Anyone else use a shemagh or other headwrap?

I was parked next to a Ross store today and went in to look at small tablecloths as shemagh material. It turns out that a standard 4 person square table is about 42" square and tablecloths are 52" inches square. Shemaghs are more like 44", but that didn't concern me too much. I came up with a woven cotton tablecloth in stiped earth-tone colors for $5. It's in the washer now in a hot wash to help shrink it a bit and get the sizing out of it, but I did try it on and I preferrred the extra length.

As an added function, it's not long enough to wear as a classic sarong, but it would work fine for something to wear while your clothes are drying out or you just took a camp bath. Indonesian men wear a sarong that is a big tube and wrapped in various ways. Here's an example: http://www.expat.or.id/info/howtowearasarong.html
 
Dale,

Thanks for posting that link on the sarong, I will have to include that in the next installment about stuff I overlooked!

Don
 
Thought I'd give the shemagh a try over the weekend. Temps were probably over 100 Fahrenheit late yesterday afternoon, with the sun seeming particularly merciless. As I got ready to gather and chop wood to cook dinner, I got out a Palestinian (= black and white) kaffiyeh I'd bought on a visit to Jerusalem many years back. I tried some of the wrapping techniques from the links above, and eventually got it down. (Previously, I'd just worn them with the headbands, instead of the wrapping method.) Also tried it out on my 5-year-old son, who's always amused to try something new.

Observations: first, it really did give the look of some kind of sinister terrorist right out of central casting. I mean, I wore it in my fenced backyard, but would NOT wear it to the grocery store, much less out into the desert. Again, I had very much in mind that poor Sikh guy who got gunned down just after September 11 by some misfit who decided to "avenge" the World Trade Center attacks upon anybody wearing headgear that looked vaguely Asian.

Second, it really did seem to keep the sun off quite nicely. The porous cotton fabric let a decent amount of breeze through, too, and more so if I kept it pretty loose.

Third, it did heat me up a bit--but not as much as I'd expected. Not as uncomfortable as an unventilated hat, I'd guess. I can see how a loose shemagh could be a net improvement over a bare head and neck for hot-weather wear.
 
I wear a desert shemagh in the winter in Seattle... If they can't take a joke, I show them my INFIDEL (also written in English and Arabic) T-shirt!!! :eek: :D

I don't wear it in the traditional manor; I wear it more like a neck scarf - it stands up enough to cover my chin and nose on wet, windy days... The only drawback, of course, is the cotton doesn't dry fast when it DOES get wet... But hey, the bums and the yuppies don't bother me, either!!! :thumbup:

I also wear it that way hiking, regardless of the weather, as it doubles as an emergency sling and water filter... Fortuneately, it's still only a "fashion" accessory! :D
 
Well I got my shemagh finally. The fabric is thinner than I thought it would be, but I think that's probably a good thing. It's bigger than I thought too which is nice.
I tried it as a face/head wrap and um, yeah I don't think I'd wear it like that if anyone was around. Instant taliban look for sure. I tried different ways of tying it around my head and neck, and it doesn't look bad. Tied around my head and draping it down my neck do-rag style seems to work best. I plan on using it for lots of different things in the field, so I really think it's worth the $11. I notice now Brigade has solid colors, I think that would be much better, and look more low key.
 
Roodog said:
I like those Buff things, they come in bandana patterns and look just like one when put on right.
You can get just as much coverage without looking like an insurgent and they are also not cotton so dry better.
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I've taken to wearing a buff for exactly these reasons. Multiple ways to wear, not cotton and very quick drying, and I don't look like a terrorist. Someone posted the specs ops version, but I picked mine up at buffusa.com PIcked up an insulated version for winter, and a lightweight uv-resistant one for summer.
 
there are a few different thicknesses of shemagh, I tend to stick to the light weight ones as they pack small and can be used to many different things as listed. In stead of a towel on ops I used to carry two tucked around my person as they are so small but mainly one lived on my head instead of camming up all the time, worn inside out they make a good personal cam net. the thick ones are really warm but you cant see through em.

Remember they were designed to keep the sun off and sand out and not for religious purposes.

I use pertex field towels to turn them into water proof breathable hoods when hiking lightweight as I wear a pertex/pile shirt or to make a poncho hood more comfortable when its really chucking down, they make a handy 'blanket' for when you stop for a break or a headwrap to keep the bugs off at night when in a bivvy, padding for a rubbing rucksack or web belt.

