The (new) Western Tiers Bedroll
-> Shop the Western Tiers Bedroll here <-
The year was 2015 and I was shipping a slimmed down traditional canvas flat bedroll design all around the world, with surprising success. It was the first product I was making on a new (to me) Juki walking foot sewing machine, which had recently been decommissioned from an inland outdoor awning manufacturer - the sole person in the company who actually knew how to sew had left, so the company in question decided to move manufacturing offshore and I bought the machine - you know the story, it's an age old story of dwindling onshore manufacturing.
Fast forward ten years and the Western Tiers Bedroll is back with some tweaks and improvements. Why a bedroll? What's the difference compared to a swag anyway? To be honest, they're rooted in the same philosophy of canvas sleep system and the term could be used interchangeably. Today's modern swag has somewhat morphed into what can really described as a one-man canvas tent, although there are certainly some traditional swag makers left, I think by and large the idea of a swag has become rather big, rather bulky and rather complex.
On my journeys and adventures in camping over the last 35 years, I've come to appreciate the simplicity of having all my bedding protected and ready to go. As such, the new Western Tiers Bedroll is for the kind of person who appreciates simplicity, quality, minimalism and traditional materials.
Currently the new bedroll is available in a heavyweight 15oz dry waxed polycotton canvas, as well as a lighter 10oz oilskin cotton canvas - both made in Australia. For those interested in oilskin, Kohutt holds perhaps the last stockpile of Australian made cotton oilskin canvas, which is a whole other disappointing story of the demise of Australian manufacturing (the canvas producer going bankrupt last year).
To complete the sleep system, the new bedroll also pairs perfectly with our range of traditional oilskin tarps.
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