The Cold War Sleeping Bag

I'd heard that the winter military sleeping bags are a system of layered sleeping bags, making a cocoon that can withstand -30C temperatures. Well, I just bought a combination of old military surplus bags from a friend, and I'm extremely impressed.

They are labelled:

Case, Sleeping Bag, M-1945, Water Repellent
Case, Sleeping Bag
DSA100-76-C-1773
8465-00-237-8719
Rebmar Inc

Sleeping Bag, Arctic, Outer Shell, M-1949,
Type II
DSA-100-3511
8465-264-5085
Size Large
Feather Filled

Sleeping Bag, Mountain, OD
Water Repellent Type I
M1949, With Carrying Bag (actually I have no carrying bag)
QM(CTM)-11649-E-62
8465-242-7855
Size Regular
Feather Filled

It seems these may not be part of the same set, but they are of similar vintage (Post WWII - 1970s), and fit inside each other to provide the absolute warmest cocoon you could imagine. If you're car-camping and don't need to worry about carrying the weight of three sleeping bags, filled with feathers, I highly recommend this system. I weighed it, and it weighs over 15 lbs or ~7 Kg.

"Building on the success of the 1942 Mountain and Arctic sleeping bags, in 1949 the Army issued the Sleeping Bag, Mountain, M-1949. This mummy shaped, feather filled bag had a heavy zipper closure with quick release. It was intended to always be used with the same Case, Sleeping Bag M-1945 outer water-repellent carrier as the earlier sleeping bags. It was issued in two sizes, regular and large.
The M-1949 sleeping bag was issued for years, through the Vietnam War. It is common to find bags dated in the 1960s (if dated at all). The label sewn in at the head gave instructions for use including to lace the liner onto the sleeping bag, as shown in the photo. The outer liner had a set of eyelets that matched eyelets along the zipper line, as well as snaps that can be used to form a wind resistant closure. A length of olive drab parachute cord can be used to lace the outer water-repellent case to the sleeping bag itself, to form one unit. Other instructions included "avoid sweating" and to spread a poncho under the bag to protect from moisture, as well as to put padding, a pneumatic mattress, boughs or other materials under for insulation." -Olive-Drab.com

You can find this sort of layered sleeping bag system at your local army surplus store or eBay!

If you're Ottawa-local, there is even someone selling them in town for ~$200

Primus Model 2069 - Swedish post-1963 Camp Stove

Every year the City of Ottawa has a put-your-junk-out-on-the-curb day, where everyone in the city is encouraged to put their crap out, like a free garage sale, for everyone to drive by, and pick up.  It's a great way to get rid of that exercise bike you haven't been using and couldn't be bothered to sell on Kijiji!

I don't usually see anything that catches my eye, but I did this year! I recognized this as a camp stove, but didn't know its specifics until I got home; even now the details are a little unclear.  It is a Primus model 2069, made in Sweden, after 1963 (as the US Patent and Trade Office shows the patent was submitted in August of 1963).

Does this look like a 50 year old piece of camping gear to you?  To me, the peeling paint and bit of surface rust doesn't look too bad, and it's smaller than my Coleman, so it's prefect for getting bumped around in the back of the Suburban.  The catch is, the rubber hose which attached to the long-gone 1960s-era portable propane tank is cracking, and the end doesn't fit any modern propane tank, disposable or refillable.  So, I've got to build a custom hose before I can take it camping.

According to the patent, the burners in the Primus 2069 were designed to be used with propane over 45psi, and up to 105psi-275psi, without a regulator, to ensure an intense flame that would overcome harsh weather.  It turns out, a low pressure (standard BBQ) regulator normally puts out 0-20psi, a high pressure regulator can go up to 60psi, and unregulated flow would be...

According to the publication NFPA58, a tank with 20 pounds of gas at 70°F would have a pressure of 145 psi, at 90°F would have 180 psi, at 105°F would have 235 psi, and at 130°F would have 315 psi.
- http://gashosesandregulators.com/propaneregulatorfacts.html

So, can this 1960s-era stove be run directly off an unregulated 20 pound or 5 pound tank of BBQ propane?  It seems so!  However, a high pressure (60psi) regulator might give more consistent results, so that's not a bad idea either.