Survival wise you can use em to help gather water or strain out the crunchy bits, for first aid and so on :)

they also work a treat when shy partners or kids want to get changed out of a wet swim suit and they make a sexy short wrap for the lady in your life ;)

I've even heard of them being used as an emergency daiper :eek:


seperately - I have a lightweight jungle hammock which makes a better sarong modesty wise :)
 
I wanted a light colored shemagh and went to a fabric store today and bought a 45" square of cotton muslin-- kind of a course "homespun" kind of weave. It was all of $4.75. It will cost me more than that to get my daughter to hem it up for me! It could be used as is, but the ends will unravel.
 
Cool kids don't wear shemaghs.

Shemaghs have become popular items not only for leftwingers who support and wish to look like Islamic terrorists, but now also for neo-Nazis all over Europe. It is a symbol of hatred and supremacism.

For example, here is Christian Worch, one of the most important figures of the German neo-Nazi scene.
Here is Christian Worch(on the left) with another Nazi, also wearing a keffiyah/shemagh/palestinian headscarf.
http://projekte.free.de/lotta/img/lay/gerg.jpg


And quotes from a flyer translated from german:


OK, you’re somewhat surprised. You wear a Palestinian scarf. You’re young, maybe you’d call yourself radical, maybe not. Maybe you’re an antifascist, maybe not. In any case, you wear a Palestinian scarf.

Maybe you’ve just bought it, maybe you’ve had it for a while. To get to the point: Every item of clothing is a statement. Every item of clothing has a (hi)story. And especially this one.

Since 1968, when students were for the Vietcong and against the Americans in Vietnam, this item of clothing has gradually become fashionable.
At that time, so-called National liberation movements, such as that of 1968-1975 in Vietnam, were the focus of solidarity. The Vietnamese Nation (Volk) was fighting for its freedom – in the nineties, it was the Kurdish Nation (Volk) that was fighting for ist freedom, or the Palestinian Nation (Volk). In every case, it was a Nation (Volk) in question. Strange somehow.

In Germany today, only the Nazis still talk of National liberation and refer to the just struggle of the Palestinian Nation (Volk), against Israel, against the State of the Jews. And here we are. At the conflict between Palestinians and Israel. Already, between 1936 and 1939, this item of clothing, originally worn only by the rural Fedayin of Arabia, was imposed by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (al-Husseini, the great Nazi collaborator) upon his own people upon threat of punishment. European headwear was forbidden. Those resisting this imposition were assaulted or shot dead. The German National Socialists supported this Grand Mufti financially. Thus, the Nazis started a press campaign in Berlin against the partition of Palestine. The Grand Mufti promptly thanked the German Nazis: in this way, the German government did the independence struggle of the Arabs in Palestine a great service. The Palestinian scarf is an expression of the fight against Israel.
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You're misinformed....I guess anyone who wears any combat boots as well should be a racist..omg, that skinhead over there wears underwear...dang, I better not wear my fruit of the loom or Hanes cause people will think I'm one of them.
 
Yup. I agree. Everyone who wears one is definitely a terrorist.
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Personally I find the shemagh very useful indeed, but I do have a word of warning. I took it out on a kayaking trip one day and soaked it in the water to cool my head. It worked great all day keeping my head cool and keeping the sun off, but as soon as I got out of the kayak my friend started laughing at me. The warm water in the lake had caused the dye to run and now I looked like the grinch. Luckily the dye came off my skin relatively easily but I was unable to get it out of my clothes. So as a warning I suggest that you either buy a better product to make sure this doesn't happen or simply make your own.

By the way they make excellent hoods when hunting or playing airsoft.

-MC
 
JarheadJournalist said:
Yup. I agree. Everyone who wears one is definitely a terrorist.
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[/QUOTE Thank you bro, I'm just tired of all these people who get these dumb ideas and run with them...that's what causes conflict, besides just plainly copying and pasteing articles that are from a misinformation website and then spreading fear and panic.
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Holy moly this is an old thread! it's been more than 5 years and I am still enjoying my shemagh though. It has gone on just about every hike and backpacking trip since I got it, and serves many purposes :thumbup:

As for the dye, I did several rinse/washes in the sink and it took some time before the rinse water ran clean.
 
Old thread is old. But I can say I've never been interested in shemaghs. I DO plan on buying a genuine pith helmet though. Those suckers keep you crazy cool! They still use them in Vietnam even though the French are gone.
 
I have intended to get a shemagh...I think I will just make one. I also keep my head shaved, bandanas are OK but are kinda small.

old threads can be good threads. Fun to hear feedback from the OP after a few years..and that he still uses and likes the piece of kit the thread was made for.
 
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