Modern Use
In Australian and New Zealand, the term "swag" (or "kiwi", as it's less commonly known) is still widely used to refer to a tent or other portable shelter used for camping or outdoor sleeping.
A modern swag is a waterproof canvas sleeping compartment that is sometimes insect-proof. All swags come with a foam mattress, and can comfortably be slept in with the addition of a pillow and sleeping bag. When rolled up the swag is relatively lightweight and compact, making it ideal for storage and transport. It is typically easy to erect and roll up can be done quickly. Swags are still heavily used, particularly in Australia, by overlanders. There are still a large number of manufacturers actively making both standard and custom-design swags.
The modern swag is designed for robustness and is marketed towards those travelling by vehicle - they are too heavy and bulky to be transported long distances on foot. Bushwalkers and hikers would use conventional lightweight tents and sleeping bags.
More recently, several camping supply firms have produced readymade bedrolls along the pattern of the original swag, and refer to these as "swags".
Read more about this topic: Swag (bedroll)
Famous quotes containing the word modern:
“There is something ridiculous and even quite indecent in an individual claiming to be happy. Still more a people or a nation making such a claim. The pursuit of happiness ... is without any question the most fatuous which could possibly be undertaken. This lamentable phrase “the pursuit of happiness” is responsible for a good part of the ills and miseries of the modern world.”
—Malcolm Muggeridge (1903–1990)
“Every modern male has, lying at the bottom of his psyche, a large, primitive being covered with hair down to his feet. Making contact with this Wild Man is the step the Eighties male or the Nineties male has yet to take. That bucketing-out process has yet to begin in our contemporary culture.”
—Robert Bly (b. 1926)