Reference:
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US3289731.pdf

Casey, Québec 2014 Trip

Old Road to Casey Airstrip

Between September 13th and September 15th I took a trip to the Casey Emergency Airstrip to check out what I hadn't seen before, and meet some new faces from L'Association Les Ailes Québécoises.  I detailed in my last Casey-related post what I wanted to accomplish, and at least attempted to get to each of the sites I mentioned.  Pierre Nadon, whom I met at Casey, pointed out additional sites that he and his friends from the flying club had unearthed before I arrived.  Unfortunately for me, it had been raining for quite some time, and the dirt road from Mont Laurier to Parent was rather miserable to drive on.  It took ~8.5hrs to drive from Ottawa, ON to Casey, QC with few stops.  On the way back I went East; taking me through La Tuque, Shawinigan, Trois-Rivières, and Montreal.  It took longer, but the road was better - it also wasn't pouring rain, so that probably helped!

Airstrip

Casey Emergency Airstrip

I paid better attention to the condition and construction of the airstrip than I had before, and took a video of driving around the perimeter of the entire airstrip.  The initial construction of the airstrip seems to have been concrete, with expansion joints filled with tar.  The entire airstrip is ~2500M long, but the middle 75% of the runway is paved over with asphalt, and at each end is still just concrete.  At either end there are parts of the concrete that have deteriorated and crumbled somewhat, but the majority of the airstrip is in superb condition.  As the airstrip is no longer maintained, the trees on either side have encroached where previously it was cleared.  The runway surface has some pebbles and sand on it in spots where ATVs have tracked the surrounding dirt onto the airstrip; a good sweeping would clear it up quite nicely.

Munitions Storage

Munitions Stoage
(pad where bldg was)

As I'd been told, and seen from the available satellite imagery, I found the munitions stoage facility at the end of a trail at the south end of the air strip, on what I believe was a man-made, or at least man-reinforced, peninsula in the middle of a swamp.  There were berms on all sides of the bunker in the air photos, and they are still as high as they had been when they were originally built.  I would guess they are 10-15ft high.  From the hole someone before me had dug in the side of the berm, I'd say they are sand and then topped with a layer of larger stone for structure.  The pad the building was on is concrete, thick and in perfect shape.  The pad is covered in moss and small seedlings, but could easily be cleared off with a flat shovel, or used as it is to pitch a tent.  Berms on all sides gives shelter from the worst of the wind.  Unfortunately someone has dumped some garbage on the NW side of one of the berms, away from the pad.  Rumour has it some locals believe the ammunition bunker is *inside* the earthen berm, which clearly, it is not.

Garage

Garage at Domestic Site

In the spring of 2012 I had seen what I now know as the garage building at the Casey domestic site, where the barracks, mess hall, and other comforts were located.  I had not noticed the exhaust vents located in the floor, or noticed that the large L shaped hole in the floor has stairs leading down, and we presume was used to get under vehicles to perform maintenance.

Generator Building

Generator Bldg

Behind the garage, through what is now the forest, is another cement foundation with channels in the concrete for what I believe would have been cables or conduit.  It has been going back to nature seemingly at a greater rate than the garage, and Pierre Nadon had a good question; why?  Why is the generator building covered in shrubs, leaves, dirt, and moss - when the foundation of the garage is mostly bare and easily accessible and viewable for what it once was.  Well, I think there's a simple answer.  Someone, interested in the history of Casey like us, has very possibly cleaned off the cement pad/foundation of the garage while exploring.  The garage is also right beside the road that leads to the airstrip, and is easily visible - drawing more attention.  The generator building is not obvious, and not easily accessible.  I believe I'll need to shovel off the foliage and dirt the next time I'm there to try and uncover the original footprint of the generator building.  Without trees growing into the concrete, hopefully the concrete wont deteriorate at quite as fast a rate.

