. That was like walking down the street in your tidy-whities. That is why you always see the folk dressed in full suits even in the hottest weather. The vest was needed for a man to be deciently dressed and the coat was usually worn. It might be taken off for work, but was put back on if other people were present.

If you see a picture of people in their shirt sleeves it is done to insult them or draw attention to their degraded or low class state!

Socks are a western culture thing. Socks were sewn as two piece items as well as knitted one piece items in the old days. Summer socks were linen or cotton and had seams front and back. You could do that easily with only needle and thread.

Many Asian cultures use squares of wool wrapped around the feet and covered by the shoes. The squares of wool work espically well with moccasians.

I have also made double layer moccs with deer hair stuffed between the inside and outside layer. They work very well even when damp.

Shoes will be your biggist concern. Learn to make moccisans and keep you eyes open for abandoned hi-class cars with leather seat covers! Sandals are a no brainer for summer use and anyone can make a flip-flop from any heavy flexable material.

When in survival mode get your brain out of the box you grew up in.

If you are a reenactor you might also consider the adoption of breechcloth and leggins when the pants wear out. They were quickly adopted by our frontiersmen and accepted as the normal wear of the woods. If you cut the shirt longer in the hem it covers down to the knees anyway and no one ever knows your flanks are exposed.

One nice thing about leggins is that you can cut them pattern and tie the sides together at tacking points and not completely sew them.

You can also do the same with shirts and coats. The buckskin clothing of the native Americans was normally tacked together and now sewn until the europeans introduced metal sewing needles.

Lots of times I do not use a real coat when reenacting in cold weather. I have a watch-cape w/hood made from two blankets. It also doubles as a blanket if needed and I can roll it up like a bedroll for carry if it warms up during the day. It is lined with flannel and very warm.

Some of my buddies carry only a half blanket and use it like a shawl with a cape latch holding it together at the throat.

Yep, I would stock up on needles and heavy thread. Get quilting thread for those rough items. I would also put away a few painter's tarps as spare utility fabric and start looking at shelter halves and tarps as fabric by the yard.

Blankets are not just blankets, they are fabric. Make sure yours are the woven type and not the pressed and felted cheapos. they fall apart when sewn into garmets and disolve when wet.

http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/index.html

**LowKey** · 02-23-2013, 09:16 PM

Learning to knit is an under-rated skill. It's far easier to spin and knit than it is to spin and weave cloth. Neighbor up the street is raising alpacas for 'wool' and does her own spinning and knitting as well as selling the raw wool.

**hunter63** · 02-23-2013, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by LowKey

Learning to knit is an under-rated skill. It's far easier to spin and knit than it is to spin and weave cloth. Neighbor up the street is raising alpacas for 'wool' and does her own spinning and knitting as well as selling the raw wool.

In my factory days, worked with an old guy, that was the veteran on many years of lumber camps.

He related that a lot of the guys used to knit to pass the time socks, hat mittens out of wool yarn, still have and use some of the stuff he made for me....was still his hobby.....so yeah, learn to knit.

**kyratshooter** · 02-24-2013, 12:29 AM

Knitting was one of those activities people kept sitting around so they could fill otherwise empty hours. One simply did not waste time in the pre-technology era. You did not schedule time to knit or mend or sew, it was simply always there and you did it while the food cooked or on a rainy day when you could not get out to work the garden.

If you ever got "bored" in those times you never mentioned it, someone would find a job to keep you occupied.

**Winnie** · 02-24-2013, 06:40 AM

Yep +1 on the knitting. Doesn't have to be fancy. A lot of the stuff I've made have cosisited of simple knitted squares. From a simple top to a pair of slippers. I've also knitted blankets from my son's unpicked baby clothes using squares. During the War commodities such as wool and material was in short supply and clothing was rationed. My Mum told me wool was used several times before finally being unusable for knitting, it was then felted and had a whole new other life. Necessity is the mother of invention.

**tacmedic** · 02-24-2013, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by kyratshooter

Socks are nice to have but underwear is highly over rated!

Honestly, underwear is an invention of the Victorian era. Folks did without it until about 150 years ago.

The shirt was actually considered underwear and used as protection for the other clothing. Shirt tails were long just to protect the pants from staining. (Remember that TP is also a new invention)

Men did not appear in public in their shirts with no other covering. That was like walking down the street in your tidy-whities. That is why you always see the folk dressed in full suits even in the hottest weather. The vest was needed for a man to be deciently dressed and the coat was usually worn. It might be taken off for work, but was put back on if other people were present.

