wool blankets? using and buying questions?

Posted by: Samoset

wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/03/11 10:44 AM

Hello everyone,
I have to be at work in a few minutes. So I'll try and make this quick. My wife and I usually share a 30f down mummy and a 40f down quilt. as I sleep a lot hotter than her this combination usually works quite well for us. we took an overnighter trip thanksgiving nite . When the temps drop below freezing . I found my self fairly chilled. Despite being layerd fairly well. I slept thru the night but not as comfortably as I would have liked.

Anyways I've been thinking of adding a wool blanket to my kit to use with this quilt when temps are a little cooler. Does anyone have any experience doing this. Can you recomend any specific blankets.

Thanks in advance.
Samoset
Posted by: lori

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/03/11 11:57 AM

I always take a 25F rated down quilt and have used it in temps up to 50-60F (at night, yes, the lower Kern can get that hot at night!). It's easy to regulate your temp by sticking limbs out the side of the quilt, and high quality down seems to do well for me in terms of adjusting to the ambient temps. I feel as warm at 50F as I do at 25.

I think I would take a fleece instead - not as heavy as wool.
Posted by: OregonMouse

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/03/11 12:26 PM

Wool is heavy! I still have a couple of Hudson Bay blankets that I never use any more because they are so heavy that the weight pressing down on my joints is actually painful! I'd look for a synthetic quilt (lightest) or, as Lori suggests, a fleece blanket. I'm told that when you double up on sleeping bags, it's best to have synthetic as the outer layer because when you have multiple layers, your body moisture often ends up in the outer layer.
Posted by: billstephenson

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/03/11 02:04 PM

Try using SOL space blankets as your top layer. Put them under you too if you're feeling cold on that side as well. They would be the lightest of your options, and the least expensive.

I've heard stories of people waking up wet that have used them. That's not happened to me yet, not even a tiny bit damp. I suspect they were sweating when that happened. If that's the case, I would think they could have adjusted things during the night and used a lighter bag the next time out to solve the problem.

But if that doesn't work for you, Coleman sells a fleece sleeping bag for under $20 that you can use by itself in warmer weather, and as a bag liner or blanket in cooler weather. It's rated for 50º and comes with a nice stuff sack too. Packs down decently small. I've had one for 5-6 years or more and I've used it a lot. They're tough, not too heavy, and multipurpose. You and your wife could use it wrap up in while sitting outside at night, and toss it on top of your quilt at bedtime, and you can even use it around the house. Works great when the kids have a friend spending the night.

Coleman Fleece Bag on Amazon
Posted by: TomD

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/03/11 06:42 PM

Wool is heavy if not warm and long lasting, but for what you want, why not get something like a Ray-Way quilt from Ray Jardine, which would be much lighter and probably just as warm? I have no experience with them, but have read good things about them from people other than Ray himself.

Another choice would be an overbag like my MEC Emperor Penguin, which weighs little, but adds about 10F of warmth to my bag rating.
http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/SleepingBags/Overbags.jsp
Even though mine is called the EP, it is an older one and is more like the Penguin than the newer EP.
Posted by: Kent W

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/03/11 06:59 PM

If car camping wool would be fine, but to heavy for backpacking. I have some nice old wool navy blankets army as well. We used to get them at a local Army Surplus. I would not carry one backpacking, but car camping would be a asset!
Posted by: Samoset

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/04/11 07:16 PM

Ok so the reason for mentioning Wool.

Was i seem to remember having like a 2lb wool blanket that was.

*warm when slightly wet or damp.
*Soft to touch.
*worked well by fires. As a Stray embers might singe it a little but did not engulf it to flames or melt it to your skin.
*I also seem to remeber it breething well and not stinking like a Dickens after a few days of heavy use from multiple people.

What I don't remember is where it came from, who made it what kind of wool it was or where the heck it is. Probably in one of my grandparents closets as I was very young when we had it.

