20 Pack Emergency Mylar Thermal Blankets, 54" x 84" - by Science Purchase, Silver,Large, 73MYLARPK20

I took some camping to try them out and they worked. All the people who gave this negative reviews either don't know what mylar is, or expect the blankets to be something they are not. What they ARE: emergency blankets, meant to be lightweight and portable for use in an emergency to keep you alive, not necessarily comfortable. What they ARE NOT: a waterproof version of a thick blanket you would have on your bed. These are not really even meant for camping – I only did that to try them out. If you keep this in mind, you will find they serve their purpose. And at this price, you could give half of them away (I did) and still pay less per blanket than more expensive ones like Grabber Outdoors. To give a fair and helpful review, at the end of my review I will give a comparison to Grabber Outdoors, which is commonly recommended as better quality. If you don't want to read the whole review, please see the summary. For those who don't know what mylar is, it is that shiny material that balloons are made out of, kind of like a softer version of aluminum foil. And the fact that they come in a package smaller than your wallet should tell you immediately that these are not going to be soft, thick blankets. This is what keeps the size and weight down. That being said, the product claims and most of the comments are true: as advertised, they do reflect back most of your body heat; they work well as windbreakers and to keep water out; they reflect sunlight away when you want to stay cool, and they weigh almost nothing and take up very little room so you can easily keep a few in your camping gear, go bag, car, home emergency kit or even in your pockets. But to be lightweight and reflective, they are also thin and crinkly; they are not insulating, so in cold conditions you will need some sort of layer between your skin and the mylar; they will get holes if you lay them directly on ground that is not smooth (or forget to take keys and other pointy objects out of your pockets) and they will tear if you are not gentle with them. This is true of ALL mylar emergency blankets. TEST CONDITIONS: I did not use a sleeping bag, blanket or even a tent. I slept in the open using only a ground mat and my emergency blankets and was wearing only a T-shirt, shorts and low-cut socks. It didn’t get very cold (about 65 F or 18 C), but there was a cool breeze, and I tend to get cold when sleeping. After wrapping myself in a blanket, I did not feel the breeze at all and was able to stay warm, and even had to remove the blanket at times because I began to sweat. So even in freezing weather, with a sweatshirt, long pants and better socks, these blankets will keep you warm. I also move a lot in my sleep and I turned over many times, sometimes twisting and pulling on the blanket, so I expected to find it torn in the morning. But it was still almost completely intact. The only problem was a small hole, which was the result of me forgetting to take my keys out of my pocket. I was lucky it was only one small hole, which I fixed with duct tape. When they tear too much to repair and use as a blanket, they can be cut and used as liners for wind and waterproofing, signaling devices, sunshades for your car, and so many other things. SUMMARY: these blankets are extremely lightweight and packable. They are thin, crinkly and not the most comfortable but will keep you warm and dry. If it is really cold, the blanket will feel cold on your skin so a layer of clothing or light blanket between you and the mylar blanket will make you more comfortable. They will last the night – probably many nights – as long as you are careful with them, and they have many other uses. Finally, they cost less than $1 each. This makes them a better deal than the Grabber mylar blankets even though Grabber is slightly better quality. COMPARED TO GRABBER: Grabber makes two different products: a mylar space blanket like this one and an all-weather blanket. The best price at the time for the mylar blanket was a sale price of about $13 for a 4 pack, which is the three times the cost of these. When not on sale, they can be 4-5 times as much. They are slightly thicker than these, so yes, they are slightly more durable, and they also take up slightly more room in your bag/kit. Basically, the Grabber is like putting 2 of these blankets together to make it twice as thick for 4 times the cost. For both brands, once used, you will never be able to fit them back into the original plastic bag, so keep an extra sandwich bag handy. The all-weather blanket feels like a tarp. It is much more durable but is also heavier, bulkier and is much more expensive – they are typically about $15 each. Basically, the trade-off is durability for portability, and cost. Whichever you choose, they both do what they are intended to do.

I want to preface by saying I haven't used any of the blankets yet. I bought them for our emergency bags. They each came individually wrapped in a plastic bag. They are very thin and lightweight as I expected after reading reviews. I've done my research and know that I need to have two for each person for them to work effectively (one under and one over to insulate from both sides) and they have to be wrapped loosely to allow body heat to build up under the blankets. With this in mind, I'm not worried about the blankets being thin. I have tape packed in case of any rips during and emergency.

Great buy, I made family members a small survival pack and this was in every one of them. I opened up one and sat outside during a "COLD" spell in Texas 32-34 degrees. Made a big difference and they are of good quality would buy again for sure and it is a must have. UPDATE: I went out on 4 day back pack and the weather turned bad, dropped down to the low 40's and rained for 3 days. We used these to keep the rain off of us and to keep us warm. Lucky we had these since we had a hard time keeping the campfire going and being wet and cold could have made for a bad situation. MUST HAVE....

I've never used these for a true emergency. They are hard to unfold, but seem not to tear that easily. The Mylar used is almost translucent when held up to lights, but this doesn't seem to affect them that much. There is no way you could shove these blankets back in the bag and reuse them. We used 10 of these at a music festival (Riotfest Chicago) to sit on muddy or wet ground while listening to bands. They kept us dry(it had rained the first night), but did not keep us too warm when wrapped loosely around us. As a plus, our friends could always find us in a crowd.. A friend ended up wrapped up in one like a burrito, she said it was keeping her warm. The lows that night were in the 50's. These seem thin to use in a real emergency, but I have one in my car just in case.

I opened one of out the pack to test it out and make sure these are what we needed. The emergency blanket was warm. After wearing it over me for a few minutes, I could feel the heat that was trapped. That is very reassuring because if we ever need them, I know they work. The blanket was sturdy and did not tear when pulled roughly. We now have a few in each car and in the house. The price was very good compared to sporting goods / outdoor stores. I like how each blanket is individually wrapped and hardly takes up any space.