Space blankets do have their uses. Just so long as you treat them as a cheap expendable. They are above all things a vapour barrier. Weatherproof a shelter, cut up and use to line that hole you are going to hot rock boil some water or melt some snow in. Radar corner. Signal kit? Reflective layer for your desert survival shelter to help reflect the sun. Take four branches, one mylar blanket and some duct tape and hey presto! One Bloody Big Signal Mirror. One thing that they are is tough. Need to patch that hole in the hull? Double or triple a blanket over the hole and tape it down. You could even use one or two as a sail in a pinch. It might not last long, but so long as it does the job for just long enough, who cares? Use your imagination.
There seems to be an ethos on the forum of refusing to use something because its not exactly stellar at it's advertised purpose. I can live with loosing a nights sleep because they are not exactly quiet. Can't say the same thing about hypothermia.
On one occasion I was out in a fishing boat most of a chilly spring night due to wind and a cantankerous outboard of a now-discontinued line that I and others called the Curse 'N Carry. I had a space blanket in the tackle box, and I agree with Leigh - it was much more comfortable with it than it would have been without it. It blocked the wind, shed the spray (when the motor occasionally decided to work and I pounded into a chop for a few minutes at a time), and reflected some body heat. I did have a foul weather jacket on, and there's no doubt that helped. But so did the space blanket. So, I have one in the car bag and two in the BOB, as backups to my backups, if you will.
Frank2135
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