Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

For the last week or two, I’ve been playing around with the insulated poncho that I got from Wiggy’s. I had a post about it all written up and ready to go but I kept changing because rather than judging the product on its own merits, I compared it to its next closest competitor, the Kifaru Woobie. As I thought about it, I came to think that although a comparison is inevitable and worthwhile at some point, the initial impression of the Wiggy’s product should be on its own merits, not compared to something else.

First impression opening the box was that they had sent me two by mistake. Nope, it was one…its just bulky. Im hoping that translates into warmth. Compressing it into the smallest possible package is going to be interesting. I have a compression sack from Kifaru that does an excellent job on other gear, and stuffing the Wiggys product into it and cinching it down reduced the size of the poncho considerably.

The Wiggys poncho came in a woodland marpat pattern on one side and a greyish/silver on the other. The edges were hemmed with a strip of black fabric and there were snaps along the edges. At the four corners were sewn-in loops. There were no grommets. The hood, which seemed more generously insulated than the rest of the liner, has a drawstring for cinching the hood down. The snaps along the edges allow you to snap the sides of the poncho shut as you wear it, but the snaps will not work if you fold the Wiggys poncho in half to use it as an impromptu sleeping bag.

I tried the Wiggys product using a current issue USGI nylon poncho, an older rubberized USGI poncho, a West German rubberized poncho (my favorite), and a nylon flecktar poncho. The Wiggys poncho was several inches longer than all of these ponchos and thus only two corners could be tied into the military poncho. So, the idea of attaching the two garments together an wearing them as one is right out of the question. You can, however, wear the Wiggys poncho and simply pull your other poncho over it and wear them that way. This made me read the description of the product on the Wiggy’s website a bit more carefully. It is described as an insulated poncho, not as an insulated poncho liner. Big difference.

How is it for warmth? Well, its definitely warmer than the issue poncho liners. Its at least as warm as the Kifaru Woobie. Theres enough room to wrap yourself up in it and have some extra to fold under your feet to keep them warm. For what it is, an insulated poncho (basically a zarape) its pretty good. As an insulated poncho liner, not so much since it wont actually tie into any poncho I had available. But, as I said, there is nothing to keep you from wearing both items on top of each other without tying them into each other. As an emergency blanket it would seem to be an excellent product. It’s plenty big to wrap yourself up and have extra material to wrap up your feet and head, although, really, you should just wear it as intended rather than as a blanket.

MSRP is $95…worth it? Probably. Quality is good, and although the design is lacking in its shortage of snap/tie options it’s still just the ticket for huddling under a tree on a frosty day.

Now, the inevitable comparison against the Kifaru Woobie.

The Kifaru Woobie, which I give two thumbs up to, is a great piece of kit. It does compress pretty small but still does an excellent job at keeping you warm. The drawback is that its use in conjunction with a poncho puts you right back at the use-it-as-a-blanket-you-cant-wear-it situation.

How does it compare to the Woobie? This is a good question, I think, because both of these products are designed to fill a particular roll – tucked into your pack, unobtrusively, just in case you need protection from the elements.
The Wiggys has a hood, the Kifaru does not. Thats the biggest difference.
The Kifaru has no snaps, but has more sewn in loops for attachment than the Wiggys.
The Wiggys was not compatible in terms of attachment to any of the ponchos I had, the Woobie is.
The Woobie ‘drapes’ a bit better than the Wiggys and isnt as stiff a material.
Both products compress to acceptably small packages, but the Woobie compresses smallest. When compressed to its smalles size, the Wiggy’s poncho was the same size as the uncompressed Woobie. The Compressed Woobie was much smaller than the Wiggy’s.

The Wiggys biggest selling point is the hood and opening for your head. The ability to wear this as a poncho is the main attraction for this product. However, lets say that it didnt have a hood and hole for your head, it was just a tie-in blanket like the Kifaru Woobie…then Id take the Kifaru. However, if Kifaru offered their Woobie with that kind of feature, and retained their other current features, I would go with the Kifaru with no reservations.

What would I change about the Wiggy product? You know, its just a couple simple things and I’d be their biggest fan. Sew in some tie-in strips at the proper places to mate up with the grommets on the GI poncho. Use a more windproof/water resistant fabric like they use on their jackets and vests. Add a few more sets of snaps to allow configuring it as a sleeping bag.

Short version: between the two which would I take with me in the field? Im leaning towards the Kifaru. The larger size, compressability, additional loops, and weather resistant material mean more to me than being able to wear it in conjunction with a poncho. Yes its more expensive than the Wiggys, I think its worth the difference. The Wiggys product is great, no two ways about it…and I love that its a response to customer input…but for my particular needs and anticipated uses, I think the Woobie comes out on top.

Compare apples to apples – If both products did not have openings for your head and a hood, and were meant to be worn blanket style, which would I go with? The Kifaru Woobie. If both products did have openings for your head and a hood, which would I go with? The Kifaru Woobie. The Wiggys is a good product and a good idea, make no mistake, but it isnt as versatile as the Woobie.

Most of the things I thought were lacking in the Wiggys product all relate to its ability to function in conjunction with a military poncho. Theres enough material around the edges of the poncho that you could have someone bartack some loops of paracord, or small grommets, in the proper positions to work ties into your favorite poncho. A simple task, I would imagine, for any sewing shop or talented amateur, that would carry the Wiggy’s poncho right into the lead position.

Full disclosure: I emailed the folks at Wiggy’s and politely asked them if they’d give me a discount on their product so I could review it. They did offer a discount and I purchased the poncho for a good bit off MSRP.