although I’d want to use a fabric that doesn’t have that much of a pattern. I’m thinking thick wool or wool blend, the sturdy/itchy kind that army blankets were often made of.
My only idea is to literally look around army surplus stores and see what is available because I’m a sucker for olive green, but I’m open to some patterns as well, e.g. stripes, plaids. Does anyone have a go-to store for that kind of thing? The inside of the bag would be lined with canvas, in case that makes a difference.
My 2 pennies. Not all “military” style blankets are made out of whool. Some are recycled newspapers or fleece blend. They are also used in TX prisons. You dont have to go Army Surplus store hunting, they have gone online and Amazon/Ebay. You may want to look at foreign army blankets some are interesting and available in the above mentioned stores. Want the real deal? The original and real military blankets are called “Faribault Blankets” made in Faribault MN. However, they would set you back a $$$ instead of $$. If you get a used one, it may be made elsewhere and still be “the real deal” as the military from time to time rotate the contract to be “equal” and promote local economies. But even though the specs of the material are supposed to be the same, there is no matching the quality of a Faribault Blanket. If you don’t want Army Olive Drab, the other services use blankets too and they are available in gray and blue. The manufacturer has other “civilian” patterns available. You may want to contact them see if they have the material available by the yard. Is a neat idea.
Thank you for the wisdom, @JOSEGAYTAN – you killed me with “recycled newspaper” but I don’t doubt it at all
Knowing about Faribault is hugely helpful. I’m probably out of luck on the raw fabric (I’ll ask though) but I might be able to get some of their remnants – reasonably cheap and it seems about enough for my purposes.
I really like the idea to look for the markings, it would add a lot of character. Think I’ll stop by a couple of surplus stores, just to see what they have.
And I really appreciate the offer to try the bag – that’s probably canvas, right? May have to give it a shot eventually if a wool or wool blend doesn’t work, but only if you truly don’t mind… I don’t want to do destructive surgery on something you might want to hold onto.
Oof. That’s a pretty decent sale and it’s a lot of material but… I don’t know, I’d feel bad destroying a brand new product. I’m hoping they restock remnants soon.
Duffel bag is somekind of nylon webbing. The old-older ones are canvas. They are not expensive and i have a “few” i can part with. The oly military bag made out of canvas that you may find is called a “kit” bag. Their actual use is to store parachutes. But even those ones some are nylon some are canvas.
while in the military.