Knowing the unconventional uses of the survival blanket can be your go-ahead to continue living when all hope is lost. Still, you must wonder how one can use the survival blanket for any other purpose than keeping warm in extreme cold. You’ll see just how.
6 Unconventional Uses Of The Survival Blanket
Known by many other names such as Mylar blanket, space blanket, safety blanket, first-aid blanket, weather blanket, and heat sheet, the survival blanket has always been specially designed to save the prepper in the extreme (perhaps dangerous) cold. Over the years, there can be no complaint over the effectiveness of this gear, but you must know that you’ve been underusing it.
Below, we’ll look at six unique ways of using your space blanket, and you may wonder why you never thought of it.
A Signal For Help
I suppose you may already know that the typical survival blanket always comes with a gold or silver chrome-like touch, but did you know this design can be a lifesaver when caught in previously uncharted territory?
This chrome-like finish has a reflective surface, which will mirror lights, thus causing its reflections to bounce off and about to signal for help. This isn’t mere talk: there are cases of persons with this knowledge beforehand who successfully called for help using the Mylar blanket.
Often, they tied the blanket on a tall tree. So, when the wind was blowing, the blanket was bound to reflect light flutters that rescue parties could notice from afar. Alternatively, whenever you see a plane flying overhead, you can use the blanket to reflect sunlight and hope you’re noticed.
An Aid To Gather Water
The heat sheet is not porous, meaning that water cannot filter through it like other clothing. Therefore, it is capable of catching & collecting water when necessary. There are numerous ways the space blanket can help you gather water, provided the clouds decide to rain.
The easiest, often recommended method is to dig a hole before it rains and then position your blanket in the hole, like an inside wrap. This will form a small pool, thus gathering water as the rain falls. If this is the method you choose, keep the edges of your blanket raised to prevent dirty runoffs.
An effective alternative to water gathering with the space blanket is to tie up its four corners to trees and then drop a rock in the middle to form a downward cone shape. You can improvise a slide from the blanket or make a funnel that will directly divert the collected water to your container for more ease.
During winter, you can heap a chunk of snow into this cone and proceed to align the blanket in a way that it tallies with the sunlight. If well done, the snow will be melted into healthy water in a sufficient amount.
Building A Shelter
Your safety blanket has a host of contributions when it comes to building shelter. The basic idea is to use it just as you would a tarp. Numerous shelter models can be made using a tarp, and fortunately, the same applies to your blanket. Whatever shape the tarp can create, you can improvise with the survival quilt.
However, the blanket can quickly damage if punctured, so you have to know how to tie material down without making a hole in it. You can use paracord and duct tape to see things through.
Heat Reflector
I bet you didn’t know that for the first-aid blanket to melt; it has to be subjected to at least a temperature of 500° Fahrenheit. This feature simply means that it is a functional presence even within proximity to fire.
What the emergency blanket does as a heat reflector in the wilderness is to direct the heat from an open fire to your tent. Think of how a mirror can be used to divert rays of sunlight towards an object. This is entirely safe if done right. I have used a heat sheet to send some warmth from a campfire to my shelter on several occasions. Even if you do not have a large campfire, the survival blanket can be used to reflect heat from any source, no matter how little.
Effective Insulator
The survival jacket does not keep you warm solely by being wrapped over you. It can work very fine as an insulator as well. So, you see, the cold has nothing on you. On different occasions, I have used my Mylar blanket to insulate my fellow campers’ sleeping beds, thus keeping everyone warm. I have also used it directly with my hammock, and it worked just fine.
In an extreme situation that requires you to retain body heat as much as you can, you may cut up your blanket and stuff your gloves and shoes with the pieces for extra warmth. Should you be caught in the wild when the weather is unforgivable, you’ll be thrilled that you have your survival jacket.
You may not even have to look so far as the wilderness to confirm the usefulness of the space blanket as an insulator. All you have to do is visit the homeless on a cold night and see what they use when they have no cardboard.
First-aid Aid
The survival blanket is also called a “first-aid blanket” for a reason, don’t you think? A key basic in wilderness survival is treating an injury in the absence of professional medical assistance. You will come across various courses teaching several ways which your blanket can help when injured.
For example, it can make a makeshift slink for immobilizing a sprained or broken arm. Should there be bleeding as well, your blanket can also pass for a tourniquet. Furthermore, it can be torn to make splints or even used as a compression bandage should the need be.
Concluding The Unconventional Uses Of The Survival Blanket
You must take advantage of the unconventional uses of the survival blanket if you’re to survive the wilderness under some circumstances. Or is there any reason not to? I doubt it.