Roman \"Canteen\"

[Cavok]

Matt
Is that a bit of copper tube in the top of the plastic bag?

[Magnus]

Yeah..the reason I used a bit of copper pipe was to cover up the plastic tube that is on the end of the water bladder. I just siliconed it on, and it works great. You could probably do something with leather, maybe wax it with beeswax to hide the plastic opening as well.

[Draconis]

Re: Ceramic bottles, are the insides glazed or what? Re: I was wondering about glass too, the Romans did some nice glass work. It made me think of the modern Fiaschi, straw covered wine bottles they sometimes use to bottle Chianti. I wonder if its a descendent. Re: Metal canteens. Iron rusts, I was wondering if they might have used bronze? Could an iron one be lined inside with tin to keep the water from contacting the iron? Re: Plastic Liners. They work for awhile but the Romans, thought they would have loved it, didn't have it. Would a bladder tied off or somehow sealed have worked as a liner. Oh yeah, plastic stiffens and cracks after awhile too. Re: Ceramic bottles again. Ceramic bottles of a good size probably in a net or rope covered, wouldn't ceramic bottle of a thickness sufficient to prevent being easily cracked weigh a ton when full? Have any originals been found at all? Lastly, it occurs to me that having your canteen of whatever material covered in woven rope when filled, soaking the rope as well would via evaporation while you're walking along, have kept the water cooler and more palatable when taking a drink.

[rzienta]

While the Romans had glass, wouldn't it have been fairly expensive? What about weight?
Gaius

[Draconis]

The good stuff would have been, I've seen pictures of some elegant Roman glasswork that ended up in China, probably traded for silk, I imagine. But they used glasswork quite a lot, maybe the not so elegant vessels weren't so costly. Just a possibility. It may well be there were an assortment of methods used to carry water according to what was on hand for the purpose. Glass covered by something cushioning such as woven rope would be an excellent water container. So would ceramics, gourds, metal. Modern military canteens are standard issue but back then I'm thinking it might vary from one unit to another depending on location and resources. Also, in regard to having to dry out gourds over a whole year, couldn't the process be speeded up in an oven set to low temperature with the door cracked open? Much like when you dry meat for jerky? Or a drying rack, again under low temperature heat? Seems like it would accelerate the drying process without scorching the gourd is one is careful.

[rzienta]

I agree with the different materials used, which, especially if privately purchased, would allow for a variance based on materials available and cost.

Gaius

[garrelt]

Found this one last weekend in Luni, Liguria, Italia.
Luni was an important harbour for shipping Marble.
Era 1st to 3rd century AD.
Classified as African earthenware.


[attachment=3845]DSCN0269.JPG[/attachment]

[ANTONIVS MAGNVS]

Those handles look pretty fragile to me.

[66kbm]

If i remember rightly...i am getting on in years...i'm sure i saw a post, possibly in the for sales section, that had a link to "terra" ware and this had a "canteen"? very similar to Byrons in his pic. Dont know the prices though.
Kevin

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Look on Venetian Cats links, she should still have info on them.
BTW, some one asked what the ceramic ones were lined with.....I think wax.
But there is a soaking process to go through to make them truely usable...

[Crispvs]

It is true that water will soak through a ceramic canteen, but this does not necessarily happen quickly. I only noticed that my canteen leaked after I had left it sitting on a pile of papers for several weeks without thinking to empty it first. This was next to my desk so I saw the paper it was sitting on every day. It was after about three weeks that one day I noticed that the paper was looking damp. I wondered what was going on and found that the side of the canteen was also wet. I wiped it dry and then, realising that there might be more than one reason for the canteen being wet, I laid it on a fresh piece of newspaper and observed it for the next couple of days. Each day I found that water was leaking from the canteen. After this I emptied the canteen and then held it under water to check for air coming out of possible cracks. I found no evidence of cracks and so concluded that water had penetrated right through the side of the canteen but had taken about three weeks to do so. Once it had soaked all the way through it continued to pass out through the surface but could not do so before it had soaked right through to that outside surface.

Crispvs

[garrelt]

For those who have not noticed it yet: Water or wine slowly evaporating (soaking) through ceramic or leather keeps the inside drink cool.

[Paul Elliott]

The iron flask is for oil.

Here is one carried in the baths (with a strigil) in a mosaic from the Piazza Amerina villa.

[Paul Elliott]

I use a leather waterskin. Brilliant.

[Draconis]

Does the leather waterskin have a liner? Have you treated the leather to waterproof it?