Therm-a-Rest Argo Blanket

A lightweight synthetic fill blanket big enough to cover two intimate sleepers on summer nights. Could be improved with a foot pocket to keep bare tootsies from escaping.

We call it The Tomato, and we bought it to address a specific problem that we anticipated during our 25-day hike of the Kungsleden in northern Sweden: About 2/3 of the trail is above the arctic circle and much of it is also treeless, raising the possibility that late night or wee-hours sun might warm up our tent and render sleeping conditions uncomfortably warm if we used our 5˚C/40˚F Enlightened Equipment Accomplice double quilt. So we needed something lightweight and compact that would keep us not-too-warm on those arctic summer nights.

After some searching, we decided to try the Therm-a-Rest Argo blanket, available in dark blue, two stylish prints and our choice, tomato red with a dark maroon liner.

Weighing in at 720 g (26 oz.; 728 g after a month or so of use), it’s in the same (light) weight class as our quilt, and its 198 cm x 183 cm dimensions are enough to cover both of us, including all 190 cm/6 ft+ of me (at least when side sleeping). A modest inch of erLoft hollow fiber polyester insulation was enough to keep one or both of us warm on arctic summer evenings, although we kept the quilt in reserve for cooler hours and nights.

As it turned out, due to weather and choice of campsites, we didn’t see all that much night-hours sun or tent heating, so the Argo blanket wasn’t quite warm enough for my wife. She would start out sleeping under the quilt, I under the blanket, and I might sneak under the quilt too if it cooled off enough during the night. But it’s certainly warm enough for me down to temperatures of about 10˚C / 50˚F.

The soft polyester lining feels almost like a soft flannel sheet on the skin. The outer polyester fabric is DWR treated and so might work for stargazing on dewy summer nights.

A drawstring on the bottom is supposed to make a pocket to help keep feet from escaping. It worked OK when I used the quilt on my own, but not so much for the two of us. We may end up adding some sort of foot box to help with that.

Three snap loops on each side can be used to anchor the blanket to a mattress cover. We haven’t taken advantage of these but may add some loops to our silk double mattress cover to ensure equitable distribution through the night.

The blanket stuffs into a 36 x 43 cm (14 x 17 in) rectangular, zippered pocket at about shoulder height on the right hand sleeper’s side. Since we used it mainly for backpacking, we kept it in a waterproof stuff sack that compressed it more than the pocket. While it makes a nice pillow when not in use as a blanket, I think I could live without the pocket and zipper and thereby save a little weight.

Since it is not as delicate and more washable than the down quilt, we were also willing to take it out of the tent and wrap it around our legs when sitting in camp chairs, while the quilt stayed in the tent.

In addition to the midnight sun problem, I sleep very warm, and in Norwegian huts and European hotels warm quilts are often the only bedding provided, resulting in some uncomfortably warm to downright sweaty nights. I have taken to bringing my own blanket to such places, and have already used The Tomato a few times for that purpose. It will likely see some use in cool but not cold bunkrooms in Norwegian huts during the winter months.

Background

Blankets of one kind or another have been a part of my life since I was an infant :-).