Kifaru woobie

I don’t normally buy stuff that the DoD has already issued to me, but before my last trip to the middle east, I purchased the KifaruWoobie.  It’s an upgraded poncho liner that is supposed to be warmer and tougher than the issued poncho liner.  It’s also a little longer, which ensures maximum coverage, at least for someone of my height (5’ 8”).

If you’ve ever traveled with the military overseas, or CONUS for that matter, you know you can’t always count on sleeping in a bed at night, so if you want a decent night’s sleep, you better carry what you need with you.  For me, that means a blanket, and maybe a pillow if I have room.  And it better be small enough to pack with you wherever you go.

The Kirafu Woobie fit just fine in my Tactical Rush 24, along with other necessary items.  Depending what you’re carrying, you may not want to pack it in the integrated stuff sack for packing in a normal sized backpack, but it compresses pretty well.

The integrated stuff sack is also a nice feature not found on the issue poncho liner.  It doesn’t compress the woobie super small, but definitely makes it manageable.

Just for total transparency, I didn’t use the woobie in any situations outside where it was my only source of warmth.  I’ve used it in a tent when the temps got in the upper 40’s, on planes, as a blanket on a bed and sitting around on the couch.  I have enough faith in it that I’d have no problem taking it out in the woods if the temps weren’t going below 40.  It’s a good insulator without feeling like a thick blanket.

Kifaru uses what they call “RhinoSkin” on the outside and so far it’s done a great job surviving all the travelling I’ve done with it, as well as the occasional encounter with the dog (claws not teeth).  I haven’t had a chance to test the water resistance of the woobie, but Kifaru’s website touts it as water resistant. 

The only bad thing is that the RhinoSkin is very “slippery”.  On several occasions, I’ve woken up several times to find it had slid off the bed or cot.  That’s pretty easy to fix by tucking in one of the edges into the mattress or underneath your body.  It’s probably not an issue if you’re sleeping on the ground.

Overall I’m very happy with the woobie.  It’s an expensive poncho liner ($154 for 3.6 oz liner, $210 for the 6 oz liner), but I found it worth it.  There’s not many things worse that a poor night’s sleep because you’re cold.