By Russ and Tiña De Maris
We recently told you about a video on using reflective emergency blankets. Reader Astrid Bierworth was quick to let us in on yet another use for these easy-to-store “space” blankets.
“While in Utah recently, we were hit by a sudden, damaging hailstorm. Several RVs in the park where we were sustained damage. The hail was not large, but the wind drove it almost like bullets. Several units lost their vent lids. Those of us with vent covers (like MaxxAir) were OK, but those whose vent lids were somewhat brittle from sun exposure suddenly had a problem keeping rain out of their RVs.
“Sheets of plastic became a hot commodity. I happened to have some which I gave to a neighbor, but who carries sheets of plastic around in case the vent lid gets damaged or there is some other form of water intrusion in the RV? Still, most of us carry duct tape.
“This is where I think these reflective emergency blankets could come in handy. They are very light and small, and so much easier to carry around than a sheet of plastic. They would make great temporary rain-keeper-outers!”
Astrid’s suggestion surely could have helped us some years back. Tooling down a windswept freeway outside of Portland, Oregon, we found (on a stop) that one of our roof vents had just completely “taken a powder” (left). We lost a couple of hours locating a window glass company, who cut us the properly sized chunk of clear acrylic to temporarily “plug the hole.” A well-placed, well-taped reflective blanket could have probably handled our problem with a lot less time loss — and would have been much cheaper, to boot!
You can find a wide variety of these clever blankets on Amazon.
