Reflections on the Ruana Cloak

I saw the end of this video:

BEST Cloak for a Medieval Adventurer
28th Aug. 2021 | Living Anachronism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfaPo-zFZz8

16:23 A good cloak must have two functions : warm you in cold weather (Ruana cloak seems adequate, I take your word) and not warm you in warm weather - meaning, you have to be able to wear it hanging loose.

You just said you wore it in cold weather at college ... seems to imply you left it at home when the weather was warm.

A Medieval travaller could not count on inns each night, and so had to be able to be warm at night even if cool at day.

And before you say "suitcase" - those are OK in taxis, busses and trains, but not on foot or on horseback. Or donkeyback.

And before you say "backpack" (the Middle Ages did have some counterparts to that) - you want to keep those light, so being able to let your cloak hang loosely over it instead of tucking it into it would be very key to its usefulness.

I have two jackets turned into cloaks by adding a string for neck and shoulder area carrying on each. Now, both hang loose. This night, one of them was worn as a jacket.

16:51 Ah - my quibble seems to be solved (but both front quarters up still seems a bit warmer than how I wear what I wear right now ...).

18:33 Cloak and hood separate - good point.

While both jacket-cloaks do have hoodies, I have a hood with the shoulderpiece going halfway down the upper arm.

20:52 Cloak strap - mine is big, like those of Hungarian cavalry. I can theoretically (when wearing loose) have it above left shoulder and strap below right one, as they, but for certain reasons (inner pocket of jacket and when carrying sacks over left shoulder, I prefer the strap above right shoulder and the cloak below the left one instead.

Probably not too hard to get off in a hurry (but wool in water is a killer if you can't).

24:51 Already did.

I noted, my like didn't push it from 11 K to 12 K, but there were zero dislikes. Deservedly.