Have you ever wondered how you would survive if you get stuck in a snowstorm and cannot move your vehicle? It would be a hazardous situation for anybody and the freezing temperature will make survival a lot more difficult. You can still hope to find a good shelter if you are in the city, but what if you are in a deserted area. You will need something that can keep you warm and comfortable throughout this period. There is no other better option than a space blanket or emergency blanket. It is an innovative blanket, designed especially to protect you during hazardous situations.

What is an emergency blanket?

The emergency blanket is also famously known as the space blanket, Mylar blanket, safety blanket, first aid blanket, heat sheet, and weather blanket. It is quite lightweight and low-bulk blanket, which is prepared from a heat-reflecting plastic sheet. It looks like aluminum foil, but it is not an aluminum foil blanket.

The space blanket was developed by NASA. The main purpose behind the creation of this innovative blanket was to coat it around the exterior surface of space crafts. It offers exceptional thermal control and that’s why it is quite useful for NASA.

The space blanket prevents heat loss regardless of how cold the temperature is outside. It helps you in maintaining an optimum temperature of your body and that’s why it is quite essential for survival under adverse circumstances. You can carry this blanket in your pocket, that’s how small it can be after folding properly.

The adventure lovers, hikers, and mountaineers love it the most because they often need it during bad weather. You can easily pack your emergency blanket in the first-aid kit and carry it with you anywhere you go. It will be an ultimate defense against the cold weather.

The invention of space blanket:

Nobody could ever believe it that NASA was unable to prevent the Skylab space station from disaster if National Metallizing would not have helped them in developing a metal sheet to reflect the heat. The Skylab space station had begun overheating due to a broken heat shield. The temperature inside the space station was constantly increasing. Both agencies worked together to find a way of preventing heat loss and reflecting the exterior heat. That’s how the space blanket was developed and it still being used today by NASA.

There is no need to say that the space blanket is a very necessary survival accessory for anyone, who is an adventure lover. However, it does not mean that ordinary people cannot make good use of it.

Disasters can take place anytime and anywhere and it’s better to be prepared if you want to survive. You cannot predict when there will be an earthquake that may damage or destroy your house resulting in you and your family having to spend time outside in cold weather. The space blanket is a very good survival tool that will help you stay warm and it can save your life thanks to its many uses.

How does an emergency blanket work?

Many preppers know that an emergency blanket is a must if they want to prevent health damage caused by cold weather during hazardous conditions. It seems quite amazing how such a thin and lightweight product can save your life.

This material was formed by depositing vaporized aluminum over a very thin plastic film. Now you might be getting why the blanket looks like an aluminum foil whereas it is not an aluminum foil. The built material was flexible, quite thin, and capable of reflecting heat. Aluminum is renowned for reflecting infrared energy, which we commonly state as heat.

The emergency blanket can reflect the heat in or out, depending on how it was built. The user’s body conserves heat energy when the user covers his body with the blanket and that’s why it works as a great defense against cold weather.

The space blankets are designed to prevent both convective and evaporative heat loss. Now you might be wondering what these two conditions are. The human body loses heat in two ways, leading to hypothermia if preventive actions are not taken. Hypothermia is an extremely dangerous health issue that claimed the lives of many, not only in outdoors scenery but also in urban environments.

The human body uses a lot of energy to evaporate liquid like sweat or cold water from clothes to maintain an ideal temperature. Because of evaporation, the human body loses a lot of energy and consequently, the body’s temperature lowers significantly.

Suggested reading: 10 Versatile Items For Your Survival Bag

Getting too much sweaty during cold weather can lead to disaster. The body will use its energy to evaporate sweat and the chances of hypothermia will increase. Health experts suggest that survivalists should stay as dry as possible during cold weather to prevent energy loss. The emergency blanket works best to keep your body dry. It gradually slows the evaporation process and therefore no heat loss occurs.

The convective heat loss is more dangerous because it leads to. You can call it conduction because the cold transfers to your body from the outer atmosphere. Suppose you are a mountaineer and you are sleeping over a cold surface during the nighttime, your body will get colder as the surface you are sleeping on sucks the heat from your body.

The space blanket prevents heat transfer by shielding your body against the coldness of the surface and atmosphere. It effectively prevents convective heat loss making it possible for you to even survive in extremely cold conditions.