Control Tower

I had completely missed the control tower the last time I went to Casey, but Pierre was able to point it out to me.  The basement is flooded, and there is no way out since the stairs had fallen in many years ago.  It's a rather gruesome horror show of dead things; mainly mice and frogs. Luckily you can see the entire basement, and it's quite clear there isn't anything interesting down there anyway.

Cold War Camping - Val D'Or, Senneterre, Ramore, North Bay

To update you on what I've been up to... The Val D'Or/Senneterre/Belleterre trip happened (October 19th - 22nd)!  But without Belleterre... There were a few on-the-fly changes to the camping trip; we couldn't get to the Senneterre GATR, and scratched Belleterre off the list after a major brake failure on the Suburban.  Both will need to be re-attempted in coming trips.

Here (below) is (more or less) where we went; I'm going to break out stories of the trip into multiple blog entries so they can be easily searched for down the road.


View Larger Map

Overall my impression of Val D'Or was much better than I expected.  It is clearly a booming town.  There is clearly money being spent there by the local workers, the local companies, and the local municipal government who's getting the taxes from everyone.  Good for you Val D'Or, you're not the armpit town I was expecting!  I mean that as a complement, honestly; from all the mining I was expecting a very dirty run down town - it was anything but!  Another surprising thing, to me, being from Montreal, Quebec - I was expecting at least some of the people in customer service to sneer, look down their nose, or otherwise be indignant to my traveling partner who spoke mainly English.  However, at no time anywhere in Val D'Or (or Senneterre) were we treated poorly, or given anything but welcoming smiles, when speaking English we were replied to in their best English.  I felt very much welcome.  Val D'Or was a picturesque town, with a busy main street, lots of parking, and clearly hopping with a booming economy driven by the local mining operations.  I'd go back again and again, I was very impressed with Val D'Or.  It surpassed all my expectations... and the food was *fantastic*.

As we failed to get to Belleterre, we headed to Ramore, and took a lot of pictures of what is left of Ramore AS / RCAF Station Ramore / CFS Ramore.  It was my first time checking out some of the domestic site, as the last time I concentrated on the operations site.

CFS Senneterre's buildings have has some holes punched in them, but generally they are intact, minus the Radomes, and provide a good idea of the footprint of a base.  The sloppy fence line allowed us to take pictures of things we shouldn't have on Telebec property.  No harm, no foul, I say...

On the way past North Bay (with 50% of the Suburban's brakes blown...) we stopped at CFB North Bay's BOMARC site to take pictures.  If we'd had more time, I would have talked to the owner and gone through the front door, but as it was I approached from the back and took pictures through the fence.

Here are all the pictures I have, I haven't excluded any, they are not very artsy, they are meant to document the trip :)

The Whirlwind Tour of Northern Ontario

I departed from Carp, Ontario at ~0100hrs on Saturday August 18th, and headed through North Bay to Kempis Mountain, my first stop.  There had been a troposcatter repeater at the top of Kempis Mountain to feed the signal from the Mid Canada Line (MCL) to North Bay.  After the MCL was shut down, the site was derelict, but other peaks of the mountain still had antennas on them - so the entire mountain wasn't shut down.  In 2009, as part of an environmental cleanup, the entire troposcatter site was dug up, and nothing at all was left behind, except a brass plaque on the cliff.  I wasn't expecting anything there, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found a fire tower on one hilltop, and an old Microwave repeater on another - the microwave repeater, from the architecture of the tower and the adjoining buildings, are surely military circa 1950s.  This makes sense, as all the pinetree line sites were joined by microwave towers which communicated hilltop to hilltop between each other and (I presume) down to hard wired locations further south.

