It’s hard to say what came first—Instagram or the camp blanket—but one thing is for sure, the two are intimately entwined. What’s the point of social media if you can’t post a dramatic shot of you staring off into the horizon, Pendleton blanket wrapped around your shoulders? Instagram gold aside, the camp blanket has its purposes. A good one can add a layer of warmth on particularly cold nights, make a campsite feel like a home, or even act as a stand-in for your sleeping bag. Here are five of our favorite camp blankets that are just as useful as they are stylish.
Kammok Field ($85)
The is the best of both worlds. One side of the blanket is a tough 40-denier ripstop (the same fabric that’s in Kammok’s single Roo) with a DWR finish, while the other side is a super-soft fleece, also with a DWR finish. Not cool enough? The blanket has a “poncho mode” so you can wear it and side snaps so you can turn it into a sleeping bag, and it converts into a fleecy pillow with the help of the stuffsack.
Rumpl Down Puffy ($159)
There are plenty of puffy blankets on the market, but this takes the cake—its 600-fill down insulation, stuffed into a water-resistant 20-denier ripstop nylon, will keep you warm down to 40 degrees. Couple that warmth with the mere one-pound weight and the blanket’s ability to compress into a tiny stuffsack, and the Down Puffy can be your sleeping bag stand-in on a summer backpacking trip.
Filson Mackinaw ($270)
Filson makes a less-expensive cotton blanket, but , a 100-percent U.S.-sourced wool blanket, is built to be an heirloom you can pass down to future generations. It’s soft to the touch, warm as hell, and capitalizes on wool’s innate water-repellency. The Mackinaw is heavy (5.5 pounds), but that’s part of the charm.
Therm-a-Rest Proton ($120)
is a go-anywhere technical blanket built to enhance or outright replace your sleeping bag. It’s waterproof, filled with synthetic insulation, and covered with a reflective coating to keep you warm even when it’s wet. A drawcord at the bottom lets you cinch the blanket around your feet, and a snap-closure system hooks around sleeping pads and connects to other Therm-a-Rest blankets.
Pendleton 5th Avenue Acadia Park ($180)
We’re in love with Pendleton’s entire national park blanket series, but most of the park blankets are made from 100 percent virgin wool or a wool-cotton blend, which can be too heavy to carry into the backcountry. The still kicks money toward the National Park Service but is made from superfine merino wool that’s soft as velvet and feather light.