A perfect blanket?- synthetic fleece vs. wool

[Traper]

Hi.

I'm looking for the perfect blanket as the only thing to carry as far as sleeping is concerned.
What to choose? Wool or synthetic fleece? And what size would be perfect?

What is warmer? What is more "woods friendly"? What blanket would You use for night in the woods? ( No sleeping bag, no bivy bag, no termarest etc- just one blanket)

Cheers

[Scots_Charles_River]

There was a thread about the WWII Russian soldiers blanket as they did not use a sleeping bag. I would imagine it would be very dense weave wool ?

EDIT- Details below from the page http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/archive/index.php?t-13985.html

Let’s start into a normal routine day, beginning with how he sleeps (I will use he in this article, although "he" could just as well be a "she" no matter if we’re talking about infantry, mortarmen, tankers, or whatever). If he has a rain-cape/shelter half, he might have used it as a ground sheet to lay on, wrapped up in it, used it as a lean-to, or teamed up with a comrade to actually pitch it as a tent. Manuals show it with issue stakes and poles, but apparently most soldiers only carried the cape itself, in horse-shoe fashion over the shoulder with its issue rope or some other strap. Photos of it in use as a tent are rare, and it can be assumed that he either used sticks as poles and pegs, or some other expedient method. Use your own ingenuity.

Blankets, which were brown,(1) although issued in garrison environments, were not issued for field use. Soldiers were expected to make do with greatcoats. Here is an example: "On cold nights I shared a greatcoat with quite a few of my wartime comrades in the fighting lines. Many of them have since fallen...There is no brotherhood that binds people closer than the brotherhood that’s born in the lines, and a shared greatcoat is one of its symbols. You feel warm and secure with a friend close by. Actually, there are two greatcoats for two. A shared greatcoat is just a figure of speech. So what happens to the second? Duffel bags or lambskin mittens (with two fingers so it’s easier to shoot) are used for pillows. The individual tents that double up as cloaks are used a mattresses and the greatcoats are the blankets. The shabbier one covers the feet and legs and the newer one the upper part of the bodies. Both men settle down on the same side. If there is the blessed chance of taking off your boots, the feet are tucked into the sleeves of the greatcoat - a pair of feet to a sleeve. The upper greatcoat is pulled over the shoulders, the shoulder of one fits into the right sleeve, the shoulder of the other into the left. The result is a kind of sleeping bag, warm and cozy. If it gets inordinately cold, the greatcoat is pulled over the heads - one head in one sleeve, the other in the other. When one side goes numb and the other freezes stiff, both men turn over simultaneously and the fitful sleep of the soldier continues." (2)

[Bernie Garland]

Well iv'e got one of these if its good enough for Jonny reb and the Confederate Army its good enough for me

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Civil-War-BEDROLL-Oilcloth-Blanket-Bed-Roll-NEW_W0QQitemZ360059115469QQihZ 023QQcategoryZ13961QQcmdZViewI temQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

Bernie

[spamel]

Size is relevant to your body size. A big, fat, six foot six inches bloke will need a larger blanket than a skinny midget! Go for thick wool, and get a windproof layer over the top to stop the warm trapped air from being drawn away. Light canvas would be ideal as it will also fair better by a fire, synthetics will develop holes or melt on you. If you are sleeping with blankets, to my mind, a fire is absolutely necessary to give added warmth. Even with the temperatures we're having in UK at the moment, the nights can still develop a chill.

[sharp88]

I slept under a very dense wool blanket in the Sahara, that they used on dromedries for padding under the saddle. It was very warm but I was close to a fire all night.

[Traper]

Thanks guys :)

I'll go for wool blanket. I'm found this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-GERMAN-ARMY-BLANKET-Heavy-Wool-Toasty-Warm-OD-wGrey_W0QQitemZ230260286303QQi hZ013QQcategoryZ588QQssPageNam eZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

It's quite big so I think that you can wrap yourself quite nicely. Of course I pretty much always sleep by the fire and in some kind of shelter ( canvas/ debris).

[spamel]

That's coming from America isn't it? I'd check the postage costs first. It may be worth while contactin the people at Raeer in Germany if you want a german blanket. I'm sure they'll hold a stock of them.

[Traper]

Oh no- I'm not planing to buy it in USA. I will buy it in Poland. I've just posted this ebay site because it's in english :)

[crazydave]

some of the alpaca poncho's might be of a greater use as you can wear it then sleep in it either as a poncho with your legs outside or as a blanket as they are normall around 1.8m x 1.2m - I've read somewhere that a similar thing can be bought from rumania where it is still worn by the shepherds.

[littlebiglane]

I have been picking up the Xtra Weight version of the Dutch Army Blanket (grey-brown) - from Endicott's of Exeter (check out their website). There is the standard (still ultra-high quality) but sometimes Kev gets in the the XWT version which I usually ask him to put to one side for me. They cost £12.95 and are worth every penny and of much better quality than the good British Army ones. BTW - they are heavy and postage would be pricey to Poland. Kev might do the postage at cost and he does, often, do international orders.

If I recall the Dutch manufacturer was AaBe (Van den Bergh) who has been making textiles for over 150 years - but the manufacturers do vary - as do the dimensions of the blanket. Some can be massive, some a little on the small side.

[Scots_Charles_River]

You could always wear a real kilt. Recent thread about it on here.

Nick

[Toddy]

I was just thinking the same thing :D
I've slept in my arisaid before now. I tucked my feet up into the skirts and pulled the top up over my hair and face. The pleats help cushion from the ground (shingle beach, and a heather moor, in my case) and the way it keeps head and feet snug lets you have a good night's sleep. Besides, it's roomy enough to cuddle in too :D Keeps the kids warm cooried inside with mum.

The only thing that might have improved it would have been a waxed cotton hap to lie on and fold over. My skirts were damp in the morning but the wool was still warm.

cheers,
Toddy

[Nicolas]

You can buy the perfect blanket here: http://www.wildernessoutfittersarcher y.com/Backcountrytrekking.html

Check out his movies on Youtube a well, guy knows what he's talking about and goes ultra light.
The blanket is italian military wool blanket, I got one a month or so ago and the blanket is perfect.

[w00dsmoke]

I use a fibre pile blanket made from a mattress topper £7.99. Just cut the nylon skirt off and hey presto you have a pile blanket.
Very very warm, makes a great liner for a hammock and very warm on it's own.

WS