I agreed to review TravelRest’s 4-in-1 Travel Blanket with a bit of prejudice in my heart. The truth is, I’ve never found much use for travel blankets. Oh yes, I’ve often wished I had one while in the car or on a plane at night, but not enough to actually pack one (just enough to ask a flight attendant to bring me a scratchy, subpar one). Travel blankets tend to take up too much room and be awkward and bulky to carry…in other words, they’ve always felt frivolous.

After trying TravelRest’s 4-in-1 Travel Blanket, has my travel blanket stance changed? No. (More on that later.) However, if you’re going to buy a travel blanket, this is the best one I’ve seen yet. Why? First of all, it’s made of high quality micro-fleece that does not get charged with too much static. Secondly, its design is far better than that of your average travel blanket: TravelRest’s version goes over your head poncho-style, which means it doesn’t slip off your shoulders while you’re sleeping while sitting up.

It folds into its own pocket (attached), as I’ve seen other travel blankets do, but this one zippers closed, which is nice, because it ensures the ‘stuffing’ isn’t going to unroll and spill out while you’re using the 4-in-1 as a pillow. It looks a little goofy on, (poncho-style), but while you’re traveling, all style rules seem to become suspended, so that’s not a big strike against it in my book.

Because of its design, TravelRest’s 4-in-1 is especially great for kids. My 12-year-old has adopted it as his own personal property, but if he hadn’t, I’d have packed it in the car during our recent road trip along California’s Highway 1 for my youngest. It’s big enough to fit over a toddler’s car seat or a preschooler’s booster seat, and you won’t continually hear, ‘Can you pick up my blanket?’ off the floor of cars and planes.

Would I pack it? Not for air travel: at roughly the size of my laptop (and twice as fat) while stuffed into its own pocket, it’s still just too big and bulky to justify packing with limited space. (It does, however, have a nice snap-closure nylon strap that can be used to attach it to a suitcase or backpack.) It will, however, accompany us on road trips when space isn’t at a premium. I know we’ll be glad to have it.

The 4-in-1 retails for a reasonable $24.95 and comes in beige or navy. We have beige, but I worry it will show dirt, so I’d opt for the darker color. It’s machine washable, and can also be found on Amazon the same price.

Don’t miss a review! Get the RSS feed or like Practical Travel Gear on Facebook.