Gum Blanket -- What is on the market right now

[Slickrick214]

Has Nick Sekela stopped making gum blankets? I was on his website looking for someone just starting out and there was nothing to be found on the website about gum blankets.

[Pvt. Sanders]

If I remember correctly, he waits until there is enough people who want one and then makes a run of gum blankets. However, he could have stopped. Just shoot him an email to confirm, he is always helpful and prompt. Good luck

R/S

[McCluskey]

Claude Sinclair makes some great Federal painted blankets. I swear by mine.

I agree with this. I bought one last year and it is great. Excellent price, quality, and service.

Ian McCluskey

[toptimlrd]

Indeed, shoot Nick a note. He does make runs of them but only when there are sufficient orders for them.

[doc13thnc]

I have been making 10 oz painted gum blankets for several years. They are 72 x 50 and based on the Columbia Rifles book. I use 3 coats of black & boiled linseed oil and place 8 grommets, either brass or hand sewn (most popular). My woodstove makes for great drying during the winter. They are guaranteed for life (mine) and cost 49.95. You'll see me at most reenactments or you can order by phone.
Rex Hovey
North State Haberdashery
www.nshaberdashery.com

[Bill_Cross]

May I suggest that we distinguish between "painted ground cloths" and "gum blankets," which Back In the Day referred to a Vulcanized rubber product. There is nothing wrong with carrying a painted cloth item, but I believe that intermingling the two terms (no matter what THEY did BITD) will confuse newbies and those seeking erudition.

[confed]

I got a nice gum blanket with the Goodyear stamp on it from S&S not too long ago. I'm not sure if they still have them, but it might be worth sending them an email. The website doesn't seem to be updated too often.

Chris Hanks
Dan River Rifles
Pitts'a Co., Va

[billwatson2]

The rubber blankets in John Tobey's drawings in the Columbia Rifles Compendium: 68x42, 68x43, 62x38, 69 1/2/ x 32/3/4. Also a poncho, 72x44 1/4
Army regs stated 71x46 for rubber blankets, 72x61 for poncho, also from the Compendium. Obviously some corner cutting going on by the suppliers.

Additionally, there are irregularities in the "extra" grommet spacing for lacing up the blanket to wear; on just one blanket, for instance, they are two inches apart on one side of the "neck" space and three inches apart on the other. The distance from the pairs varies from 9 to 13 inches.

The article notes that the originals are thinner and lighter than what we commonly see today (and I'm not talking about anything supplied by anyone mentioned in this thread.) I'm definitely going to upgrade to a lighter one.

(By dumb luck I am rereading the entire Compendium because I am still somewhat laid up with knee replacement surgery, which turned out to be not a bit like putting new brakes on the car. Pretty dramatic chopping and cutting, lots of unexpected side effects like prolonged periods of something foreign to me called "immobility" and "no, you can't do that yet." And in the Compendium, in an explanation of the thinness of some soldiers in photos taken at Harewood Hospital, I find this: "We have excluded (photos) of convalescent soldiers, many of whom are even thinner. This was probably due to the physical ravages of their wound - the soldiers flesh was being consumed to fight infection and repair battle damage." Guess what? That still applies. I've lost about 18 pounds since surgery, apparently because my body would rather process "flesh" than spend energy digesting food. I can mark the spot at which most of the serious healing was done, on and about Day 33 : Weight loss stopped and my appetite picked up. That's probably a lot faster healing than the Harewood fellows experienced, due to antibiotics and informed rehab procedures, but who knew I'd get a Civil War moment out of this?)

[Curt-Heinrich Schmidt]

Hallo!

Two of the bigger differences between some of the modern reproductions and originals lies with the Period gum blankets being made of a very light weight, very tight woven akin to fine muslin and the very thin obsolescent/archaic vulcanized rubber using naptha process that "gummed" it.

Without finding the "Maple Leaf" article, IIRC, it discussed (?) that one possible explanation for the variances in the dimensions outside of the "regs" may have been due to whether the specified 71 X 60 was unshrunk or preshrunk material size. Or was that for shelter halves.

Curt

[Honor Guard Co. E]

Greetings!
I am looking for a piece of a poncho or gum blanket about 6" wide and 18" long for a project I'm working on. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.