How to Use a Wool Blanket for Camping

A wool blanket can be one of the most useful items you can pack for a camping trip. Aside from the obvious benefits of a warm wrap on cold nights in a tent, the blanket can improve your outdoor experience in numerous ways, including cooking, packing and protecting yourself in a downpour.

Things You'll Need

• Wool blanket

Instructions

1. Wrap the wool blanket around your sleeping bag or bed sheet for extra warmth without the itching that a wool blanket could cause if placed directly against your skin.

2. Place the wool blanket over the outside of the tent if your shelter springs a leak. The blanket can also be placed under sleeping bags and camping gear on the tent floor as a deterrent to moisture seeping in from the ground. Wool is a natural water repellent. The fibers of the blanket will help keep you dry in a downpour.

3. Spread out the blanket as ground cover for a comfortable picnic or throw it over a wooden picnic table for an impromptu table cloth. Wood tables at campgrounds are usually weather-worn and filthy. Throwing a blanket over the table makes for a more pleasant eating experience.

4. Hold up the blanket as a wind shield when trying to start a campfire. Keep the blanket away from the flames by having two people hold the blanket by the corners while you start the fire, or rig a simple frame of tree branches lashed together with vines or fishing line and tie the blanket to the corners of the frame.

5. Pack quickly by spreading the wool blanket on the ground and covering it with lighter camping gear and supplies, including wet clothing. Then just pull up the corners of the blanket and spin the load a couple of times to create a makeshift storage bag that can be dumped in a car trunk until you are ready to deal with the contents.

Tips & Warnings

• Army surplus stores are a good place to shop for inexpensive wool blankets for camping.

References

• Wool Blankets and Fire Safety
• Wool Blankets for Camping