Tarp plus space blanket? anyone tried it?

[Man of Tanith]

Recently whilst mooching around the great wide web i saw a video (somewhere cant recall where) where the gent presenting it showed a tarp set at an angle with a space blanket tied beneath it at the same angle.
Apparently this along with a fire in front of the tarp results in the heat from the fire being reflected back onto you as you sleep.
Strikes me as a very good idea and i was wondering if anyone has tried this for themselves?
i know we are technically in summer still but i always like to plan for the season ahead

 

[SussexRob]

Not tried it, but seems to me like a giant version of a reflector oven. If it works for grilling grapefruit, don't see why it couln't keep a person toasty warm!!

 

[Wook]

You might want to baste yourself in something tasty... just in case it is too effective!

 

[Hoodoo]

I have used the space blanket as the tarp and it works well for reflecting heat. I don't see why it would not work well with a larger tarp for the same purpose.

 

[Retired Member southey]

Plus you would have the insulating effect of the air trapped between the two layer, if you used it like Hoodoo or in a flat backed lean too with blocked ends ( either thatched or pegged) you would trap and reflect a lot of radiation, I have used a space blanket in a lean too construction but as a inner liner to a thatched construction, toasty is the word!

 

[SussexRob]

I hadn't considered the air gap, good point that. So in all, looks promising. One question though, how well does it stand up to being buffeted around by wind, and how noisy are they?

 

[Retired Member southey]

like all things it depends on what you use, I used and use the blankets that come with issue survival kits, they look like the one in pic Hoodoo posted, green one side silver the other, these are quite sturdy, where as the type you see runners and drunks wrapped in are in comparison flimsy, as to noise, depends if its flapping in the wind or held taught, like a dd tarp

 

[ged]

I use my Jerven bag in the same way. It has a heat-reflecting surface on the inside of outer shell. I sit in front of the fire with the Jerven bag unzipped and hanging up behind me, almost as if I'd hung it up to dry. But I put a bit of a of curve in it to sort of wrap around me a bit, making a kind of cocoon. It never ceases to amaze me how effective it is.

 

[Hoodoo]

That particular space blanket was pitched at that spot for the entire summer, not far from my regular campsite in the Nicolet National forest in Wisconsin. so I visited it often and spent three or four nights under it over the summer. It rode out quite a few nasty storms that summer and never came down. When I finally took it down at the end of the summer, the tarp was still waterproof but the laminations had separated. Very tough tarp.

 

[Retired Member southey]

I use stocking clips to give the space blanket or pastic sheet tie out points if needed, though its just as easy to put a pebble or some sand\mud a penny on the the sheet bunch the materia around it and tie off with some line for you tie out either along the edge or anywhere on the sheet

 

[Hoodoo]

I use stocking clips to give the space blanket or pastic sheet tie out points if needed, though its just as easy to put a pebble or some sand\mud a penny on the the sheet bunch the materia around it and tie off with some line for you tie out either along the edge or anywhere on the sheet

The one I used was the full sized Space Blanket. I think they call it the Sportsman's Blanket but can't recall for sure. It comes with grommets.

Ok, I found one still in the box. It's called the All Weather Blanket and it is the original Space Brand.

 

[bilmo-p5]

Same idea as Southey; these are very good and quite gentle on the tarp.

 

[Retired Member southey]

The one I used was the full sized Space Blanket. I think they call it the Sportsman's Blanket but can't recall for sure. It comes with grommets.

Ok, I found one still in the box. It's called the All Weather Blanket and it is the original Space Brand.

Thats pretty cool, I have one of the issue ones upstairs, will get a pic, they are just a flat blanket, like the the kits they are supplied by BCB,

 

[bilmo-p5]

I recently bought one. Couldn't find one in green in UK so bought a green one from here in US for about the same price at the end of the day. Toying with making a 2'6'' x 7' envelope and using a fleece or thermalon liner with it.

 

[Chiseller]

Good elth, summat simple, cheap, very effective :thumbup: I've carried both and never thought of.combining them .cheers :thumbup:

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[John Fenna]

Warm and cozy with just the space blanket - a bit noisy in the wind if you do not have it tensioned though!
Roly posing in one I built to illustrate an article I wrote

 

[SiWhite]

They made a similar shelter in Series 1 Episode 1 of Dual Survial - with a plastic sheet in front of the shelter and a space blanket inside.

 

[Dreadhead]

They made a similar shelter in Series 1 Episode 1 of Dual Survial - with a plastic sheet in front of the shelter and a space blanket inside.

i was pretty fascinated with that and wondered why id never heard of it before. shows just how effective a sheet of foil and a sheet of plastic can be with trapping heat in

 

[SiWhite]

i was pretty fascinated with that and wondered why id never heard of it before. shows just how effective a sheet of foil and a sheet of plastic can be with trapping heat in

Indeed - clever stuff. Basic idea was that the long wave radiated heat energy passed through the plastic sheet and was reflected down to the sleeper by the space blanket. The warmth of the air is short wave radiated heat so can't escape back through the plastic sheet. Block the ends and you have a toasty chamber.

 

[Man of Tanith]

Isn't the plastic sheet and silver foil the Mors Kochanski super shelter? thats another to try this winter methinks

i've only got the cheap survival blankets but i reckon for the experiment that will suffice, can always upgrade if it seems worth the effort, then use the cheap un to coat me reflector on the other side of the fire. toasty warm