The Best Emergency Blankets

Swiss Safe Thermal Blankets

Heat's Best Friend and Worst Enemy

This blanket is a fantastic value that can deal with the harshest conditions Mother Nature can throw at you.

Best Overall

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Moderating our moisture and temperature level is paramount to staying alive in emergencies. If you find yourself without power at home or stuck in the middle of a storm away from shelter, Swiss Safe’s Thermal Blanket provides protection you can count on. Each blanket is made of aluminum mylar, with one side highly reflective and the opposite a color of your choosing. These blankets are large enough to wear while standing for near-complete coverage or as a sleeping bag liner to keep moisture out for relaxing sleep in otherwise tense situations.

Pros:

• Available in green, yellow, orange, red, and more
• Approximately 4′ x 7′ in size
• Extra miniature gold blanket included with four-pack
• Individual, reusable pouches included

Cons:

• Do not work well in windy situations without anchors

Don’t Die In The Woods Emergency Blanket

Pocket-Packed Protection

If space is an issue, this compact blanket offers an oversized comfort with an incredibly small footprint.

Most Portable

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Gallows humor aside, the prospect of emergencies turning fatal in the backcountry is genuine and can happen to any underprepared individual. Don’t Die In The Woods’ Emergency Blanket is your lifeline to the next morning when the going gets tough. This four-pack of blankets and carrying case comes out to an astonishing 9.5 oz., making it perfect for ultra-light backpackers and everyday people looking to bring added peace of mind. What we love most about this product is its reusability. While most mylar blankets fail to fold up as compactly as the initial packaging, this emergency blanket comes with individualized stuff sacks that made storage a no-brainer.

Pros:

• Extra-large design of 5′ x 7′
• Fully water and windproof
• Conservation-friendly company

Cons:

• Susceptible to tearing from the edges

Swiss Safe Emergency Mylar Thermal Blankets

Comfort for the Whole Crew

This blanket pack will ensure that the entire family is shielded from the unknown in the car, on the trail, or at home.

Best Bulk Buy

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If you’ve got a large family or hiking party and want to prevent life-threatening surprises, Swiss Safe’s Emergency Mylar Thermal Blankets make preparation painless. This ten pack features blankets just over 4′ x 7′ in surface area and 2 oz. in weight, ideal for backpacks and gloveboxes alike. While the original purpose may seem obvious, a mylar blanket’s functions are as vast as your imagination. If the situation calls for it, these nifty devices can also operate as a solar oven, sling, or fishing lure when tools are in short supply.

Pros:

• Incredible value for the price
• Resistant to edge tearing
• It can also be used to shield plants from frost

Cons:

• Included bags are difficult to reuse

Prepared4x Emergency Blanket and Poncho

Power-Packed Poncho

If you need to keep moving through the extreme weather, this blanket-poncho combo will quickly become your best friend.

Best in Versatility

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If you’ve ever needed to slog through a rainstorm before nightfall or endure a frigid evening in the stands cheering your team on, chances are you’ve had too many or too few layers on to feel comfortable. Prepared4x’s Emergency Blanket and Poncho is the answer to the crinkly, unwieldy nature of a standard mylar blanket. While blankets alone can be handy, movement is severely restricted without surrendering your heat to the outdoors. Prepared4x’s ingenious design accounts for this by covering your entire body, minus your hands and feet, with heat-retaining technology. What’s more, this poncho is double the thickness of nearly all equally-priced competitors, ensuring that emergency use as a tent liner won’t render it full of holes.

Pros:

• Available in green, orange, or grey camo
• It can easily fit a backpack underneath while hiking
• Friendly customer support staff

Cons:

• The armholes are somewhat short

Everlit Fire Blanket

Stop, Drop, and Roll Up

A completely different type of emergency blanket, this tool can help stop catastrophe in its tracks with unmatched fire suppression attributes.

Best for Fire Prevention

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Not all emergency blankets are built for keeping us warm, but that doesn’t make their function any less critical to survival. Everlit’s Fire Blanket is made to stop emergencies in their tracks with incredible heat resistance that can tackle blazes up to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. In the event of an errant ember starting a fire, pull the packaging tabs to release the blanket and put on the included gloves. This device’s fiberglass composition will suffocate just about any fire quickly and completely if you can surround it in time. This product is the perfect accessory for hiking in drought-prone areas or even for the home in the event of an electric or grease fire.

Pros:

• Two blankets included
• Veteran-run business
• Hang the packages with featured grommet holes for convenience

Cons:

• Single-use only

Frequently Asked Questions

How do mylar blankets work?

Mylar was designed by NASA and has a storied history of insulating astronauts from the Apollo Program and Skylab. Whereas traditional blankets try to keep as much warm air as close to you as possible, emergency mylar blankets work differently. Mylar is essentially a thin sheet of aluminum and plastic that traps radiant body heat. Half of our body heat is lost due to radiation, so retaining 90% is quite extraordinary.

Do emergency blankets warm you up when you’re already cold?

The same properties that make mylar ideal for weather prevention also make it less than ideal for resuscitation. Mylar is incredibly thin and intentionally lacks in the insulation department because of its lightweight design. If you are fearful that you’re on the course for hypothermia, a thermal blanket alone will not save you. Instead, use a dry, thick layer of insulated fabric underneath the emergency blanket to get the best of both worlds.