Carrying a travel pillow? Normal. Carrying a travel blanket? Not so much. People don’t just bust out a blanket and curl under it without getting funny looks. Still, being able to drape a blanket the next time you find out you’re waiting four hours for a flight sounds like such a comfort. And that comfort is what the Gravel Layover brings to your gear stash.
A travel blanket, it’s meant to provide on-the-go comfort, allowing you to bust out a warm blanket to help you double down on comfort at any time. You can wrap it around yourself to keep warm on a long flight, roll it up like a pillow to nap on an airport bench, or lay it down on the ground to give your legs a rest during a hike, allowing you to be as comfy on the road as you are at home.
Like other travel blankets, the Gravel Layover isn’t made from cotton, fleece, or any other material you’ll find in traditional blankets. Instead, it’s made from 20D nylon, allowing it to be rolled into a very compact bundle, while built-in insulation provides the necessary warmth to keep things toasty. While it doesn’t quite fold up as compact as Matador’s crazy pocket blanket, it is very portable when bundled up and stashed in the attached pouch, which can be hidden into a zippered pocket when the blanket is in use. Measuring 5 x 7 inches when collapsed, it’s not quite small enough to stuff in your pocket, but you can clip it comfortably on a loop on your backpack.
Leg pockets at the lower part of the blanket give you a designated place to slide your legs in, complete with an insulated foot pouch to eliminate cold drafts. Higher up is a microfleece sleeve, similar to kangaroo pockets you get on hoodies, which you can use to keep your hands extra toasty while covered in the blanket, while an envelope pocket on the opposite side of the sleeve is a storage pocket sized to hold small items like passports, boarding passes, and the like.
Don’t want to use the Gravel Layover’s storage pocket? Not a problem, as the darn thing can be turned over (it’s reversible) and stuffed with the rest of the blanket, which turns it into a functional pillow that measures 12 x 8 inches. That’s right, you can this blanket as a pillow without having to fold it into a bundle like your usual blankets at home. Snaps on the sides of the blanket allow you to secure the corners together, which should keep the blanket from slipping off just when you’re starting to get comfortable. You can even snap multiple blankets together to get yourself a larger blanket.
Waterproof coating protects the blanket from spills, so any moisture slides right off the surface, ensuring you stay completely dry while curled up underneath it. The blanket, by the way, measures 67 x 41 inches, so it should be big enough to fit most individuals.
A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Gravel Layover. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $99.