CFS Ramore

From Kempis Mountain I travelled North on HWY11 just a little further to the former Ramore AS / RCAF Station Ramore / CFS Ramore.  Ramore had been built by the USAF in the 1950s, and it's architecture was subtly different than the Canadian built RCAF Station Parent I visited last year (and again this spring).  Ramore was sold to a private interest after it was shut down, so it wasn't demolished by the Canadian government as some of the sites were.  Some of the buildings have been razed to the ground, but a significant part of the operational site on top of the mountain still stands today.  I was very excited to see it, as I'd seen pictures of the derelict buildings taken by previous urban explorers.  The highlight of Ramore is the asbestos "Canada Tile" clad generator building, which doesn't have any windows left, but does show where the 5 massive Diesel generators powered the complex from.  It's an impressive warehouse-sized building.  Parts of the operations building and some kind of transformer building are also intact, as well as one of the radome buildings which now has an antenna on the top (purpose unknown).  Taking my truck where only ATVs should go, I also found the former COMMs building, hidden on another hilltop - but visible to the discerning eye using Google Maps sat imagry.  Some of the buildings at the base of the mountain have been re-purposed by local interests and seem inhabited; I didn't scour the entire area, I was on a short timeline.  I headed North (West) on HWY11 to stop next at Moonbeam to get a picture of the UFO, then on to Lowther.

CFS Lowther

Lowther AS / RCAF Station Lowther / CFS Lowther, as had been pictured in other people's photos online, was totally scraped off the face of the planet after it was decommissioned.  The only thing left is asphalt and concrete foundations, and even some of them seem to have been dug up.  I went to the highest point and got a few pictures, but there isn't much to see.  It felt good to know I'd seen it, but I was disappointed I couldn't see more of what had been.  I did notice across HWY11 there was an antenna tower, perhaps a microwave antenna tower... and sure enough there was a rusting microwave dish toward the top, and a 2nd one that had fallen off (!) the tower, and lay on the ground below.  The Steelox equipment building matches the dimensions and construction of the others, so I will assume it is a microwave repeater of military origin.  The day was getting late - I headed off towards Oba, but I had to give my exploring partner RH a call... but there was no Cell signal...  I visited the next LCBO I could find and asked for directions to the closest Phone Booth (SEE, I ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS!!) - it was a couple of blocks away... and after getting even more change from the corner store I was able to afford the long distance charges (HIGHWAY ROBBERY!)  RH was on her way, and I was on my way, to Hornepayne Ontario to meet up.

 

As I made my way to Hornepayne, which I would get to via HWY631, I passed Constance Lake.  Constance Lake is a native reserve ~100-150 miles south of where an F-102 crashed and it's pilot went missing on December 17th 1959, and is still missing to this day.  I suspect I'll be back there another day, looking for information.  HWY11 by this time was sparsely populated with trucking traffic, and once I turned off on HWY631 all that dropped off, and I saw very few cars or trucks.  Hornepayne was about an hour to an hour and half from Lowther, and after driving through town I eventually found the Esso (the meeting spot) and waited for RH. ...I might have indulged and grabbed a nap...

RH had found a hitchiker along the way who was headed up the 631, after saying our goodbyes to him, we packed up the truck, parked her little SUV, and headed to find food.  I wont say where we went for food, but it was in Hornepayne, and the food was... lacking.  

Probably not a good idea in a 2WD truck without a winch

We headed off toward Oba at 2100hrs on August 18th, as the darkness was falling.  Oba was only supposed to be an hour away, and setting up camp there, or at Hornepayne, was going to be equally challenging; so why not get closer to where we wanted to be?  After two hours on the dirt and grass covered back roads of rural-middle-of-nowhere Ontario I saw a berm ahead and hammered the brakes.  Getting out and investigating we found a dirt covered culvert (that was the berm), and some marshy ground past the culvert - then the road continued ahead... RH, who didn't want to be called a "Debbie Downer" for mentioning it, said she'd rather wait till morning and re-assess the situation.  She was right, getting stuck 2hrs by car away from Hornepayne would really suck.  My truck is a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 Sport 2WD with Posi and the 5.9L Magnum engine.  It's heavy, and it can haul ass - but when it gets stuck, it's stuck for good.  I'd brought straps and a come-along, but none the less, getting stuck at 2300hrs in the middle of nowhere, in a swamp, would have been bad. 
We set up camp and waited till morning.

