Comments about Therm-a-Rest Alpine 35F Down Blanket:

Been researching a bike touring setup for the summer and got to the Thermarest products. First off anyone wide and 5'10" or taller should get the Lg size, by design expect the blanket to be about 8"-12" shorter than the thermarest pad.

This blanket unlike the Ventra blanket is tighter and geared more towards backpacking situations. Thermarest released the Alpine Blanket after the Ventra Comforter.

This seems like a summer weight bag, and seems much more advanced than the Ventra blanket. Compared to the Ventra blanket the alpine blanket has much more loft and just seems like Thermarest designed it warmer.

The Apline blanket does fall shorts in a few areas. It should be longer and cover the whole sleeping pad. Three snaps on each side doesnt seem enough to keep the blanket locked into the sleeping pad. Snapping the pad to itself should create its own sleeping bag, but alas Theramrest decided to save on material and that isnt an option. Finally Thermarest mentions snapping two Alpine Blankets together for a super couple setup, three snaps is not enough to connect two blankets securely and you get large gaps in the blanket that just dont work as advertized. Dont waste your money buying two for that purpose.

I like the blanket and will use it this summer; so I would reccomend it if the buyer is aware of the short comings, but it could have been so much better for what it costs. Minus one star for the high cost, minus one for the design flaws.

Comments about Therm-a-Rest Alpine 35F Down Blanket:

I'm preparing for my third through hike of the Appalachian Trail. This is the lightest mass produced sleeping "bag" out there. I expect more extreme minimalist, zipperless bags in future years. I'd like higher quality down for less weight and more compactibility, but 700 isn't bad. I've noticed some small snags in the shell after around ten nights in it, which makes it clearly less durable than my Sub Kilo. This is such a good idea, adequately constructed, that I expect several similar "bags" in coming years.