best survival blanket

If by "survival blanket" you mean the heavy duty mylar/plastic tarps, you can get them from quite a few catalog companies. Brigade Quartermaster's sells them for around $11.00, I think; green plastic backing the silver mylar, which I prefer to the orange/red of some other blankets. Other than differences in color, I've never noticd any great difference in construction, and they're all about the same size, though I wish *someone* made one just a little bigger. The one in BQM has grommets on each corner, and is pretty stout. Their best use is as a ground cloth, over a bed of browse, or as a reflector as part of a lean-to shelter. They WILL keep you a little warmer, providing you sleep with your clothes on, but they're a little too small for a good sleeping blanket, and the plastic tends to be cold where it touches you. As an outside layer in a wool blanket shelter roll, it serves a purpose.
 
Hey Shrake,
Trying to E-mail you but it keeps coming back saying you don't exist. Due to the fact that I read your E-mail, I know that you exist. OK, there is a bit more on the phylosophical end about proof of existence but my brain hurts so that's the best I get right now.
I will leave you a private at Plainsman. If you have an alternate E-mail. Send it to me.
Doc
 
In New England a survival blanket is okay for summer and warmer spring/fall (see either REI or EMS they range from $3-$5)... however for winter/spring/fall I suggest you get an Adventure Medical Thermo-Lite Bivy (http://www.rei.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=8000&prrfnbr=5054307). It is essentially a survival blanket made as a bivy sack. It costs $20 and weighs about twice as much (only 6.5 oz), but it will keep you warm and dry in ways the blanket will not. I always keep a survival blanket in my first aid kit and also carry the survival bivy in the colder months.
Good luck and may you never need to use either...;)
 
I always carry either in my pack or in my car a heavy-duty mylar Sportsman Space Blanket. They only cost $9.99 at Cabela's in either red (if you want to be seen) or OD green (if you want to hide). URL at the bottom of this post. Campmor & lots of other camping/sportsman supply vendors carry them too, but Cabelas price is about as cheap as I've found.

There are two weights of Space Blankets. There are heavy ones (Sportsman model) with a reinforcing scrim of threads sandwiched between the reflective mylar side and the colored side, which are the ones I recommend. These have a cloth tape reinforced edge and grommets in the corners. The other version (Emergency model) is a really lightweight, pretty insubstantial, non-reinforced reflective mylar that tears more easily. The heavier ones can be used for shelter against rain or sun, a sleeping cover, lining a solar still, wrapping hypothermic victims, signalling rescue craft, gathering water, rigging an improvised rucksack, etc. The lighter ones will fit in a few cubic inches (very compact) and do keep you dry & warmer than just plain plastic sheeting will. But I advocate the lighter weight ones only where space is the only limiting criterion. They are a "use it once & throw it away" item. For general usage and anywhere that sturdiness is an issue (like in multi-day survival scenarios) I definitely recommend the heavier grade blankets. $10 is cheap for such a multi-use item.

Stogie, thanks for pointing out the efficiency of the mylar bivy bags in keeping one's body dry & warm. I've usually passed them over due to their higher price ($10 bivy vs $4 blanket at Cabelas). But the $$ difference may be a cheap price to pay for appreciably better performance. I'll have to check one out.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/standard-pod-wrapped.jhtml?id=0006243
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prrfnbr=1052&prmenbr=226
 
As usual, always check your equipment from time to time. I had one of those mylar/plastic higher quality blankets in my BOB for a couple of years in the trunk of a car and never used it. One day I took it out and discovered that the plastic side had come apart - like dried up and cracked - along almost every fold, so even these sorts of things which are not technically perishable will perish eventually.

Luckily I was near my car and had a roll of duct tape which I used to tape up the cracks and the blanket worked fine that day.


Refold once in a while it helps...
 
matthew, I think that failure had more to
do with poor storage than the blanket itself. I have one that I have kept in my emergency pack, which is kept in the house except when I carry it for whatever reason. It has never been exposed to the temperature extremes of a car trunk, and is just as supple today as it was when I bought it 8 or more years ago. Car trunks have killed more gear than any rain storm or acts of wild creatures.
 
That is so true, but if the pack/gear isn't in my trunk when I need it - which by definition may come at unexpected times - then it doesn't do me any good to be in perfect condition, but at home.

Still, the solution to this one is pretty simple. If you remove the blanket and refold it periodically making different fold lines, it should last a good long time even in a trunk. With respect to other gear, you have to pay similar attention. I keep a couple of MREs also in my trunk. At the end of every summer I take them out and feed them to my goats and pig, replacing them with fresh ones. I'm not worried about them spoiling over the winter, and they'll be fine over the summer too so long as its only <b><i>one</i></b> summer!
 
I agree completely about needing the gear to be *with* you at all times, or it does no good. I made up what I call my "Urban Kit" in a civilian rucksack for the express purpose of getting me home should I be in town (45 miles away) when the bottom falls out. My previous vehicle didn't have a locking door, so I was forced to keep the pack small enough to move it from my home, to the truck, every time I went somewhere. This serves 2 good purposes: it means that the pack is light enough to be carried long distances, and isn't exposed to the temperature extremes of living in a vehicle all the time. Granted, I have to make a conciuos effort to grab my bag, but this way it also goes with me when I ride in someone else's car.
 
Those heavy duty survival blankets are great for hiking survival kits and I also keep one in the vehicles but I also carry a couple wool blankets. I learned how handy these were clear back in high school (well, it might not have been wool back then). ;) And when the temps start to really drop, I carry a sleeping bag in addition to my wool blankets.
 
I too keep a wool blanket in my car...

You can't just roll a survival blanket. It has to be folded at least one way or its too long to put in a pack.

Yes, goats will eat anything, and if they don't like them, its just more for the pig.
 
I bought a while ago for my wife and I. they were stored indoors and basically I threw the out.

I have the heavy duty one which is awesome and I have used it a few times camping. I also have the bivy one from rei i have not used it yet. but it seems that a (painters drop cloth) plastic tarp might be a better idea since they don't break down. I carry those in my car along with a wool blanket and real tarp.
 
I really like the fleece blankets that are available for very little money in the major department stores. I carry four of them in my car and they are used frequently for various things. We've found them to be very good in humid or damp weather and they are snuggly! :) They are almost weightless too.:)
 
Adventure Medical (mentioned above) also makes a regular blanket w/ the thermo-lite material. The material is more like cloth than plastic, w/ survival info printed on the blanket.

Check out Campmor.com to see them.

Sam
 
Here is a quote from Doug Ritter of Equipped to Survive, "In my opinion, the toughest and therefore most reliable, as well as most versitile of these (survival blankets)is the "LAND/Shark," from Corporate Air Parts, which is designed for use both on land and in the water. It can also be turned into a tarp by slitting the seams. It is vacuum packed inside a very tough bag for protection from abuse in storage".


S.
 
Fleece blankes might be okay if you're inside or otherwise protected from the wind, but if there's a slight breeze the wind will cut right through you. To me, fleece is no good as a single layer. If you used fleece as a liner and put something windproof over it then it'd probably work okay. Plus fleece doesnt wick moisture away so if you sweat a little you're gonna get damp and cold.

--Matt
 
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