That's as close as we got to the Oba Gap Filler Site. ~2Km away
Can't you see the fire tower over the trees?

The next morning I was up and checking out the location at 0645.  RH had been right, it was mushy for about 50ft past the culvert, and I couldn't tell how deep the mud was.  There had clearly been someone with a truck-width vehicle through here, the tracks were evident - but I couldn't tell if they went through in 4WD, or if 4WD would be necessary.  We turned around and found an alternate route, the Oba Cutoff was a marked road half way back to Hornepayne - we'd missed it in the dark.  The Oba cutoff wasn't a short route, it took us across a scary looking bridge (the route actually took us across at least 3 or 4 scary bridges) and eventually dumped us at Oba.  By now I was beginning to have doubts of the Garmin, Google, Topo, Satellite photos, and provincial maps I'd consulted before the trip.  Many of the roads which were marked on the topo map as a solid red lines (driveable) had deteriorated to a condition that would barely allow ATV traffic.  After circling Oba, we headed East along what I thought was a road that would take us to a logging road, which would take us within 1km of the Oba Gap Filler Site.  Unfortunately, I now know the road on the topo map isn't the same as the road I'd seen on the satellite view, a road which isn't on the topographic map at all.  The road we took became impassable, covered by swamp.  At one time it was a passable road, so said the topo map, but today it no longer supports vehicular traffic.  There were large areas along the road which have been clearcut and now have no trespassing & pesticide use signs - we tried to head south through them, but none of those would let us all the way through either.  We had pretty much given up by the time we headed back toward Hearst, when we saw a little back road... it turns out that was the road I'd been trying to get to before, and we were then on the road I'd thought we'd been on all along...  Once we were along a couple of kilometres, road conditions blocked us, with a bridge that had fallen apart, so we walked the last three kilometres to a place where we could see the fire tower, where the Gap Filler Steelox buildings should be... 2.1km away (we were standing at 48.99823, -83.93338).  It was getting late and we had to head back to Hornepayne, via Hearst - a significant distance, so we called it quits and turned around.

I don't know when we got to Hornepayne, but it was really late - after seeing RH to her vehicle, I headed to the rail yard in Hornepayne to watch the trains and see if I could get some pictures of the night operations... however, without a tripod, my plan was foiled.  I did witness a change of train engineers around 0500 - and I had a nap before heading toward The Sault.  My route back would be along the 17, with frequent stops for bio breaks, stretching, and some napping.  

By 1730 I was in Sudbury, checking out CFS Falconbridge.  Unfortunately, the gate had just been closed - I spoke to one of the employees, and he thought if I talked to the owner who runs the place I would be able to get permission to ascend the mountain while the facility was open (a nine to five operation)  I have his number, and will give him a call before I go back the next time.

I was home by 0100 on Tuesday August 21st.  That's ~2300km in 72hrs - not bad!

Things I shoulda coulda woulda done differently...

1. Build a Fire   
   I hadn't anticipated making a fire, didn't have a bucket for water, didn't really know where we were camping, and didn't want to attract the attention of the locals if they were fire-sensitive/paranoid.  I should have built one anyway.
2. Bring different maps and satellite imagery
   Someone somewhere must have better maps of the area.
3. Get a handheld GPS with a screen
   It would have been hugely beneficial to have a proper LCD screened GPS while we were hiking to the location of the gap filler site, pre-loaded with all significant waypoints and points of interest.
4. Blow some shit up
   We should have shot some cans at the sandpit we found on Sunday.
   In hindsight, there was nobody around for a hundred kilometres in every direction.
5. Carry a compass at all times
   After the last unexpected stop that took us within 2km of the gap filler site, I was disoriented and couldn't tell if the direction we were pointing was in fact the correct direction of the gap filler site.  This was partially because I didn't have the Google Map Satellite image that I'd familiarized myself with, and partially because I didn't have a handheld GPS or compass with me - they were in the truck.  I was going off of memory as to what the fuzzy Google satellite image looked like.
6. Satellite imagery trumps MNR Topographic Maps.
   Lesson learned
7. Know when to hold them.  Know when to fold them.
   We didn't give up on the Gap Filler site early enough, and RH was late getting back to her vehicle - my fault for poor judgment regarding time, speed, road quality and distance. 
   I'll know better for next time.

