TactiSMART 015: Backpad--NOT BodyPad for eXtreme Camping MilBivouacking

There is a survivalist and military school of thought that you NEVER SLEEP DIRECTLY ON THE GROUND. You will lose too much body heat by direct contact and the various bugs and critters will eat you alive. Call these folks the HAMMOCK PEOPLE because their stipulation is especially in the jungle tie a hammock to 2x trees and stay off-the-ground. Militarily, hammocks above-the-ground are exposed suicide; the infantryman must dive himself below ground-level to avoid all manner of direct fires; and an overhead cover roof is needed to withstand indirect fires and/or air bursting munitions. Digging-in takes TIME and is EXHAUSTING as any Willie & Joe cartoon from WW2 attests. 

The GIDO answer is all infantry to move by electric-drive hand carts--these would have already assembled OHC roofs and can be plopped down without wheels onto the ground top like a 2-man pup tent--but already assembled for a 2-man BATTLE BUDDY Team to lie in the prone peering out from left/right sides with their hand weapons aka a horizontal fighting position. Instantly means seconds. With more time, a vertical fighting position could be e-tool dug and the cart OHC roof placed on top, sandbagged and camouflaged.   

The FIDO answer to not being in direct contact with the ground is a closed cell foam sleeping mat that while not heavy is bulky and constantly getting in the way because its a 6 foot tall man's body length and width. Trim this down to a backpad--about 40 inches by 13 inches saving the tie-down straps to roll it up tightly and lash to your butt pack's underside's doubling as a butt pad when sitting. 

IF you don't have the sleep mat's tie-down straps, all is not lost--glue a soft and hard 2" x 2" piece of Velcro to the 40" x 13" trimmed pad where they need to be to secure into a roll. 

Roll up the trimmed pad tightly and place a 2x2" Velcro on the end's center and where it comes to a rest for the receiving soft Velcro. Glue immediately or black Sharpie mark its outline to glue the pieces when unrolled & flat.

THE PROBLEM IS FINDING THE RIGHT GLUE that will strongly adhere the Velcro to the soft closed-cell foam. 

The Industrial strength Velcro's peel-off adhesive. Nada. 

Fabric glue. Nada.

All-Purpose Glue. Nope. 

Super Glue--yes but still need more glue. 

Gorilla glue which takes forever to set/dry in conjunction with the Super Glue that holds together instantly is IMHO the best answer. If you have a better glue email me! itsg@hotmail.com

BEST ANSWER: A heavy duty sewing machine should be able to sew the 2x Velcro pieces securely to their positions on the reduced-size, sleep mat, but who has access to these?

GOOD-ENOUGH ANSWER: In the spirit of FIDO, DIY I present the glued Velcro answer to the reduced sleep mat roll-up requirement. 

NOT-SO-GOOD ANSWER: Could you roll-up the mat and hold it tight as you get a separate strap to secure it?

Yes, but it is a bit of fumbling and the strap is yet another loose item to get lost. 

The K.I.S.S. answer is to have the reduced sleep mat secure itself in its own roll with its own Velcro. 

Look! there's a GIANT chubby kat on the Archie Bunker chair! He's a MONSTER! Run for your lives! Grin. 

Semper Airborne!