How to Review a Blanket: Rumpl's Puffy Makes a Perfect Car Blanket

There are plenty of blankets that compress to lilliputian portions to fit into a climber's backpack or an exec's briefcase. Plenty of these throws will keep you warm, some can even endure a complete drenching. But for me, the one true test of a travel blanket is, can it survive a dog?

Even a little dog.

Rumpl has a certain cachet as a designer of stylish blankets for the outdoors that work equally as well on the cabin couch for Netflix binge sessions. Blankets with synthetic insulation start at $129 for a single person option (54 by 80 inches). We tested the top-of-the-line Rumpl Puffy Down with the Compass design, which retails for $249 for a single person size.

The Puffy Down has a 600 fill of "sustainably-scourced" duck down. That means it is fair-trade certified, not plucked from live birds, and has received a Responsible Down Standard certification. It also means, it's light (1.4 pounds), and it's warm. (The Rumpl Puffy will keep you toasty down to the 40 degree F range and below, but by way of comparison for real man-vs-wild stuff, you would want down in the 800 fill category.)

To make maintenance easy, the Puffy is ensconced in 20 denier ripstop nylon with a water resistant DWR coating. It will handle most damp settings and spills (short of something like soy sauce) and is machine washable. All of which makes it practical for beach blanket bingo or glamping.

So what about the dog?

Normally, you'd want to keep the canines off of any nylon covering, but the little Bolognese would not be denied. Fortunately, the Rumpl blanket survived without a tear. And during the weeks of throwing and packing, snuggling and snacking, the little dog seemed to appreciate the Puffy. We did not, however, allow the feline tester to participate. The 20D nylon would not survive a cat's claws, so that's not something we'd recommend.

The bottom line is that the Rumpl Puffy Down - Compass makes for a perfect travel or car blanket. It's not designed to replace a sleeping bag or to keep you alive on the slopes of Everest. But it will keep you warm should your vehicle break down--or if you just want something for an outdoor concert or picnic.