Why is an emergency blanket a must for a prepper?

Though some essential details about the properties and features of space blanket were already mentioned in this post, there are a few other uses of space blankets that can prove useful for survivalists:

• Use it to keep your body warm:

The first and the most obvious use of space blanket is keeping the body warm. You can unfold the emergency blanket within a few minutes and wrap it around your body to keep stay warm during hazardous cold conditions. It is up to you how you want to wrap it. You can first wrap it around your body and then move into the sleeping bag or use it as an extra layer of heat protection around the sleeping bag. Any way you use it, this blanket will stop heat loss and keep you warm during cold nights.

• Use it as a signaling device:

People eagerly try to get help when they get lost in the wilderness when survival becomes almost impossible. A space blanket is not only for keeping the body warm, but it can also be used to send an emergency signal. The reflective surface of space blanket reflects the signal and increases the chances that the search party will find you and save you quickly. So, when you are not using this blanket to heat your body, you can spread it over the ground to reflect the moonlight or the light from a flashlight and signal for help.

• Use it to melt snow for fresh water:

Suppose you are stuck in an isolated, cold area where you don’t have water. You can use your space blanket to gain some fresh water. Put some snow on the space blanket and use the sun’s heat for melting the snow. It will quickly melt the snow and you will get some fresh water to quench your thirst. It will meet your body’s liquid demands and the chances of survival will increase.

• An eergency blanket can be a useful rain shelter:

People carry a sleeping bag with them and think they are protected against all weather situations. That is not true because rain can destroy your hope for survival if you’re unable to build a proper shelter. You may suffer from hypothermia if you get wet during cold conditions. The emergency blanket can be turned into an improvised shelter when it rains. It will prevent you from getting wet and at the same time, you can wrap another blanket around your body to keep your body warm.

• Build a horseshoe pack by using space blanket:

You might not like to leave fruits, meat, or other survival stuff behind when you are in a deserted area. You would most probably have to carry anything essential you find around you. Your space blanket can be used to create a horseshoe pack in which you can carry all the necessary items. It is built from durable material and therefore it will remain intact even if you are storing heavy or bulky items in your horseshoe pack.

• Use it as a bait for fishing:

This may sound a bit weird, but the emergency blanket can also be used as bait for catching fishes. You can cut down tiny pieces of the space blanket and throw them in the water attached to a fishing hook. The fish get attracted towards shiny materials in the water and therefore your chances of catching something will increase. That’s what many preppers do during survival conditions.

• Use it to boil water:

The survival experts suggest many uses of the space blanket. Using it for boiling water is also one of those uses. You can create a cup-like container by using this blanket and a few sticks in which you can pour some water and boil it to remove impurities. Do not keep the blanket too close to the flames. Otherwise, it will get destroyed. It will start melting above 473°F.

There are many other ways of using the space blanket for survival. However, if you try to use it in the given ways, your chances of survival would be quite high and you can hope to face some of the most hazardous conditions without any issue.

Who needs the emergency blanket?

The emergency blankets are for anybody really and not only for preppers. Whether there is a storm, earthquake, flood, or any kind of disaster, the preppers know how to deal with it and therefore they keep their survival stuff ready. It is not necessary that only preppers should buy the space blanket. It is available for anybody who wants to be prepared for the worst.

During an emergency situation where harsh weather becomes a problem, it would be very difficult to survive without an emergency blanket. The space blanket will cover minimal space in the toolbox and provides perfect safety during the risky climate conditions. Therefore, every individual should buy this blanket. Whether there is an emergency or not, it will be with you and help you prevent extreme health conditions such as hypothermia.

Where to buy the emergency blanket?

The demands for emergency blanket are quite high in the market. Every individual wants to get it because it’s a practical item that has many survival uses. If you also want to get one, I suggest you buy it online. The space blanket costs a very affordable and provides many benefits that you can’t even imagine.

So, if you are a prepper, hiker, mountaineer, or an adventure lover, you should buy the space blanket. It is durable, affordable, and capable of retaining heat for a long time. Every survivalist needs it because it is a primary survival tool.

Other Useful Resources:

Survival Lessons from the 1880s

Knowledge to survive any medical crisis situation

A Green Beret’s guide to combat and shooting

The vital self-sufficiency lessons our great grand-fathers left us