This Rugged New Camp Blanket Boasts a Feature We Haven’t Seen Before

Considering the fact that Rumpl basically invented the technical blanket category, we wouldn’t blame them if they decided to tuck themselves in and rest on their proverbial laurels.

Which perhaps make it all the more noteworthy that founder and CEO Wylie Robinson and his team have done the exact opposite.

The decade-old, Portland, Oregon-based brand’s latest release, the new Backcountry Puffy Blanket, breaks the mold in terms of warmth, weight, packability, sustainability, features and even price. Here’s what you need to know.

Rumpl

Rumpl Backcountry Puffy Blanket

• $149 at Rumpl

Material upgrades

Right off the bat, Rumpl has simplified its premium puffy blanket offerings. The brand is discontinuing the use of down and, ahem, doubling down on its proprietary NanoLoft synthetic insulation. Why? 

As Robinson explains, the material is more sustainable, better performing and more affordable. 

“Our proprietary NanoLoft synthetic insulation was developed from the ground up using 100% post-consumer recycled content,” Robinson tells GP. “Additionally, during the Backcountry development process, the fill received an upgrade to include plant-based, regenerative materials. By eliminating natural feathers, the Backcountry Puffy is also a vegan product.” 

The new Nano formula is 37 percent plant-based, with the remaining 63% consisting of terephthalic acid (recycled polyester).

Rumpl

“NanoLoft insulation is highly compressible, similar to down feathers, but it regains loft quicker,” adds Robinson, in reference to the material’s performance. “It provides the same heat retention as down feathers but retains warmth even when wet, unlike down.”

Lastly, the shift in materials has enabled Rumpl to keep prices low.

“Down is an expensive resource with a limited supply,” Robinson explains. “The price of raw materials is high and often fluctuates depending on the annual yield, which can be impacted by rising temperatures that cause geese and ducks to produce fewer down feathers. These high and fluctuating costs are ultimately passed on to consumers.” 

While Rumpl’s previous down product started at $249, the Backcountry Puffy starts at $149. 

In other words, three cheers for NanoLoft.

Special features

The Backcountry Puffy Blanket offers a number of other benefits you won’t find in your average sleeping bag or camp blanket, too. 

The NanoLoft insulation is complemented by Rumpl’s new SummitShield post-consumer recycled polyester liner. Thanks to 50D Ripstop in a diamond pattern and a PFAS-free DWR treatment, the blanket is extra durable, abrasion resistant and water resistant, so much so that you can even use it as a ground mat.

The new blanket is also 25% lighter and more packable than the recently re-released Original Puffy. The one-person blanket weighs just 1.76 pounds and packs neatly into a 5.5-inch by 10-inch Roll-Top Stuff Sack you can attach just about anywhere to bring along for your biggest, boldest adventures.

Rumpl

Lastly, the Backcountry Puffy Blanket boasts a couple distinguishing qualities Rumpl really pioneered, including the rare one we referenced in the title of this story. 

For those times when you’re dragging yourself out of your tent and into the cold — and don’t want to ditch the blanket just yet — there’s the Cape Clip.

Now lower profile, more durable and easier to use, it’ll help you stay toasty until you’ve guzzled enough coffee to warm up and face the day. The Cape Clip also lets you connect two blankets and even fold one into an improvised sleeping bag.

Rumpl

Which brings us to the final feature, which makes its debut on the Backcountry Puffy. If you haven’t connected the dots already, it’s that wonderful zippered corner pocket.

From what we can tell, it’s the perfect place to store a phone, headlamp, pocket knife, ear buds, multi-tool or lighter for easy access late at night or first thing in the morning. 

Probably also an excellent spot to stash one of the most coveted and critical camp essentials of all (at least as far as we’re concerned): Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Availability and pricing

The Rumpl Backcountry Puffy Blanket is available now in five different colorways, starting at $149.

Rumpl

Rumpl Backcountry Puffy Blanket

• $149 at Rumpl

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