If you see a picture of people in their shirt sleeves it is done to insult them or draw attention to their degraded or low class state!

Socks are a western culture thing. Socks were sewn as two piece items as well as knitted one piece items in the old days. Summer socks were linen or cotton and had seams front and back. You could do that easily with only needle and thread.

Many Asian cultures use squares of wool wrapped around the feet and covered by the shoes. The squares of wool work espically well with moccasians.

I have also made double layer moccs with deer hair stuffed between the inside and outside layer. They work very well even when damp.

Shoes will be your biggist concern. Learn to make moccisans and keep you eyes open for abandoned hi-class cars with leather seat covers! Sandals are a no brainer for summer use and anyone can make a flip-flop from any heavy flexable material.

When in survival mode get your brain out of the box you grew up in.

If you are a reenactor you might also consider the adoption of breechcloth and leggins when the pants wear out. They were quickly adopted by our frontiersmen and accepted as the normal wear of the woods. If you cut the shirt longer in the hem it covers down to the knees anyway and no one ever knows your flanks are exposed.

One nice thing about leggins is that you can cut them pattern and tie the sides together at tacking points and not completely sew them.

You can also do the same with shirts and coats. The buckskin clothing of the native Americans was normally tacked together and now sewn until the europeans introduced metal sewing needles.

Lots of times I do not use a real coat when reenacting in cold weather. I have a watch-cape w/hood made from two blankets. It also doubles as a blanket if needed and I can roll it up like a bedroll for carry if it warms up during the day. It is lined with flannel and very warm.

Some of my buddies carry only a half blanket and use it like a shawl with a cape latch holding it together at the throat.

Yep, I would stock up on needles and heavy thread. Get quilting thread for those rough items. I would also put away a few painter's tarps as spare utility fabric and start looking at shelter halves and tarps as fabric by the yard.

Blankets are not just blankets, they are fabric. Make sure yours are the woven type and not the pressed and felted cheapos. they fall apart when sewn into garmets and disolve when wet.

http://www.nativetech.org/clothing/index.html

I had thought about the breechcloth and leggings, as that is what I generally wore for reenactments. I need to get all of that stuff out again, it has been a long time since I have been able to go due to job and family commitments.

I just learned to loom knit this year. I made a scarf for my wife for Christmas. That would be a good option for socks etc.

**DrewWells** · 05-05-2013, 12:45 PM

Originally Posted by tacmedic

I guess I hadn't really thought of it that way. I think maybe just having a larger stock of things that I use already to repair (thread, needles, canvas/linen, cotton, and definitely wool) and make new clothing as the old ones wear out would be the way to go.

Maybe stock up on some socks and underwear though, I've never been too good at making those.

yes even I rate socks and underwear very high. They are most important part of my clothing. Jeans is least in my opinion

**Rick** · 05-06-2013, 09:26 AM

Do your child a favor and purchase shoes that fit correctly. Buying shoes that are too large is a path to bad feet. Think about how much pressure is on his still growing feet once you add on that school backpack!

**Billofthenorth** · 05-24-2013, 05:59 AM

You can 're-purpose' old clothing, remake it or take it apart to use as raw material for knitting something else.

**gryffynklm** · 05-24-2013, 06:41 AM

Knitting???? or Sewing???

Unraveling a mistake in knitting and re knitting the kinked yarn is a pain in the neck. Just ask granny.
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**Cast-Iron** · 05-24-2013, 08:40 AM

Here's an idea to consider for inexpensive clothing. Try volunteering (or just shopping) at your area charitable thrift shops. My better half volunteers twice a week, and occasionally she brings home some new or lightly worn clothing that would have cost 50-60 times the price at full retail. Just last week, long sleeve Ralph Lauren shirts 2 for $1.00. You can acquire some quality clothing for pennies on the dollar while helping a local charity in the process. Seriously with only $40 or $50 and a bit of patience, you can slowly amass an emergency wardrobe for every person in your family. I've got a lot of nice workshirts in inventory. I can fix fence or clear brush in style. I actually had to ask her to slow down. Too many good deals and too little shelf space. I have a "hit list" of items if she comes across that we could use, and this has worked to slow her down considerably. Needless to say anything unique in cast iron cookware she has my blessing to bring home. Not too much of that stuff though.

+1 for a good sewing/repair kit