Michael Murtaugh/NYT WirecutterTo find the best puffy blankets, I tested 16 top-rated puffy blankets for a month on Oahu and in New York. I evaluated each blanket according to the following criteria:Feel: Puffy blankets should feel cozy and good against your skin. I started by wrapping myself in each blanket, observing its general feel and texture. For the next month, I continued using each blanket as a wrap, cover, and ground cloth to see how my reactions progressed. For each of the finalists, I spent at least one night sleeping with the blanket outside.Quality of design and construction: Puffy blankets are, essentially, quilts. They should have solid stitching, they should have sensibly sized and shaped baffles, and their insulation should stay evenly distributed over time. Down insulation should be lofty and stay mostly inside the shell (it’s normal for some down to escape, but too much shedding is a problem). Synthetic insulation comes in many configurations, but it shouldn’t leave any cold spots and should allow for a degree of breathability as well as warmth. Additional features, such as snaps and loops, should be sturdy.Materials: In addition to each blanket’s construction, I evaluated the strength and quality of its material components. I noted information about down sourcing, material type, and thickness.Denier: In textiles “denier” is a unit of measurement that describes the thickness of a fabric’s fibers. Fabrics with high denier tend to be thicker, heavier in weight, and more durable. Fabrics with lower denier are thinner, lighter weight, and often more fragile. The optimal denier for a piece of gear depends on its intended use (plus other factors, like weave, play a big role in fabric strength), but for puffy blankets, which are meant to be adaptable for different uses and environments, 20 to 50 denier is a good range.Durability: A good puffy blanket can handle wear and tear, significant spills, and plenty of washing. I tested each blanket on a variety of outdoor terrains, including wet lawns, beaches, and dirty ground. I used them with my dogs and spilled coffee, water, and food on them. I left them out in the rain and sun, and I washed and dried each finalist twice.Packability: Puffy blankets should be easy to pack and carry. All of the blankets I tested come with stuff sacks or nifty self-storage pockets. We tested each blanket’s practicality for travel in totes, duffles, backpacks, and cars.Water, dirt, and stain resistance: We looked for blankets made with hard-wearing synthetic fabrics like nylon and polyester and treated with a durable water-repellent finish (DWR), which is a coating manufacturers add to the surface of fabrics to prevent them from absorbing liquid. To test each blanket’s water and stain resistance, I spilled a full glass of water on each blanket and checked how quickly it would dry. I also spilled coffee on each blanket and let my dog walk over them with wet and muddy paws.Warmth: Even though puffy blankets can’t replace proper outdoor bedding, they should be warm enough to make an impact as a layer and shield you from wind. I wore each of our blankets on cool nights, in windy conditions, and my partner and I slept outside with them on summer nights with temperatures in the low seventies.Insulation: We looked at both down and synthetic fills. Down tends to be more expensive but is lighter, compresses better, and lasts longer than synthetic fill. It tends to be great in a blanket you want to wear and sleep with, but it isn’t ideal for ground use. Synthetic fills are less expensive, hypoallergenic, easier to clean, and they retain insulating power when wet — down does not.Fill power: Fill power measures the fluffiness of down, which determines its ability to trap air, and thus its relative quality. A higher fill power means you need less down to achieve the same amount of warmth. For everyday items, like puffy blankets, 600 to 700 fill power is considered good quality.Multiple sizing options: We tested blankets in a variety of sizes and looked for blankets that came in multiple sizes. After evaluating a number of blankets with different sized testers, we found most preferred a blanket that measures around 54 by 75 inches for one person (roughly the dimensions of a full-size bed). Taller and larger-bodied testers might appreciate blankets closer to 80 inches in height, so we also looked for blankets larger than a full-size bed.Overall value: The blankets we tested ranged in price from $25 to $350. Blankets that were cheaper than $50 in our test group tended to feel unpleasant or were poorly made. In general, $100 was the average price for a well-made synthetic-fill blanket (and most of the blankets we tested at this price performed well). In the down category, a good quality puffy blanket costs closer to $300.
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