This Sleeping Bag-Inspired Blanket Is Even Better Than The Snuggie

The blanket-buying experience sucks, according to San Franciscans Nick Polinko and Wylie Robinson, who are working to bring a new breed of blanket to market.

"There was a gap in the blanket spectrum," Robinson told Business Insider. "There were lots of options for really expensive bedding with high thread counts, and lots of options for really cheap full bed sets, but they're boring. There was nothing really in the middle."

Their solution: the Rumpl, a new "niche blanket" made with materials common to outerwear, like ultra-fine 20D Ripstop nylon and DWR coating to repel water and stains. The Rumpl can be used on a bed or couch, but works just as easily on the go, and folds up small enough to fit in a purse.

It looks like a sleeping bag minus the zipper, and has garnered some comparisons to the Snuggie, though that seems a bit odd since the Rumpl lacks sleeves and looks less ridiculous when worn in public.

"Our blanket is inspired by an active lifestyle, where the Snuggie is about maximum laziness," Polinko said.

"I like to think the Rumpl is the Snuggie who went abroad for a year, and returned with a taste for fine wine. It's the grown up Snuggie," Robinson added

Polinko and Robinson thought of making a blanket using outerwear materials on their way home from a camping trip. The two got stranded along the side of a road outside the Eastern Sierra Mountains for nearly a day in -17 degree weather. The chill froze Polinko's engine solid, but inside, the two friends had never been cozier, hanging out in their winter coats and sleeping bags.

So far, the Rumpl has been a smashing success on Kickstarter, where the duo raised $24,000 in the first 24 hours the project was online. Their blanket now has nearly 400 backers with a total pledge of $46,000 (blowing their original goal of $15,000 out of the water). The project will continue taking funding through January.

By early spring, backers who pledged enough for a Rumpl reward will receive their blankets, which range from throw-sized to king-sized. Soon after, anyone will be able to buy the blankets from Rumpl's website, where they will retail between $89.99 and 179.99. The blanket comes in four colors ,with stitching that matches wavy designs found in nature.

"We're not trying to be the warmest, most extreme blanket," Polinko said. "It's about how when you put on a winter jacket, you get this cozy, silky smooth feeling, and it's that familiar feeling you get when you touch our blanket."