Monday, September 25, 2017

Budget Bushcraft Gear Review: French Army Wool Blankets- Grab'em while you can


Hey friends, I have no affiliation with Coleman's Military Surplus, but I wanted to let you know that they just got in some rare French Army Wool Blankets for just under $30 bucks a piece.

What's the big deal about the French Army Wool Blanket?

Well, I've owned a bunch of different military wool blankets, including the 100% Wool GI Blanket, Polish, Russian, Italian, Yugoslavian, you name it. A while back, I bought a French Army Wool Blanket on eBay, and it blew away everything else I've owned.

A big problem with nearly all military wool blankets is that they are too small for an adult to do the "bushcraft wool blanket wrap."

The bushcraft blanket wrap allows 2 layers of wool over your body, and 3-4 layers over your feet. It is much warmer to use a wool blanket this way than just covering up with it.

Most military blankets are only 52" to 66" wide, which means you can't use them to their full potential to keep warm when sleeping.

By contrast, the French Army Wool Blanket is a full 72" wide, which is as wide as a typical Hudson Bay 4 Point Blanket, the standard in bushcrafting for wool blankets. This makes it wide enough to actually do the bushcraft blanket wrap in.

Speaking of warmth, my French Army Blanket is probably 30-40% warmer than my 100% Wool Italian Army Blanket, to give you an idea. The Italian Army Wool Blanket, which has pretty much disappeared from the market and is highly sought after, now fetches between $100 to $175 on eBay.

It is a really cool blanket, but it simply pales in comparison to the French Army Blanket in size, thickness, loft and warmth in my opinion.

Here are some comparison shots of the two:
(click to enlarge)

My French Army Wool Blanket (left), weighs 5lbs even. My Italian Army Wool Blanket (right), weighs 5lbs 4oz.  The size difference between the two is noticeable: 


The French Army blanket is also tough like the Italian Army Blanket in case you're worried about durability in the field.

For $29.95, this blanket is literally the steal of the century, and there's a chance you may not see them again after these are gone.

Cheers,

Jason

The French Army Wool Blanket is available here- 

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