How to Make a Survival Blanket Sleeping Bag
More Articles Related to Improvised GearNow that you have read the Survival Topic on How to Make a Firebed, I will show you how to maximize the warmth of a single wool blanket, tarp, or survival blanket. If you have more than one layer, all the better and we will discuss how to best combine them.
For the rest of the article I will refer to any sheet(s) of flexible material you are using for warmth as the “survival blanket”.
In the video below I show you one method of wrapping yourself up in a survival blanket while laying on the firebed. Forming a survival blanket into a sleeping bag in this way efficiently eliminates cold spots and drafts while maximizing the amount of body warmth retained.
This method doubles up much of the survival blanket on top of your body, but keeps only one layer beneath. Much of a blanket beneath you will be compressed by your body and loose much of its insulation (that is why thick padding underneath you is important), so it is better to put most of it on top. Doubling up the survival blanket also creates a layer of dead air between them, meaning that two blankets together are more than twice as warm as a single layer of the same material.
Especially if you are not using a firebed, be sure to place ample dry material beneath your body to serve as both padding and insulation. Many people do not realize they are sleeping cold at night because a large amount of body heat is transferred directly to the cold ground. Rather than add more insulation on top, what they really need is thicker padding underneath them. For more related information see the Survival Topic on How Body Heat is Lost.
Test the Survival Blanket
First test the length of the survival blanket. Place it diagonally over the firebed so that opposite corners are centered at the foot and head. Then lay down on the survival blanket so that there is at least a foot (1/3 meter) of material sticking beyond both your head and feet.
If the survival blanket is too short, I recommend moving it up past your head so that there is about foot (1/3 meter) of material sticking out. This is because more body heat is lost through your head than from your legs and feet. To serve your lower extremities as a blanket, gather a large mass of dry insulating materials such as leaves or grass to cover your feet and lower legs to a depth of at least four to eight inches.
Steps for Making the Survival Blanket Sleeping Bag
The following directions assume your survival blanket is long enough to extend beyond both your feet and head. If not, first bury your feet in the dry insulating materials you gathered and start at step 3.
- Lay down on the survival blanket so that your body is centered diagonally with an equal amount of blanket above your head and below your feet.
- Sit up and grab the corner of the survival blanket at your feet and pull it up toward you as far as it will go, so that the survival blanket is snug against your feet.
- Grab the left side of the survival blanket and in a fluid motion sweep it over your body toward your right side. The blanket should fit snugly.
- Sweep the right side of the survival blanket over to your left side, covering the blanket you placed over your body in step 3. Notice how this effectively doubles up the survival blanket and increases the amount of insulation to keep you warm. When you sweep the survival blanket over, keep a triangular section that runs from the right side of your head across to your left armpit folded down. You can see how this is done in the video and is more difficult to explain than actually do.
- Fold the corner of the survival blanket that is above your head down over your face.
- Grab the triangular piece of survival blanket made in step 4 over your face and clinch the mass snugly against your shoulders and head.
View the video where I am wrapping myself in a wool blanket on a firebed using smooth, fluid motions. Note how I am especially careful around the head and neck area, where a majority of body heat is lost.
More Than One Survival Blanket
If you are fortunate enough to have more than one survival blanket, start the process of making your survival blanket sleeping bag by placing one on top of the other. Put the most waterproof survival blanket on the bottom and the softest blanket on top. Then when you follow the steps the waterproof layer will be on the outside protecting the inner layers from dampness.
Boulder City, Nevada
Take a survival blanket (3M type), a foil type survival blanket, and a 50 gal. trash bag. Hand to three people and have them remove the item from the package and wrap up it them. Have them do this with one hand in a pants pocket. They will find this hard to do, the survival blankets will not cover a person and they should of cut arm and head holes in the trash bag ahead of time. This demo gets a point across real fast.
N.C.
The wife and I made 2 of these survival blanket sleeping bags to see how they worked. We live in the south and let me say we both were sweating like a mule in about 2 minutes time. Looks like a good blanket come winter time off the grid!
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Ontario
Good post showing how use a survival blanket! And the firebed method is surprising, never heard of it before. Thank you Survival Topics.