I was wondering if anyone has tied out the SOL Sport Utility Blanket by AMK? Thanks.

I use this as a heavy duty footprint under my TT Rainshadow 2. It weighs ~10 oz on my scale. This is a pretty stout tarp. On the packaging, it shows that you can even use it to carry someone.

I picked one up today and like everything about it but the the smell. I am airing it out and it is going away. I like it because I can use it as a tarp, blanket or whatever.

I am thinking about getting another one and making a reversible rain jacket/vapor barrier out of it for when it is colder than 55F. It would reflect the heat back onto you when it is cold so that you could pare down some of the layers possibly and reflect the light when it is warmer.

About thirty years ago, the old Early Winters company sold a product called the Proton Jacket. It had a very thin nylon outer layer, then a space blanket inside, with some mesh netting inside that to keep it off your skin. It was all sewn together, so there were lots of needleholes. As a simple windbreaker, it was pretty good. It didn't really breathe, so things tended to get sweaty inside.

Don't count on that reflected heat thing to do much.

--B.G.--

Well, if I did make a jacket I would seam seal the thing or try to do some heat welding so that it would be waterproof. I know it won't breath well but just about any jacket that doesn't have its front zipper down and pit zip open doesn't 'breath' for me either so it is a moot point. I know the reflective material won't have major insulative properties but I could probably get a 10F bump off of it because it is pretty thick.

The trick, as I recall, is in sewing together the outer nylon with the space blanket to get an overall sewn pattern of maybe 2.0 or 2.5-inch squares. Then the inner mesh gets tacked in lightly around the seams.

Darn it. I hated it when that got left on some American Airlines flight to Newark.

--B.G.--

The new blanket is pretty durable in its own right and I don't think I would need to sew a nylon layer.

As with all space blankets, they are only good as vapor barriers and reflecting radiant heat. They are not good insulators for conductive heat loss. You need some air space between your skin and the space blanket. I have used one as a tarp over me. I pitch it with the ridgeline over the length of my body with sides almost down to the ground. It is quite the reflector oven. I have plans to make one into a tent, but have yet to do it. I just wish it was 7' x 9' instead of 5' x 7'.

David, have you considered cutting that to 5 x 5 and just using it as a tarp over the head portion of your bivies?

I just pitched it in my backyard using my two trekking poles. It is okay. I figure I will mainly use it when I cowboy camp incase it rains and as a windbreak and insulation for temps above 55F while sleeping. Now if I could just do something as easy with bug netting.

And improve my technique on setting up a tarp.

Edited by bpeugh on 08/31/2012 11:56:59 MDT.

<strike>I'm pretty sure amk makes a two person version that is significantly larger. Not sure the weight difference, though.</strike>

ETA: nope, same size.

Edited by spelt on 08/31/2012 12:25:43 MDT.

John, I not real flexible, so I have found it much faster to flip the door of my bivy open sit down and flip it closed. It can be done very quickly and does not expose my gear to the weather. My bivy is 8 ft long so I usually just push everything towards the foot a bit so nothing is in the door area when entering and exiting in bad weather. In sustained rains the biggest challenge is how to shed my jack and pants quickly while entering. That's where a tarp shines.

Brett, my plan was to add mosquito net to the perimeter of the blanket shaped to reach the ground for the pitch I wanted. Maybe also add a silnylyon beak on each end.

I think I'm talking myself into trying out the following arrangement. Standard UL tarp with beaks and a 100 g AMK Heatsheet blanket suspended a few inches below the inside of the tarp as a reflector oven. You would get radiant reflector and an air space for insulation. It will have to get much colder for me to test this in my Mojave Desert backyard.

Edited by davidmiles on 08/31/2012 18:16:53 MDT.

Put up some pics if you do go through with the idea.