I dipped my toes into the picnic blanket market for the first time during June as my husband's birthday was coming up and he wanted us to go for a picnic in Regents Park. Great idea, but we were sadly lacking in the picnic blanket department and I am allergic to grass, and thus necessitated the purchase of a blanket. I scanned Amazon for ages weighing up the pros and cons of various brands and finally bought two as I couldn't make up my mind. One of these was the Draper 42987 Picnic Rug.

This is a very convenient little picnic blanket as it is feather-light (177g) and rolls up into a small neat sausage which fits into any backpack. When rolled up it forms a cylindrical shape 34cm long with a diameter of 11cm. It consists of a practical material side which is comfortable to sit on (nothing scratchy about it!) and a water-proof backing. The water-proof backing protects the material side of the blanket from moisture as well as dirt. The colours are a very attractive with a tartan-effect: navy blue, royal blue, red and white. These colours are also practical as they do not show dirt easily.
When rolled up the picnic blanket has a little flap which folds down and is secured to the blanket with a piece of Velcro. On top you will find a convenient handle for carrying the picnic blanket.

The only down-side to this little beauty is its size: 117cm x 133cm. This is fine for two people to sit on and have a quick picnic, but if you are planning on spending the whole day outdoors and may want to have a little snooze in between then you will find it a bit small.

I would still highly recommend this picnic blanket for its convenient pack-in-the-bag size and light weight. I paid about £11 for my Draper 42987 Picnic Rug (I have just noticed that it is currently on half price at Amazon).