I am trying to decide on whether or not I should take a wool blanket and silk sleeping liner or down sleeping bag with silk liner on my tour from Georgia to Oregon during fall/winter of 2014. I have a Big Agnes bellyache mountain I like this bag a lot. I feel it is not as versatile and more sensitive than a wool blanket would be. It's made of nylon which can go up in flame easily its tough but fragile at the same time and it's well known how finicky down is regardless of if its water repellant or not. A wool blanket would be quite tough and wholesome, repels odor better and longer than nylon (important enough factor to consider) has slight water shedding capabilities and dries decently fast when wet. it also has a high warmth to weight ratio. I can also take a blanket and share it with a partner or sit by the fire and chill. There is a bit of a cost in terms of weight and bulkiness but I feel it is versatile enough for that tradeoff.

I'm looking at the Pendleton jacquard blankets which are 82% wool and 18% cotton, also the Yakima camp blanket which is 86% wool 14% cotton. The cotton mix I worry about but it is not a large portion of the blanket so I think it would be alright.

For my liner I'm looking at the grand trunk silk sleep pack 100% silk..

Would 100% wool from a quality company be better or would the combination I'm looking at get me by?


Thanks