Welding Blankets...

I am looking at welding blankets - albeit not necessarily for their intended purpose. Most federal agency wilderness permits require a fire pan and fire cloth/blanket, and was thinking that a welding blanket would work well in lieu of one...and the price is more palatable. Its certainly possible that it could eventually get used as an actual welding blanket, but for now, it would be for as a fire pan ground cloth. It does need to take some wear and abrasive use in storage on a trip, and be fully exposed to the elements and saturated with water. A couple questions:

1) How much of a PITA are the cheap, non-coated fiberglass ones to handle without gloves etc? In other words, from what I can tell, it seems worth it to buy an acrylic coated fiberglass blanket.

2) A lot of them come in 6'x8' type sizes, which is a bit larger than I need. I am thinking of cutting one in half (there are some 3'x3' online, but I am a bit time pressed so probably local purchase only). I feel like the uncoated fiberglass ones would have issues with being cut and unravel, whereas the coated ones might be able to withstand a freshly cut edge?

 

I'll look at mine, but I think some camp fires get hot enough to melt glass. Not sure if fiberglass would hold up...

 

Per requirement of the fed agencies, the fire pan is supposed to be 7" above the ground (I think - there is some sort of height requirement), and the ground cloth under it is to catch any embers or coals that fall out of the pan (the pan is required to be 12" minimum in diameter/width, and must have 3" high sides all around). The ones they have 'approved' for use don't have lots of info about their spec and composition, but they do say they will NOT stand up to extended heat and hot coals/embers are to be removed. If absolutely necessary, a fire can be built without a pan if the cloth is covered in 4 inches of sand directly below the fire....

 

Then it will probably work...

 

I just thought of something. I use a fiberglass mat for my fireplace. I wonder if that would work. It is small and I have dropped burning red hot coals on it with no damage...

Something like this...

Goods of the Woods Tan Rectangular Guardian Hearth Rug - 24 Inch x 48 Inch

 

The hearth rug and the welding blankets should work fine - they are to catch sparks and hold off the heat. We used a couple years ago packing into the Flat Tops Wilderness that Mom had modified. She sewed a canvas backer (old army tarps) to the cut down welding blankets (these were ones that sections had burned at the mine, so a good 3x3 type of area was still good - she sewed a fold over edge on the blankets to keep them together once she cut them down). They had extra canvas on two ends so they could be rolled up with loops and buckled ties.

We used them on horses so weight was not a problem, but I would think a lighter duck canvas would work too.