Anyways I'm not saying wool is the only option. After posting I've come to realize a fleece liner and a light weight bivy would prob give me about a 10-15 degree boost. Problem being id prob still be at about 24 oz and three times the cost of a wool blanket I could be wrong. Don't quote me I'm still in research phase.

In all honestly I'm thinking taxtime ill spring for a WM bag. But I doubt my wife will
let me frown << a man can dream though

As far as space blankets go bill I swet a lot and even though there is always one in my pack. I intend to save them for when I am truely S#!+ out of luck. Besides I toss and turn a lot ant my wife would have likely suffocated me if I pulld that thing out. I'll take my chances with hypothermia and let mommy bear sleep.

Thanks for the replies I'm going to continue my Google quest. I'll update if I have any more questions or come up with a solution.

Thanks samoset
Posted by: TomD

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/04/11 11:34 PM

Wool does have all the advantages you mention. Canadian winter campers wear wool shirts and surplus Canadian Army wool pants (as I learned from the wintertrekking website).

When I was a kid, we had a couple of Australian Army wool blankets from WWII that my dad had brought back. They lasted well into the 80's and one eventually wound up in the doghouse, literally, as a comforter for my dad's german shepherd.

Google "surplus wool blankets" and you'll see plenty of them from various armies as well as army style copies.
Posted by: finallyME

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/05/11 10:55 AM

Wool's only downside is that it is heavy. This is really a decision that you should base on what exactly do you want it to do. Are you using it inside a tent? Are you laying next to a fire? Will it double as a blanket to drape over you while you sit by the fire? I would say that if your purpose is to use it next to fire (for whatever reason) then the weight is justified. Otherwise, I would look at another alternative.
I have a jacket that i sewed from a wool blanket. I LOVE it. But, it is heavy, and I don't take it 3 season backpacking. I do take it winter camping. Any army surplus store will have multiple options. The US army has a wool blend blanket that is 70% wool, so a little lighter than the 100% variety.
Posted by: totempole99

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/05/11 10:57 AM

The pawn shop downtown on the square used to have several things that fit the bill for what you are looking for, but they've been closed for a few years. Did you ever try this idea out from your post here? I've only used a poncho liner as a summer bag, but I imagine it'd be an effective supplement to your bag.

You could also try something similar to this liner, coming in at just over a pound.
Posted by: Rick_D

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 12/05/11 12:48 PM

Vague recollections from Boy Scouts have me "remembering" the Handbook instructing us to safety-pin together two wool blankets for our "bedroll." No sissified sleepin' bags for the BSA!

As it was, being allergic to wool as a kid I hauled the family kapok "sleeping" bag on my scout camping trips. Should have been called a "shivering and chattering" bag.

Once I outgrew my wool allergies I discovered army surplus wool pants, etc. and was startled at how much warmer they were in the soggy Cascades than Levis. A down mummy bag allowed me to discover overnight warmth, and only then did I like this hobby.

Whodathunk?

Cheers,
Posted by: ShadeDog

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 01/05/12 10:41 AM

I use an army surplus wool blanket cut to size for use in my deer stand during hunting season. I covered one side with cheap ripstop for wind protection. It keeps me warm even in the snow or rain. Others use fleece the same way. I keep the blanket in the car all winter long as part of a "just in case" winter kit.
Posted by: Dryer

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 01/05/12 11:22 AM

In the hot Texas late Spring and Summertime, I sometimes use ONLY a wool blanket.....no sleeping bag, or foam pad in my hammock. I like the "disaster blankets" sold by Campmor, which are similar to the military blankets. They are fairly light weight, but stiff as boards until you wash/dri them a few times. About $14 bucks.
Posted by: QiWiz

Re: wool blankets? using and buying questions? - 02/09/12 01:24 PM

Wool is heavy and unless used inside/under your bag/quilt will compress your loft. Wear your camp clothes to bed and you probably won't need anything more.