Next Time?

Yes, next time.  Going in that same direction there are still several gap filler sites to see, and a few Pinetree Line stations too.  

View Points of Interest Aug 18-19 2012 in a larger map

The trip, minus all the driving between Hornepayne and Oba

View Larger Map

Preparing for the road trip to RCAF Station Parent and Casey

(UPDATE: This trip happened) 

To recap, I'm going camping with ~8-10 of my craziest friends in the near future, and here's where we're going, in excruciating detail for my next of kin.  All times are approximate, and I've put no times to events on Day 2 and Day 3 because other than getting home around dinner time, I have no schedule I need to keep!

Day 1 ~450 Km:

• 09:00  Depart from Carp, ON
• 09:45  meet the rest of the expedition at Tunney's Pasture, by the giant microwave dish.
• 10:00  Pick up the downtownie, in the market
• 10:15  Travel to Mont Laurier, QC; via the 105, 107 and 117
• 12:30  Meet the Montrealer who's joining our merry band of lunatics there.
• 13:00  Allowing time for the unexpected, depart from Mont-Laurier for Parent, QC
• 16:00  Arrive at Parent, QC, make camp

View Larger Map

Day 2 ~55 Km:

• Break camp
• Explore the remnants of RCAF Station Parent
• Travel from Parent to the Casey Air Strip
  (NB: The road is not mapped, I will be GPSing it and adding it to Google Maps upon my return)
• Explore the remnants of the Cold-War-era air base near Casey, QC
• Make camp!

View Parent, QC to Casey Air Strip in a larger map

Day 3 ~500 Km?

This is where it gets a little hazy.  By this time we've been in the middle of nowhere, in below freezing (at night) temperatures, for 2 sleeps.  Some of the expedition may have become disenfranchised with the trek's vision.  Some may be cold.  Some may be whiny. 
By the start of Day 3, if all goes according to plan, we will be waking up at the abandoned airstrip at Casey, QC.  If we haven't done enough exploring the day before, we can explore some more.  By noon, at the latest, we should be heading home.

I have a "Plan A" and a "Plan B". 

Plan A  ("The Safe Way" - Back the way we came ) ~500 Km

• Casey, QC to Parent, QC
• Parent, QC to Mont-Laurier QC (Wave goodbye to the Montrealer who would take the 117 back East)
• Mont-Laurier to Ottawa, drop off the downtownie and whoever else.

If by day 3 we've had an incredible time, and we all feel invincible, we get to take the "new" way back, the road less traveled.

Plan B  (AKA The Yippe-Kay-Yay Way - BOOYAH!) ~480 Km

• Head along the forrestry roads from Casey, QC to "Chemain de Manouane" 
• Head SE along Chemain de Manouane, find the turn off SW toward Rivière-Rouge
• Decision time
• If the road toward Rivière-Rouge looks traversable by a Jeep Liberty, a Subaru, an Iltis, and a couple of pick up trucks - GIVE 'ER.



RCAF Station La Macaza - 1963
Credit: Donald Norrie

• If the road toward Rivière-Rouge looks too rough, head to Saint-Michel-des-Saints, to Montreal, and to Ottawa - skip the following instructions.
• Head to the Correctional Services Canada La Macaza Institution... and try not to get arrested. 
• See BOMARC Missile bunkers
  (from a distance I expect)
• Take the 117 to Route Des Ormes to the 323
• Take the 323 to the 315
• Take the 315 through Mayo to the 148
• Take the 148 to Ottawa

View Larger Map

Weather
Here are the weather forecasts for the areas which we will be visiting. 
In case of rain, snow, sleet, hail, tornado, flying pigs - too bad, we're going anyway...
DOORS OFF!

It's quite possible there will be a few people who won't talk to me after I put them through this! 
It looks like it's going to be really cold!