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Great tip. Both are hot.

I want to hack myself with a butter knife right now...I just spent $$ on a wool blanket for the dude's bday who insists that wool is the only way to go. he would have loved the Italian version since he is Italian...grrrr

I just bought two of Swiss from that store. They both looked great but not the best quality, the colors of the two blankes (both Swiss) were drastically different.

Hey Stephan (or anyone else who has these), how is the wool on the blankets? Scratchy or soft?

I was wondering the same thing as jennifer. I can't imagine armies spending loads of cash on soft wool...

Head on over to ebay, the red cross one is a bit cheaper there.

heh, i sewed up some of those blankets as upholstery for a vintage '40s rattan loveseat i found abandoned on bleeker st. last winter. i wanted something that could survive my rowdy blue point siamese (and it didn't hurt that it was a good match for her fur either). i used an old featherbed topper to stuff the seat and back cushions. it's not a soft material but i love it and so does my cat. and the rough surplus industrial quality tempers the down-filled squishiness that could have been kinda twee on that frame otherwise.

i'm thinking of sewing some messenger bags or laptop cases out of the scraps but i wouldn't advise using these blankets on a bed, at least not the italian ones. too scratchy.

i got mine at http://cheaperthandirt.com which is by far the cheapest source i found (under $12 each). but be forewarned if you buy from them, the first 2 shipments they sent me were embedded with pulverized mothballs and totally unusable. they were really nice about it though, sending clean blankets on the third try and never charged me for the others that i had to throw out.

i have a loft full of concrete floors, and i'm curious if these would make interesting (obviously cheap!) rugs ... i bet if you felted them they might ....

its scratchy, i use it on top of my leather couch sometimes when it is really cold... but with a sheet underneath, otherwise it feels really rough.

they are really thin to be used as a rug...and wool slides very easily around...

excellent tip-- loving the italian one. thanks, p

I bought two italian blankets at a Fleet Farm, and they stunk of mothballs. Thought I could wash out smell. I am Still working on it.

Can the smell be washed out?

cheaperthandirt.com still has the Italian wool blankets for $10. They still get the swiss blankets every now and then. They also have other types of surpluss wool blankets available. I have bought about 2 dozen from them and have found that the italian wool blanket is the best deal. The german wool blanket is softer, but smaller

chopper, you are right the do smell of mothballs. I put mine in the dryer every now and then with a couple of downey or febreez fabric sheets. Its seems to cover up the smell pretty good, but after you pull them out of storage they will need the treatment again.