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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Seattle
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    212

    Cheap Wool(?) Warm Blankets for Cool Nights Outside

    The Covid has us thinking that we will be seeing a lot of our friends outside on our wood deck this summer. Live in Seattle and great exposure until the sun goes down and then the temp drops rapidly. Fire pit does not work and propane heaters seem like a pain in the ass as I read they only last for about 10 hours - I would need probably 3 and can't imagine schlepping the tanks for refills every week.

    So, to get by this year.....thinking about some candles/lighting in middle of group and individual blankets for those in need. We have done this in the past, but just grabbed some blankets from inside and they are on the lightweight size. Would love something heavy like Pendleton, but no way at the Pendleton price - probably want to buy 8-10 blankets. Army/Navy stores have some wool blankets at cheap prices, but can't tell the quality.

    Any recommendations? Anything I should look for, for example, weight of the fabric?

    Thanks in advance

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Aloft
    Posts
    4,074
    Quote Originally Posted by dump View Post
    Army/Navy stores have some wool blankets at cheap prices
    I think you just answered your own question. It's a wool blanket for outside. You don't need merino

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Shuswap Highlands
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    4,345
    I've got emergency wool blankets in each vehicle and in the trailer. They're 50/50 wool and 'unknown' fibres. Last forever if you keep them away from the fire, and about $15 each. Nothing fancy but they work. First aid wholesale suppliers, or resource industry supply stores.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Fraggle Rock, CO
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    7,766

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Posts
    791
    This doesn’t fit your Pendleton wool description, but these are pretty nice for outdoor use, especially if you’ll be getting any of that PNW drizzle. We have a few for use by the fire pit in the fall/winter and like them.


    https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/1160...ra-large-plaid

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    northern BC
    Posts
    30,881
    make sure they are not the blankets that the blue coats gave the first nations ...smallpox eh


    but seriously any cheap blanket
    Lee Lau - xxx-er is the laziest Asian canuck I know

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Park City
    Posts
    5,013
    Some of the ones from the army surplus store have been stored on something resembling oil. Brutal smell, impossible to wash out


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
    I rip the groomed on tele gear

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    212
    Quote Originally Posted by detrusor View Post
    Some of the ones from the army surplus store have been stored on something resembling oil. Brutal smell, impossible to wash out


    Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums
    Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check them out. The smell like oil, gas, is something I've read about in some reviews.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    In Your Wife
    Posts
    8,291
    Nobody has suggested just hardening the fuck up yet? You live in Seattle, not the high desert, the temps here don't "drop rapidly" after sundown by any standard. The lack of a large day/night temperature differential is one of the hallmarks of the climate here.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    206
    At thrift stores and army/navy you can find very good blankets. Navy blankets have been some of the best we found. The primary test is the sniff test, then weight and weave come into play. We only grab 100% WOOL. My brother used to hand out blankets and Costco chickens to the homeless as a holiday ritual, so he kept his eye open for good deals. Very good blankets do cycle through.

    We keep wool blankets in all vehicles for fire protection. If you are forced to abandon a vehicle while escaping a wild fire, wool is one of the few things that offers some level of protection from embers.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Eburg
    Posts
    13,243
    My bud is into old wool blankets. He shops Goodwill, eBay, etc. for deals. For Xmas he gave us a sweet 50 y.o. Hudson Bay blanket.

    Be sure to look for moth holes.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    truckee
    Posts
    23,111
    We have a bunch of fleece throws--not bed size, much thicker than the blankets you put on the bed. We keep the house cool and there's usually someone who is colder than everyone else or not dressed as warm. They would work well for outside. I don't know the brands. I think you'd have to shop in a store--I googled and it's impossible to tell if they're thick or thin. And a lot of the ones where you can tell look too thin. You want something plush, or that looks like real fleece.

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