Ok, so going out to Savage Gulf with your buddies or taking your family to Chilhowee is nothing like a group of 70,000 men crisscrossing Virginia and Tennessee trying to shoot at another group of 70,000 men.
But the gear used by Civil War soldiers 150 years ago and the type of equipment recreational campers take out to the woods every weekend isn’t all that different. “It was guys on a camping trip, except it’s a very serious camping trip with lots of guns,” says Louis Varnell, a Chickamauga reenactor and owner of the History Company and the Southeast Veterans Museum.
Like modern backpackers, Union and Confederate soldiers needed gear that was built to last and was light enough to carry for long distances. After taking a look at the gear, it’s not likely that anyone will be trading their Patagonia for anything standard-issue Confederate.
Tent: When Civil War soldiers had shelter, it was a heavy canvas pup tent. Men were usually only issued half of a tent and they had to find a camping partner to build the full structure-if they wanted one at all. “Most of the time, when the army was on the move, the men slept under the stars,” says Ken Padgett, of Resaca, Ga., who is the commander of the Georgia Reenactors Association. Winner: Modern Tents. Lighter, more options and you don’t have to share.
Cooking gear: Some soldiers carried iron skillets but most improvised with flattened tin canteen halves and bailing wire for pans. Some carried only two tin cups: one for drinking and one for eating. Winner: The two-cup system is admirable, but modern gear wins with one word: Jetboil.