The best wool blankets?
- Thread starter littlebiglane
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Are they really the best, or just the most expensive? (I mean that as an honest question - not nitpicking)
Not very environmentally friendly, the Hudson Bay blankets: Shipping all that wool over to Canada from England, then shipping it back sporting a label and packaged as a blanket... Surely there are UK made ones that have similar quality?
Not very environmentally friendly, the Hudson Bay blankets: Shipping all that wool over to Canada from England, then shipping it back sporting a label and packaged as a blanket... Surely there are UK made ones that have similar quality?
and by surplus I mean cheap-ish
John Atkinson & Sons ( http://www.atkinsonblankets.co.uk/about.htm ) make the point blankets.
Might be worth asking them, though might have some exclusive deal with HBC :/
Might be worth asking them, though might have some exclusive deal with HBC :/
Okay....I am thinking wool blankets at around a tenner 
(maybe a bit more) - which army does the best 'issue' blankets? French? Dutch? German? GB? Aussie? Kiwi? SA? US?........
(maybe a bit more) - which army does the best 'issue' blankets? French? Dutch? German? GB? Aussie? Kiwi? SA? US?........Okay....I am thinking wool blankets at around a tenner
Swiss maybe, kind of classics in their own right. Not too sure how easy to find one for a tenner though.
Should be able to find new wool disaster blankets for less than a tenner though. Usually 60% wool. http://www.surplusandadventure.com/shopscr3569.html
Those emergency blankets, if they are the ones I gave out to people at the Brazda Refugee Camp in Macedonia in 1999, are warm but not very robust. They seem to be made from reclaimed wool that is chopped and rewoven into blankets so they are multicoloured and what not. This isn't a problem in itself, but they aren't as robust as a proper woollen blanket.
There are links to British Army blankets on the forums, they can be a bit itchy at first but if you wash them with some fabric conditioner a few times on a cool wash and air dry them out on the line they soon soften up.
The US army blankets are a nice green colour! Trying to get them cheap though is a hard deal. There are green blankets used by British Army Medics, but I have never seen them up for sale yet.
Basically, if it is 100% woollen, you can't go wrong, if you want an inner blanket that is soft to stop the itchiness of the issue blankets, use one of those picnic tartan blankets that you get in the petrol station, they are surprisingly warm for such a thin blanket, soft and light.
There are links to British Army blankets on the forums, they can be a bit itchy at first but if you wash them with some fabric conditioner a few times on a cool wash and air dry them out on the line they soon soften up.
The US army blankets are a nice green colour! Trying to get them cheap though is a hard deal. There are green blankets used by British Army Medics, but I have never seen them up for sale yet.
Basically, if it is 100% woollen, you can't go wrong, if you want an inner blanket that is soft to stop the itchiness of the issue blankets, use one of those picnic tartan blankets that you get in the petrol station, they are surprisingly warm for such a thin blanket, soft and light.
Are these any good for you?
http://www.britishmilitarysurplus.co.uk/ishop/1069/shopscr59.html
George
http://www.britishmilitarysurplus.co.uk/ishop/1069/shopscr59.html
George
The three i have i picked up for about a fiver each in local charity shops which are always worth having a look in for bits of kit.
If anybody is put off by the site being in German and the shop being based in germany, then don't be. The guys and lovely girl in the Hildesheim branch are fantastic, speak incredibly good english and they will mail order to UK. It's not as pricey as you would imagine either!
Found these, can't vouch for them tho.
http://www.genuinearmysurplus.co.uk/pages/products/detail/rowid=680
http://www.genuinearmysurplus.co.uk/pages/products/detail/rowid=680
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