I’ve had the Snugpak Jungle Blanket for a year and a half, and while originally an impulse purchase — I’ve grown to become a big fan. I purchased this to keep in my bug out bag (and it’s where I still keep it) because it seemed well suited to a versatile emergency item.
Over the year and a half, and now owning two of these blankets, I’ve come to appreciate them for what they are and aren’t. Everyone should own one, or perhaps two.
Why This Blanket
There were two things that initially sold me on this blanket:
- Water-repellent: this seems important if you are going to use this in an emergency. Rain always happens when you don’t want or need rain.
- Antimicrobial: which seems important in something you are going to store for long periods of time (like in emergency kits). Or something you might need to pack up while still wet, as in an emergency situation, and stuff back into a bag.
The antimicrobial half seems like a gimmick to me, but I went with it and got one, and then two. Because while I have no idea how to test the antimicrobial properties, I can say that it is a very nice blanket overall. To get a better sense of the blanket: it is a modified take on the popular military ‘woobie’ or poncho liner — effectively wanting to create something better, which is a little more versatile.
What I really like is the water repellancy, and the travelsoft insulation which holds up impressively well when the blanket is spending time being compressed. As compression is generally the enemy of any insulation and makes it hard to store blankets so they are ready to go later.
The Jungle Blanket is pretty simple, and yet effective and always ready.
Use
I’ve used this blanket a bit for extended time (again both live in my emergency bags). Once out camping, and once indoors ‘camping’. For my outdoors use, it was just fine on a warm evening. I sleuthed around what others say about the warmth under colder conditions than I have taken it, and most reviews seem to agree that you shouldn’t go much below 50-55°F and that jives with what my gut says. I used it at 65° and it was great.
Then again, at roughly the 70-74°F inside it is a very warm blanket. When I moved there was a couple nights when I knew I would not have any blankets at my new place, nor bed. So I packed an air mattress and this blanket to tide me over while I waited on deliveries of those items. The Jungle Blanket worked really well for that use case and no complaints — while I was also very happy with how compressed I could squeeze it down for the flight.
So while I originally grabbed this for emergencies, it’s now my go to for any time I can get away without a sleeping bag. Sleeping with a blanket outdoors is just a much better experience if the weather allows for it.
Lastly, when pulling it out of the compression sack it only takes a few moments for the loft to return. I haven’t tried soaking it or cleaning it, but it looks clean and has been holding up better than other options I have in this same category, even after seeing time with kids at a campsite. Where down options I have are getting lumpy from storage, and synthetic options are getting a little clumped and losing loft overall — the Jungle Blankets are holding up.
Other Options
Let’s talk about those other options for a moment. A lot of brands are making blankets in this style for camping use (mostly for around campfires or #vanlife). Rumpl and Klymit are two that make them and they are expensive. For a similar sized blanket it can be close to $100.
That’s crazy talk. The Snugpak is about $35-40 depending on where you buy it — a bargain by comparison. Or just generally a darn good deal in a world where stuff like this usually costs an arm and a leg before it’s good enough to use.
There are two other blanket brands I have tried, the Costco Double Black Diamond down throw blanket is a cult classic. Not really available online, and usually in stores every fall — these are down, light weight, warm, and cheap. They come in at about $19. I own three. Yes, three. I keep one in my wife’s car (comes in handy a ton) and two in the house for emergencies. They are fine but not amazing. They are warm, but not much warmer than the Snugpak. And down is notoriously bad when kept compressed while terrible if wetted. So that means it will lose warmth over time unless you are overly finicky about your $19 blanket. Still, dang good deal and the reason I have so many is because of the price and nothing else.
Kelty also makes a synthetic down blanket we have, which I picked up for a whopping $7 at an outdoor store clearance sale. I am not saying go buy that, but I am saying that most outdoors stores have massive clearance sales where synthetic blankets amass for deep discounts. These are very solid buys. As I said, mine was $7, and we use it a ton. My kids love it. The upside of this model is that it has a soft microfiber like facing on the inner material — the downside is that that material is a nightmare to keep clean outside. Best to treat it like those cheap sleeping bags we used to sleep overs as kids: works inside great!
So keep your eyes peeled, because none of these are likely to keep you warm well into frozen nights, but they are great options to stuff in emergency kits. (Synthetic is better if you are likely to get it wet, as down stops being effective when wet. Down will be lighter and compress down smaller.)
Buy This Though
Back to the Jungle Blanket: I love it. I bought two so that we have two for the emergency bags. I highly recommend it as a great blanket for warm night camping, or for emergencies (or both).
Some places to buy from: Amazon (that’s affiliate), OC Tactical (cheapest at writing), Drop (that’s affiliate).