Alcohol blankets, also known as booze blankets, beer jackets and vodka veils, are more common than actual coats during a night out on campus. 

When students go out to drink during the winter, they may choose to not wear a winter coat because they think the cozy feeling from a couple of drinks will keep them warm. However, the idea of alcohol blankets is a dangerous myth.

Elora Orazio, specialist in education at the University of Illinois Counseling Center, explained the warm feeling people experience when they drink alcohol. 

“People aren’t actually getting warmer, but they perceive that they feel warmer because their blood is closer to the skin, which is where the nerves are,” Orazio said.

Orazio said the use of an alcohol blanket can increase the risk of getting alcohol poisoning because one of the signs is a decreased body temperature.

“This is particularly risky if we think about students who feel like they’re hot because they’ve been drinking, but their body temperature is actually decreasing,” Orazio said. “It could potentially bring them closer to showing some of the signs of alcohol poisoning.”

Orazio also said when students drink specifically to keep warm when it’s cold out, they may drink more than usual, which also increases the risk of alcohol poisoning.

Devin Kelly, sophomore in LAS, said he only occasionally wears his winter coat when he goes out.

“It depends how cold it is. Sometimes I do, like if I’m wearing something like a sweater or something then I’m not going to, but it’s really cold out or really windy or something then I consider it,” Kelly said.

Kelly said wearing a big coat out to a bar is inconvenient because there is no place to put it. He said if more bars had coat checks, more students would wear coats out. Many campus bars do not have coat rooms, which also defers students’ decisions to wear a coat in the harsh cold.

Deaven Hudson, senior in AHS and bartender at Joe’s Brewery, said there is not a designated place for customers to store their coats at Joe’s.

“People put their things around the bar if they do bring them, just on like ledges and things,” Hudson said. “For special events we have coat checks.”

Meredith French, senior in Business and bartender at the Illini Inn, also said the Illini Inn does not have a coat room, but customers do the best with what they have.

“We don’t have a coat room, but people typically, if they bring coats, they’ll just put it on their barstool or there’s a couple ledges that people like to put them on too,” French said.

Hudson said the majority of customers at Joe’s don’t wear coats out. Since most bars are hot inside, people don’t think it’s necessary to have a big winter coat with them.

“Even though it’s cold outside, once you come inside it’s pretty hot, and carrying around a winter coat is a lot to carry around, so I think a lot of people just don’t think that it’s worth it,” Hudson said. “They’d just rather be cold for five minutes and then just come in here.”

Hudson said if students had the option of using a coat room and felt safe about leaving their coats there, more students would wear a coat out.

“If places did have somewhere you could keep your coat and you knew it wasn’t going to get lost or stolen, I think people would use that just because, at least for me, it would be worth it to not be cold. But I wouldn’t want to carry a coat around if I didn’t have a place to put it,” Hudson said.

French said the reason some students choose to not wear a coat out is because they are unaware of the danger they are in. She said if students knew more about the risks of going out in the freezing cold, more students would choose to wear a coat out.

“I know that at some of the schools up north, there’s a lot more cold-related deaths, but I don’t really hear about that happening at the University of Illinois so maybe if people were aware of that,” French said.

[email protected]