I’ve been looking at options for a wool blanket and I’m ready to pull the trigger on something but I’m somewhat unclear unconfident regarding any criteria for performant blankets.
Pendleton blankets are probably my favorite design wise and least favorite price wise.
I know woolrich has options but I’m least inspired by them.
There are also no name branded blankets on amazon for a decent price.
I see a lot 80/20, 90/10, wool/wool blend blankets at different weights.
Is there an ideal set of specs?
One of the first things you may want to check is where the blanket is manufactured. A lot of the wool and wool blend blankets come out of India. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, they do tend have issues with odor, chemical preservatives and the synthetic material in the blends. You also want a woven blanket versus the cheap compressed fill blanket. A compressed fill will fall apart over time or if washed. Make sure the edges are sewn so the blanket won't fray.
Generally speaking, a 100% wool blanket is what most people think of when they are wanting a wool blanket. 100% wool are tough, warm, heavy and warm when wet, yet they can be uncomfortably scratchy and must be dry cleaned.
80/20 blankets are a more modern take on the original army wool blanket and are typically 80 % wool and 20 % synthetic. They are still tough, warm, heavy, warm when wet yet are much less scratchy and are washing machine safe. Oh, one last wool blanket tip: whether the blanket is 100% or blend try to shake it out or tumble in a cool dryer to remove any loose residual wool fibers, otherwise these fibers will shake loose into your bedding and be itchy or you'll breath in the fibers and they kinda make your nose itch. Not a big deal, just a users hack!
There is only a handful of woolen mills in the US. All US Military and government contracts are fulfilled by these mills. All our camp blankets are US made, woven, 80/20 wool blankets.
Wool Camp Blanket - Adventure Tool Company
Whether you using it as a camping blanket, ground insulator, RRT mattress insulator or snuggling with you significant other I'd recommend the 80/20. They're tough, warm and easily cleaned. Good luck!
