Camp Blanket for Winter Camp

We recently made a run to the east side of the state chasing coyotes and exploring in the snow.  Winter camping is my favorite - no bugs, few people, and the weather is already bad so you can't get too disappointed.  Besides, after the 1st day, you acclimate and don't notice it anyway.

Usually we skip the tent and sleep on the ground.  If it is too wet or windy, we'll hit the truck canopy.  This last trip we did both.



Which leads into this latest project - the bedroll.  I've been wanting one of these for years - something light and simple enough to keep the snow and especially the wind out, while not being too big of a deal to setup quickly.

The basics: heavy canvas, with a liner of Tyvek (for waterproofing) and one of those cheap, foil "emergency" blankets that never work very well.
 

The canvas is folded like an envelop, and open on one side to slide in your bag.





The tyvek is laminated to the space blanket using strong, double-sided tape at the corners and a spray adhesive to the blanket.  Easy and works GREAT!



The canvas works awesome to keep the wind from biting through the sleeping bag, and the tyvek/blanket helps keep the heat loss through the ground pad down.

Of course we did some thermal testing too - and the tyvek/space blankie did noticeably well at heat loss redux through the canvas.





Can't wait to get out and use it in the field.

The whole bundle weighs about 6 lbs - too much for a backpack trip, but not bad for winter truck camping over a week.  Setup time is < 30 seconds, making it the clear winner over tent setup.