[Wayne]

If you're carrying one in your pac you can make a huge signaling device with your emergency blanket. To make it full size you would have to fashion a framework out of wood and cordage then attach the blanket. It should be seen a long ways away.
I have a couple more ideas for the blanket i'll share later after i try them out.

[stairman]

Hey Wayne,always good to be improvising with emergency supplies.Probably better at signaling than keeping you warm.A wind breaker is about it when it comes to a space blanket.If your sitting in front of a fire with one wrapped around you it will reflect back and help some and may keep you from freezing to death without a fire holding in some heat but they sure dont seem like they are doing any good while wearing one.Any moisture you develop cant escape and its possible to become damp if say 2 are used as a sleeping bag.One thing for sure,once you open one up its not gonna pack down that small ever again.

[Wayne]

Yeah i've had no more success with them than around the fire as well. That's why i said i have a couple things brewing as far as ideas go about them. I just like testing them before i post. Nice tips as well there Stairman.

[Hawk]

I had a space blanket years ago. Thought it was a joke after opening it and never replaced it.

Just wondering if that foil blanket could me made into some kind of make-shift solar oven/cooker? How about used as a water catch to fill containers from rain or dew?
A liner under the roof for a leanto shelter to keep water from leaking through?
Any other good ideas???

[Sparky]

Reflector for a fire (will burn and melt though),

[stairman]

Bandages maybe or swamp boots.Raincover for pack or shelter as stated.I have 2 unopened in my pack.

[rubberfish]

A foil blanket eh?
I bet a guy could find at least a dozen uses for one
if he was stuck out somewhere for a few days.
To me they've always seemed like a good thing to have.

[Wayne]

Originally Posted by Hawk

I had a space blanket years ago. Thought it was a joke after opening it and never replaced it.

Just wondering if that foil blanket could me made into some kind of make-shift solar oven/cooker? How about used as a water catch to fill containers from rain or dew?
A liner under the roof for a leanto shelter to keep water from leaking through?
Any other good ideas???

You're on the same trail as me there Hawk. It does make a decent shelter, and rain catch. I built a real solar oven sometime back, It may work for that too. Good ideas guys, keep-em comming. How about as a firestarter, if you could form it into a parabola... I'm gonna try it this weekend if the suns out.

[Stumpknocker]

I've got to put a good word in for those thin lightweight little buggers. I used one inside a 10 degree sleeping bag the night it got down to -10 degrees and it helped a lot.

I started out the night without it and was getting cold, so I broke open the package the space blanket was in and stuffed it inside my sleeping bag....just covering the top of my body. I wanted the condensation my body created to escape through the side and flow naturally through the sleeping bag.

It helped warm me up enough to sleep again, although I would still wake up every hour or so and have to turn over. The side of my body near the space blanket would be warmer, but the side of my body farthest from it would cold.

I would only carry a space blanket on my winter hikes though. I carry my old 10 degree down bag with me the other three seasons because it only weighs two pounds. It's usually way more than plenty for then. I normally end up falling asleep with no bag on in the summer and will just pull the bag over me like a quilt when the night air chills down. I now carry a zero degree bag and a space blanket for the winter. ( I've not had to use the space blanket since, but you never know.)

[garret]

i have used one a couple of times as signal mirrors in trials and demonstrations (the rescue chopper pilot said it almost blinded him )

they make good heat reflectors for single sided debris shelters to, keep your back toasty warm.

i have used em as backpack waterproof covers (run out of garbage bags)

waterproof boot liners,

arm restraint bandage,

as a belt,

as a temp water bag.

these things will do as much as a garbage bag plus being highly reflective, for the size they take up they are a usefull addition to the kit list