The Wonderland of Wool!
I love wool blankets. Now I understand there are other great things made out of wool but I would just like to concentrate on the Wool Blanket.
I seem to always have some type of wool blanket with me every time I am in the bush no matter what the season is. Now if I would have to hike 15 miles a day, wool would absolutely not be an option because of its weight and bulkiness.
When hiking a simple trail not too far away and camp for whatever number of days you want, a wool blanket will certainly become an enjoyable commodity.
So why do I like them so much? I will give you a few reasons then we will get into more details. What an excellent ground cover it makes. Either to sleep on or just something to put your feet on. Also because I love open fires, as we know wool does not burn easily.
So it is not a problem to be able to sit close to a warm fire, wondering if the (embers) jumping coals (that’s what I like to call them are going to destroy it (for most of the other types of gear used for this purpose it certainly would destroy them). The worst it will do is create a few burnt black spots…not a big deal!
Now I know that genuine 100 % wool can be hard to come by. Even when we do find some it can be quite expensive. This is how I find them. Look into your grandma’s or aunt’s attic, there will be a good chance some good wool will be lying around. Or just ask around the family and see if they would have some to spare. Usually they always have some because today wool is not popular, so most people don’t bother with them, but for us who enjoy their company; it can become a long lost treasure.
Something else, look through your thrift stores or your local flea markets. You could get them for a couple of bucks. Anyway of all the wool blankets that I own, they have been found by doing the 2 things I described above.
Let’s take a look at some other important factors that wool could become for the passionate woodsman.
Qualities:
- Wool will keep you warm
- It also breaths
- It’s got great natural fire retardant properties
- It is durable and flexible
- It will keep from 60% to 80% of its insulation properties even when wet
- It also wicks moisture off the body to keep you warm
Wool functions as a “temperature regulator” so it can protect the body in both cold and warm conditions.
Wool is an excellent insulator. It keeps heat close to the body by trapping still or dead air within the fibers.
Not so good Qualities:
- It can be heavy and bulky especially for the ultra light backpacker.
So is wool an effective piece of gear for us who love the outdoors and absolutely love to practice bushcraft skills?
No need to answer that one.
Mike
P.S. Here’s a VIDEO that I attempt to show you different ways of using a wool blanket in the bush.
Haunt’s attic should be aunt’s attic and further down it should read as would have some to spare. Take the not out Josey. Mike suggested that we give you some help and feed back.. Other then that, looks good:)
Salamat
Ron &Jhuvey
Thanks Ron, I appreciate the help. I am constantly working on editing and I still miss a lot. Thanks again and if you see some more please let me know 🙂 Much appreciate your time reading our blogs.
I personally love wool. After 25 years of using various synthetic materials for clothes and jackets my preference is now wool. Two other great qualities of wool is it suppresses smell (think wool socks) and has some anti-bacterial qualities due to the lanolin in it. If I am in the bush for a few days wearing cotton, after a while I will get a slight rash on the back of my neck from the dirt and sweat. This doesn’t happen with wool. Although bulky for a back pack I find my king of the mountain shirt with a nycotton jacket (to cut the wind) will be comfortable to about -15C to -18C weather but without the feeling like a Michelin man which I sometimes feel wearing down or syntehtic jackets. For hunters wool is also quiet and is not glossy – makes for the best camo.
Thanks Jossy, I appreciate the extra input, that’s very nice of you.
Great web site
Thanks for checking it out, we appreciate it.
Hi Mike and Josie! Great Website!
Another great place to find wool blankets are Army Surplus stores. That’s where I always buy mine. They’re usually pretty cheap to buy.
Cheers!
Thanks Stephen, I appreciate you sharing this information. Army Surplus Store is one of our favorite places to go! Thanks for stopping by at the site 🙂
Great Web site, I will be checking in a lot !!!
Thanks Lonnie 🙂
Looks like you are posting the full sized images on your site. You need to use an image optimizer to shrink them down to “web size” so they download faster. It doesn’t shrink the dimensions, it will just make the files smaller so they download quick but they will still look good. Something like: http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/imageoptimizer/#.UyO5_lFdW1s or similar.
Hi Matt, thanks for letting me know. I just worked on optimizing them today, it should be better now. Appreciate your help.
I have been enjoying your YouTube channel and was very excited to learn of this website. I love it so far, and I appreciate hearing from your perspective. The site looks great, and the additional content is awesome. I like that I can quickly jump around to the areas that I am wanting to learn about.
Hi Michelle I’m glad that you like the website, thank you. We appreciate you checking it. Happy learning!
Mike and Josie,
Great website! I am so happy for you that you have built up a fan base big enough to do this. I’ve been watching your videos for a long time now and am a big fan.
I am looking for a wool blanket – do you have any suggestions on brands? Appreciate the Amazon product post.
Curtis
I don’t have any suggestion on brands but if you can find 80% to 100% of wool in a blanket, that would certainly be a good choice. The problem with specific brands is that they are very expensive, some will sell between $100 and $300 for one wool blanket. Most people can’t afford that, so I strongly suggest to buy a much cheaper one especially for the outdoors. They still do a good job and if ever something happens to it, I would just get another one. Hope this helps & thanks for viewing our vids.
Hello Josie,
I ended up finding a great wool blanket for only $70 at a Pendleton outlet store here in Anchorage, Alaska. It is perfect and fairly lightweight for a standard wool blanket. Absolutely loving it! Thanks again for the post and reply.
Hello Mike and Josie, I am looking at your website,again)Just wanted to say that I started to use wool blanket lately,but I need more experience to get 100% of it,switching from sleeping bag.I know about wool blankets for long long time from my grandparents like you have sad and they are 100% wool.But those they have are very thick( maybe 4mm) and very heavy and not suitable for our needs.Recently I got the right one and use it every time I’m out,it is a multi purpose item for all kind of weather,everybody need to have one.One more thing ,I’m thinking to make some clothing out of a blanket it will be cheaper than to buy the ready product)
Best regards.
That’s a great idea of making clothes out of wool, good for you!
A wool blanket is always necessary…
Salut Mike et Josie, j’espère que vous allez bien.
Je vais recevoir des couvertures en laine pour noel, tes vidéos m’ont rendu curieux d’essayer ça.
As tu des conseils pour les nettoyer (j’ai une couverture qui viendra d’un surplus ) tant au niveau d’eventuels produits anti mites ou tout simplement après utilisation dans les bois.
Merci d’avance et bonne continuation l’ami.
Guillaume
Ça c’est super Guillaume. La meilleur façon est de les faire laver a sec. Mais ça devient dispendieux après un temps. Moi ce que je fait je n’en lave une a la fois dans la laveuse parce qu’elle peuvent devenir lourde. Apres je les fait sécher a l’air ouverte. Si tu es capable de les faire sécher dehors c est encore mieux. Ça sent bon 🙂 Tu ne veut pas le mettre dans la sécheuse parce qu’elle va raccourcir 🙂
Mike
Hello, i am french
What si the model of your backpack ?
It seems to be practical for carrying wool blancket.
Thanks
Hi and thank you for your email…
The pack in the picture is an older one that I had bought from a local army surplus store. Does not have any name brand I dont think. Its been too long and dont have it any longer. I think it was German. I apologize for the poor info.
Mike