Anyone ever actually used a Space Blanket?

[Jager]

I always carried one thinking I would use it in the event I broke my leg and had to spend the night where I lay, but I question the effectiveness on this, especially with the clothing I carry theses days. It seems the clothing might even outperform the blanket anyways. I already carry a trash bag in both my possibles and kill kit and rarely use those in all actuality.

The space blankets weigh nothing, but there is a little bit of bulk to them, probably better to keep it and maybe even add another.....lol

Rizzy, while our modern day clothing probably is better in the warmth department, a 'blanket', whatever it may be made out of, adds that extra insulating layer to the whole body as one, and will hold in a lot of body warmth, just like a bivy bag greatly increases the effectiveness of a sleeping bag.

I was once holed up in an ambush site many moons ago, we had stomped 40k's overnight, were absolutely beat, then the next night while in the LUP the temperature went south, I actually put my legs into a garbage bag just for that little bit of heat retention, blokes were also wrapping themselves in topo maps that night, how much we would have loved to each have a space blanket.

 

[Biggs300]

They work great as a floor in a floorless tent. On one occasion when it forgot my bivy sack, I wrapped it around my down sleeping bag when condensation became a problem. They are too light not to have one in my pack.

 

[Aron Snyder]

I don't carry one, but I always have something in the pack that I can use in the same fashion.

Last season, James and I got stuck away from camp after he killed his elk. I got inside my quarter bag (it does not breath and retains heat well) and then got inside my DT1 bag. I had my puffy jacket and rain jacket on up top, so I stayed a lot warmer than I figured.

James did something liek that as well....and covered himself with branches

We also stacked a large pile of fire wood beside each of us, so when we woke up throughout the night, one of use would throw a few logs on the fire.

We did end up with a few holes in our clothing

The point I'm trying to make is DON'T PANIC, and use your brain and what you have to survive.

 

[Randle]

I always carry one for laying meat out and the what if factor of an overnight stay. I also carry a drum liner
I had a friend that spent the night hiking back to camp in the rain, He said he pulled out the drum liner , cut a head and arm holes in it and walked out, he said he stopped every once in awhile and would crouch down and spread it open and light his lighter under it and it would make a little micro climate to warm him up.
He also said be really careful not to catch that plastic on fire. sounds dicey but if you are freezing as Aron said use what you have.

 

[HellsCanyon]

Shoot I like the idea of using it to lay meat on, never thought of that...

Mike

 

[rhendrix]

only plan on packing mine in my kill kit, will serve double duty as a tarp, and if I get lost/hurt I can use it for signaling or for it's intended purpose.

 

[badkneesbro]

I think some are better than others. I carried a cheepy until a couple of years ago when I tried to use it to lay meat out on. It seemed to rip if I looked at it wrong.

 

[larryschwartz]

I learned this from a Civil Air Patrol guy during a survival class. He said to always use the orange colored ones and not the silver ones...the reason, the silver ones just look like water from the air and rescuers/searchers don't see it as a signal. The orange ones show up much better and don't look like water.

 

[Chris]

I used one of the silver lined ones in the Brooks range on a sheep hunt for a night. Strapped it across the top of an open crevase and put a slight pitch in it. Kept me dry. Used another one as a heat reflector from a fire in Colorado as well when we were too far to go back to base camp and sleeping with the elk. Worked like a charm.

 

[slim9300]

I don't carry one, but I always have something in the pack that I can use in the same fashion.

Last season, James and I got stuck away from camp after he killed his elk. I got inside my quarter bag (it does not breath and retains heat well) and then got inside my DT1 bag. I had my puffy jacket and rain jacket on up top, so I stayed a lot warmer than I figured.

James did something liek that as well....and covered himself with branches

We also stacked a large pile of fire wood beside each of us, so when we woke up throughout the night, one of use would throw a few logs on the fire.

We did end up with a few holes in our clothing

The point I'm trying to make is DON'T PANIC, and use your brain and what you have to survive.

This is the second time I have heard about the Timberline bivy. I'm keeping this idea in mind for future SNAFUs.

 

[Snyd]

The last siwash I did I put on all my clothes including raingear, rolled up in the space blanket, curled up inside my Outdoor Research XL pack cover and laid on top of my pack. It all helped but man... it sure would have been nice to have a bivi bag and sleeping bag! It was one cold, wet windy night.

 

[larryschwartz]

Anytime you use something that is reflective, like a metallic space blanket, you are better off putting it as close to your skin as possible, so wrapping it around you with your bottom layers on, then putting on other insulating layers and then your rain gear would probably have worked better.

 

[Snyd]

So how exactly do you wrap yourself in a blanket and then put your clothes on?! And why would I want to take my clothes off in a driving rain storm?

 

[larryschwartz]

Sny, you can wrap it around your torso and hips then put on pants and shirt. I was jist saying the closer to yoir body the better. Most pix show peoplee using it as an outer layer.

 

[hammer0419]

I had to use one about 15 years ago. If I didn't have it I might have been in some serious trouble!!

 

[larryschwartz]

The key to using a space blanket is in understanding what it is and its intended use. A space blanket is a heat reflector composed of a thin plastic film with a metalic coating on it that will reflect heat. You can use it in a variety of ways, such as:

~ wrapping it around your body as a blanket,
~ putting it between your ground pad and sleeping bag to reflect heat back into your bag,
~ putting it up on the far side of your campfire to reflect heat back at you and into your shelter, or
~ as they showed on the National Geographic series, "Ultimate Survival: Alaska", you can use it as reflective insulation in a homesteaders backcountry cabin, although the narrator called it aluminum insulation.

And, of course, you can use it as a signalling device.

 

[Rizzy]

I guess it wouldn't be the best choice for cooling meat then.....

 

[larryschwartz]

Not the best, although some people have used them with the reflective side away from the meat to minimize heat from the sun warming the meat.

 

[Snyd]

Not the best, although some people have used them with the reflective side away from the meat to minimize heat from the sun warming the meat.

I've done just that with the last 3 rams we've got. They work good at reflecting the heat of the sun and of course providing shade.

 

[robby denning]

I've carried them for years but only used them for boning out deer. I'll keep carrying them as they are so light and would hate to need and not have.