those gold/silver emergency blankets: do they really work, and how?
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Those gold/silver emergency blankets, also known as space blankets (or so i’ve heard) are made of a thin, lightweight, and heat-reflective material typically made of plastic, such as polyester film, coated with a thin layer of metal, such as aluminium or gold.
The way they work is by reflecting back a person’s own body heat, as well as any radiant heat from the environment, back towards the person. This helps to trap and retain the heat around the person’s body, helping to keep them warm in cold conditions.
The reflective surface of the blanket also helps to prevent heat loss through radiation, which is a major cause of heat loss from the body in cold and windy conditions.
Yes, they work. They are not comfortable or cozy but they will keep you from freezing. I slept with one once on an overnight trip where I forgot my sleeping bag, wrapping myself up on top of my regular daytime clothes. Not the best sleep I’ve ever gotten, but I did sleep, and was not terribly cold.
On a Boy Scout canoeing trip in the summertime, one of the kids’ dry bags failed when his canoe capsized, and his sleeping bag got wet. It did not fully dry out before nightfall and we had him get into the damp sleeping bag and wrap a space blanket around himself outside of the sleeping bag (so it was the first layer beween the outside air and the damp sleeping bag).
This worked; he said he was incredibly toasty, and when he got out of this thing the next morning and unwrapped the “aluminum foil” from around himself, a cloud of steam was visible rising up from the warm and still very damp sleeping bag, giving him the nickname Pop-Tart for the remainder of his Scouting career.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned yet is that the reflective material is also much more visible from the air which can help in rescue situations.
Yes, they work. They are not comfortable or cozy but they will keep you from freezing. I slept with one once on an overnight trip where I forgot my sleeping bag, wrapping myself up on top of my regular daytime clothes. Not the best sleep I’ve ever gotten, but I did sleep, and was not terribly cold.
On a Boy Scout canoeing trip in the summertime, one of the kids’ dry bags failed when his canoe capsized, and his sleeping bag got wet. It did not fully dry out before nightfall and we had him get into the damp sleeping bag and wrap a space blanket around himself outside of the sleeping bag (so it was the first layer beween the outside air and the damp sleeping bag).
This worked; he said he was incredibly toasty, and when he got out of this thing the next morning and unwrapped the “aluminum foil” from around himself, a cloud of steam was visible rising up from the warm and still very damp sleeping bag, giving him the nickname Pop-Tart for the remainder of his Scouting career.
Silver side up on a dark background and golden side up on a light background (like snow, for example). This way you can more easily be found by rescuers. Both sides keep you warm equally, though
Silver side up on a dark background and golden side up on a light background (like snow, for example). This way you can more easily be found by rescuers. Both sides keep you warm equally, though
they reflect infrared heat, exactly what your body gives off just from being alive. Think of the whole cuddle together to keep warm thing. those blankets equal cuddling with another
Not versed on the “how”, but they in fact work. They sometimes work too well, honestly.
When I was getting my camping merit badge in boyscouts, the goal to get the merit badge was to “survive” one night with nothing but the gear you could carry in your pockets, and build your own shelter.
Apparently I was the only one who took it seriously. I made a leanto shelter against a tree, coated the wall supports in mud, followed by dry grass stuffed in where the gaps were, and then just the dead leaves to patch up where any stickiness from the mud was.
Basically, it went from 80+ degrees Fahrenheit to below freezing during the course of the night. Every one was in a scout shirt and the pants (shorts, really), so they had very little insulation. The counselors that were in charge of the event decided to tell the kids that the badge was canceled because it was way too cold, they gathered everyone (or so they thought) built a campfire, and they all huddled around it the entire night to stay warm.
They didn’t get me because I actually strategically chose my spot and was pretty far away from the rest of the group. While every one else was shivering so bad they needed a fire, I was in my basically wind-proofed shelter, sweating half to death thanks to my emergency blanket.
By the morning my clothes were soaked through with sweat, I only woke up when I heard a distant yelling as they were gathering up all the kids… The counselors were honestly surprised *and* impressed because I was the only kid out of the 30-ish kids there who had actually completed the challenge, and also the only one who earned the merit badge that night.
They work extremely well, and I would keep one of those in my car along with a sleeping bag (Very harsh winters where I live, people routinely die in their cars due to being trapped by snow and not being found until it gets cleared).
they reflect infrared heat, exactly what your body gives off just from being alive. Think of the whole cuddle together to keep warm thing. those blankets equal cuddling with another
Not versed on the “how”, but they in fact work. They sometimes work too well, honestly.
When I was getting my camping merit badge in boyscouts, the goal to get the merit badge was to “survive” one night with nothing but the gear you could carry in your pockets, and build your own shelter.
Apparently I was the only one who took it seriously. I made a leanto shelter against a tree, coated the wall supports in mud, followed by dry grass stuffed in where the gaps were, and then just the dead leaves to patch up where any stickiness from the mud was.
Basically, it went from 80+ degrees Fahrenheit to below freezing during the course of the night. Every one was in a scout shirt and the pants (shorts, really), so they had very little insulation. The counselors that were in charge of the event decided to tell the kids that the badge was canceled because it was way too cold, they gathered everyone (or so they thought) built a campfire, and they all huddled around it the entire night to stay warm.
They didn’t get me because I actually strategically chose my spot and was pretty far away from the rest of the group. While every one else was shivering so bad they needed a fire, I was in my basically wind-proofed shelter, sweating half to death thanks to my emergency blanket.
By the morning my clothes were soaked through with sweat, I only woke up when I heard a distant yelling as they were gathering up all the kids… The counselors were honestly surprised *and* impressed because I was the only kid out of the 30-ish kids there who had actually completed the challenge, and also the only one who earned the merit badge that night.
They work extremely well, and I would keep one of those in my car along with a sleeping bag (Very harsh winters where I live, people routinely die in their cars due to being trapped by snow and not being found until it gets cleared).
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