[QUOTE=jtkorth;8021742]
I was looking at blankets on the SmartPak website (so I know what to get) and I had my eyes on a couple different Amigo blankets. Do they hold out well?[/QUOTE]
That’s a good question. Hold up well to what?
The Amigo line is split into two, the Hero 6 and the Bravo 12. The Hero isn’t worth getting, the Bravo is reasonably nice. The Bravo will hold up to average use. If this new horse may be hard on blankets or is turned out with a blanket biter; this blanket may turn up in shreds.
The best thing you can do with blankets is to invest in nice ones. Spending the money upfront is going to prevent you from having to replace and repair on the tail end. The goal of the average Rambo blanket is 10-15 years, that is 3x the goal of the average Amigo (combining the Hero line and Bravo line into one average). On top of that, Rambo has a 3 year warranty on waterproofing and breathability and a 1 year warranty on hardware. Amigo carries none of those.
So when doing the price breakdown:
The initial price of a medium and lite Rambo, barring any sales tax, is $617.98 as opposed to $327.94 with the same weights in the Amigo Bravo line. So assuming they both function on the high side of their estimates, the Amigo Bravo will most likely last 7 years, and the Rambo will most likely last 15. That means that with two blanket purchases you still won’t cover the length of time one Rambo will cover. Also, the Rambo blankets are only 88.4% more expensive meaning that in just blanket purchases to span the 14 years (ignoring the last year that only the Rambo will cover) you will spend an extra $37.90 on the Amigo blankets.
Lets say you are going to do it yourself in your own home industrial sized washing machine, the rug wash costs $21.99. Allowing for a little spillage and overfill/underfill you get about 4 years for 2 blankets washed once every spring. That comes out to $2.75 per blanket per year, estimating on the high side. The Rug Proof happens to be the expensive stuff. It’s about $29.99 for Nikwax Synthetic Rug Proof and that bottle will only do two blankets. So that is $29.99 per year. That is $89.97 that you KNOW you don’t have to spend on a Rambo because it is guaranteed. Generally, if you have no plans of clipping and if the horse and his pasture mates are not hard on the blankets, you can wait longer to re-waterproof. If you intend to use the blanket as the horse’s shelter when outside, I would say “don’t wait” just re-proof.
I know that was a lot of information, but you asked a bit of a loaded question.
Amigos hold up well for what they are intended for. Light-moderate use; 5-7 year “life expectancy”. But they will most likely cost you more in the long run with blanket repairs and re-proofing along with replacement costs when the life expectancy is up. So far the estimation is $127.87 between difference in blanket prices, plus re-proofing costs the 3 years while Rambos is under the waterproofing guarantee. But why don’t we add in a 7th of the price of a 3rd set of blankets, to make up for the year difference, just to keep things a little more in perspective. That comes to $46.85 for one year’s worth of blanket use (because that’s how the real market works, right? lol).
That’s $174.72. By saving $290.04 on the initial purchase price you wind up spending $464.31 over time.