Enjoy the Outdoors with the CGear Sand-Free Multi-Rug

Today I had the privilege of testing and reviewing my first item, the CGEAR Sand-Free Multi-rug. I had been promising my 6 year old son that we would go to the park for a picnic and it just so happened that my Multi-rug was delivered just this morning. I thought, what a perfect opportunity! It says on the package that it is good for picnics, camping, outdoor yoga, etc., so I was excited. I took the blanket/rug out of the package and was relieved to see the size of it. It said that it was a one person size but it turned out to be a very large, 3’4” x 6’6” and I was certain there would be plenty of room for us for our picnic, with room to spare if we needed it in the future.

One thing I did notice was a lack of convenient storage. I would expect there to be some sort of drawstring tote bag or handles attached to the side so it could roll up easier, or something like that.  However, the only thing that came with it was the large plastic bag that it was shipped in. It seemed like it was a little bulky at first but I kept an open mind.

I was also happy with the print of the product, a mix of blues, white and grey tiny stripes that they called “digital.”  The weight was a tad surprising, 2.9 lbs., definitely heavier than traditional picnic blankets, but not out of the question. I mean, if you are picnicking, you probably have lots of stuff anyway, so what is another few ounces of gear??

We got our super special lunch a.k.a. kids meals and proceeded to one of the best playgrounds in town with and abundance of sand. HOWEVER, the park had recently been remodeled and the sand had been removed. Bummer. But luckily for us,  there were plenty of those annoying sticky leaves, mini pinecones and other junk all over the damp-ish grass. Now this blanket we were about to use, was designed in Australia using military technology and was supposed to offer military grade protection , though I am still not quite sure what that claim means exactly. They claimed that particles would be allowed to fall through the rug and would not come back up. I guess if I think about it enough, I could probably find a reason that would be useful for the military. 😉 Still, we sat down on it and I must mention that it was a little slippery at first. I was wearing my shoes without traction and nearly had a tumble. Luckily nobody was looking.  Too bad gracefulness was not included as well… I figured that the slippery quality was probably due to the fact that it was new and I figured it would probably not be quite an issue after repeated use.

As I mentioned, it was large enough for both of us to sit on it with lots of room to spread out and we estimated that probably another 3 kindergartners could have joined us. He started planning his play date right then and there, which I thought was cute.  Of course, the inevitable happened shortly after we began to eat… a spill. It was the frosty milkshake, which, coincidentally, had just had its‘ lid removed. Yuck. Luckily they had given us plenty of napkins. I noticed that right away the spill began to dissipate and after turning the blanket over, it was hard to notice where the spill had occurred. It was almost as if the blanket had eaten the milkshake itself. Very strange. I placed the napkin down over the spill and blotted and am happy to report that it cleaned up incredibly easily. I turned over the blanket again and blotted the area on the opposite side, and after that, there was no evidence of a spill at all. Very happy with that feature.

I spent a couple of seconds imagining this product in our lives and immediately thought how handy it would be for us to use as additional protection on the bleachers at a baseball or football game or to cover our seats on the curb at parades in addition to continuing to use it for picnics or trips to the beach. I plan on keeping it in my car and it is nice to know that I have a blanket with an exclusive purpose. I can see us using it quite a bit. To sum up, I was happy with the CGEAR Sand-Free Multi-rug and would recommend it to those that needed a cleanable and reliable outdoor blanket. My only negatives would be the lack of convenient storage, the overall weight of the product and the cost. I was surprised that the full sized blanket (larger than the one I used) retails for $75. That seemed a little costly  for our family, but overall, a great addition for a family with an active lifestyle.  I was thankful for the opportunity to review it.

Buy:

You can purchase the Multi-Rug at some select online retailers as well as my favorite, ama.

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely that of the blog owner or writer. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. I received free product in order to facilitate this review.