Field Bed

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History

I know of few existing period field beds (except viking beds). However, there are a great many pieces of art showing people in bed in tents, so we are certainly justified in wanting a bed to make our campaigning more comfortable. The question remains, "What would be the nature of such a bed?

There are two basic types of bed, Rope and Slat. The great majority of European household beds were of the rope variety, while the "Viking" beds from the Gokstad and Oseburg finds are slat beds. There are two reasons why a slat bed is preferable to a rope bed for field use.

1: Ease of set-up/break-down. Rope beds take a long time to set-up and inevitably stretch for a while, making your first few nights uncomfortable.

2: Weight. This is counter intuitive, but a slat bed actually weighs less than a rope bed because the rails of a rope bed must be massive to resist the tension of the ropes.

My Design

This bed was for a late middle ages English persona so a Viking style slat bed was out of the question. Instead, I built the frame in a style similar to existing 14th-16th century European rope beds, but lighter weight and using slats instead of ropes.

The headboad, footboard and rails attach to the posts using hand cut mortise and tenon joints with tapered pins to pull the joint tight. Most of the slats just drop in. A few of them have dovetails to keep the rails from bowing outward. The bed breaks down into nothing but pegs and planks.

Materials

This bed is made from red oak. The headboard, footboard and rails are ¾" thick, the slats are 1" thick and the posts are a full 2" square. Other woods are available on request. The finish is two coats of boiled linseed oil.

Cost

This bed sold for $980. Other woods or more detail work would increase the cost. Fewer slats for less than 100% coverage would reduce the cost. This bed is a standard queen size. Any size could be made, including custom sizes. Cost would vary with size, but, since each bed is built to order, there is no charge for custom sizing.