Mylar blankets, which are often called; space blankets, emergency blankets, survival blankets, and so on… are something that probably every prepper and/or survivalist owns or has at least heard of.
They weigh almost nothing, fit nearly anywhere, and it is said that they can be used in MANY ways during an emergency situation to help keep you alive.
You would think it’s a no-brainer to keep them around, but that does not seem to be the case. So, the main question we aim to answer here is, are they worth having?
But let’s begin by digging a bit further into what they are, their uses, and so on…
What Is a Mylar Survival Blanket?
These “space blankets” are super low weight, compact blankets made from a thin heat reflective sheeting. They are designed to reduce the heat loss from your body due to thermal radiation, water evaporation, or convection.
Additionally, they are waterproof and windproof, which is often important in many survival situations.
How Does an Emergency Space Blanket Work?
Long story short, without going into all the boring science that you don’t care about, what mylar does is reflect radiant heat. When this heat hits the shiny surface of the blanket it bounces off. This can be used to redirect the heat back towards the source, which is your body.
Basically the emergency blanket helps to keep you warm enough to stay alive (depending on the severity of the conditions) by reflecting the lost heat from your body back to you.
What Are the Best Ways to Use a Mylar Blanket?
There are a lot of things that people THINK you can use a space blanket for but many of them are wrong!
These blankets need heat to reflect back to you, so they don’t tend to work very well if you are already cold and just wrap one around you like you would a normal blanket. This is why you need to use alternative methods to help the reflective properties of Mylar work in your favor.
So, here are some of the best ways for how to use a mylar blanket for survival…
- Use with a “Regular” Insulating Blanket (on the outside)
Combining an emergency mylar blanket with a regular blanket will drastically reduce all forms of heat loss (evaporation, radiation, convection). Wrap yourself in the insulating blanket and then put the survival blanket on the outside of it for the double layer.
- Use as a Ground Sheet (below insulating vegetation)
Don’t mistake my words for thinking you can just lay it on the ground and sleep on it. That is NOT what I mean. These survival blankets offer ZERO insulation so you will not get any benefit from it by putting it on the ground and laying on it.
However, you can definitely use one as a ground sheet below something that does provide insulation; such as leaves, pine needles, moss, vegetation, or whatever else you can use to insulate yourself from the ground. The Mylar will reflect some heat back towards you, and will also help to protect you from the ground wetness since it’s waterproof.
They are also very useful for helping to build a shelter in general. You can use them in multiple ways to help keep your shelter more waterproof, warmer, and so on.
- Use as a Fire Reflector
A large part of why they are often referred to as “space blankets” is because of their heat/fire reflecting ability. These things are amazing at reflecting the heat from your fire in order to create a great amount of warmth for you.
Set it up across from the fire so the heat from the fire reflects back towards you. You’ll be super toasty! Many bushcraft survivalists utilize fire reflecting but they typically do it using logs or rocks. Mylar is better than both and takes much less effort to setup.
- Use to Wrap Around Yourself
This is probably the way most people think of using a space blanket for survival, but I purposely put it further down the list because it’s not quite as good as it sounds by itself. The image in many peoples mind is that you just wrap one of these mylar blankets around yourself and you’re good to go, no matter what.
The reality is that they CAN keep you alive and are certainly better than nothing, but they aren’t some magic solution. You will have a much better chance of survival if you use an emergency blanket in conjunction with other options (such as those listed above).
- Use as a Signal
Obviously this has nothing to do with keeping you warm, but it is a great use nonetheless. These are super reflective so they can be used to signal for help. This puts a whole new spin on them as a rescue blanket, and just one more way they might be able to help you in an emergency.
Side Note: It’s IMPORTANT to remember, and worth repeating, that Mylar does NOT provide any insulation. This is not like a normal blanket. Don’t ever forget this fact.
Do Cheap Emergency Survival Blankets Really Work?
Short answer: It Depends!
As stated above in various sections of the article, there are certainly some limitations to these survival blankets, and they probably aren’t nearly as amazing as you might have been led to believe.
Yes, they definitely do work to an extent, but you can’t necessarily rely upon them in all situations — as some people would have you believe. If you are in an extremely cold situation with no other protection then you probably aren’t going to make it with nothing more than a space blanket.
However, with that being said, mylar blankets are windproof, waterproof, and help to reduce the heat loss from your body by reflecting it back to you. So they are absolutely better than nothing!
Is A Survival Space Blanket Worth Having?
In my opinion, they are definitely worth having on you and keeping in all of your survival kits. Especially considering how cheap they are and how easy they are to store. You could get dozens of them to put everywhere and barely notice it.
They do work for sure, but the extent of them “working” depends upon your situation and how you are using them. It’s not a perfect solution but it is absolutely worth having just in case.
What is the Best Emergency Survival Blanket?
There are a LOT of these out there on the market, so we certainly aren’t going to go over them all. Heck, we probably don’t even know about them all.
However, the following come highly recommend in many survival circles, and are the 3 that we have found to be the best from our own experiences…
- Don’t Die in the Woods: Toughest Emergency Blanket
- TACT Bivvy: Emergency Sleeping Bag
- Swiss Safe: Emergency Mylar Thermal Blankets
Hopefully this helps you come to the conclusion on which is THE BEST for you depending your personal situation and preferences. Though you probably can’t go wrong with any of the above.
Major Problems with These Emergency Blankets
These “survival blankets” can certainly be great during an emergency to help keep you alive, or even aid in your rescue. However, that doesn’t mean they are perfect by any means.
So, here are some potential cons/negatives to these mylar space blankets that you need to be aware of…
Fragile
You do have to be quite careful with these blankets. They are relatively easy to rip and don’t stand up to much “wear-and-tear” at all. The last thing you want is for your survival blanket to be rendered useless because it has a huge rip in it. Some of them are more durable than others, such as the DDITW brand, but they still need to be handled with care.
I recommend storing several of them in every place you keep them. Rather than one, have a few handy. That way you can double up, have extras for other people, or at least have a backup if one rips.
No Insulating Properties
These space blankets are not heavy duty or “warm” like the regular blankets you are used to cuddling up with on the couch while watching TV, or in bed at night.
They lack any insulating properties so the blanket cannot generate heat on its own. Instead, they help you to retain heat, which may not be much if you are already super cold
Yes, they will at the very least block you from the wind. So that helps but isn’t going to get you very far in extreme temperatures on its own.
Worthless if You’re Already Wet
Yes, they are waterproof and can help prevent you from getting wet during rain. So, you can use them to keep the water off you. However, if you are already wet (and cold) they are not very useful at all.
They won’t help you dry off, which can make you even colder. Also, you may not radiate any warm air for it to reflect back to you if you are already cold & wet, thus taking away the entire reason for the emergency blanket.
Side note: It is highly recommended that you have at least 2-3 space blankets ready at all times in every location you might find yourself in. As stated above these things are super thin, lightweight, and can be quite fragile. They are also relatively cheap and easy to stock up on. So, it makes sense to get several of them to keep ready.
Conclusion
I don’t think there’s any doubt that having some of these mylar emergency survival “space” blankets around is a very good idea!
They may not be quite as good as some people say, and certainly aren’t the ultimate survival tool by any means.
However, they are very cheap, super lightweight, easy to store, have multiple uses, and definitely could be the difference between life and death in certain situations.
There’s really no reason I can think of for why you wouldn’t have several of them in various places such as your house, vehicles, bugout bag, camping equipment, hiking gear, first aid kit, and so on.