Bandana - Silk or Cotton?

Cotton, I have carried one of these for the past 5 years with a pocket sewn in it. I don't use it to blow my nose but have used it for pretty much everything else from a oven mitten while hiking to a napkin.

The main reason I went with cotton is because I knew how cotton would hold up and it would be absorbent(sp?).
 
Cotton. Absorbent, strong, shreddable for tinder. The only advantage for silk (that I know about in my limited experience) is that it is super strong.
 
Cotton. More cost effective (inexpensive) can be used for more purposes including bandaging and char cloth.
 
Silk. You can use it to keep warm in the winter and soak it to cool off in the summer. They're also about twice as big as a normal cotton bandana, I just measured one and it's 32x32 inches.

In the winter around here it's quite common to see them being worn. I use one around my neck on the motorcycle when it's cold, it's amazing what a difference that makes at 40deg and 70mph. That simple bandana keeps my neck warmer than a fleece gaiter does.

They are more expensive than cotton but it's not a huge difference. My local western store sells them for $10.
 
When trekking, I prefer silk material. Not the shiny stuff, but 'raw' silk that is thicker, has texture and is very very strong. This is the same stuff that Viet Cong silk 'pajamas' are made from.

Performs better than cotton, just hard to find and more expensive.
 
Cotton. Has more uses. From fire to water collection and filtering.
 
I always carry a Buff one made of microfibre. Very quick drying, stretchy and adds a decent amount of insulation when used in cold weather !!!
 
There's a reason real cowboys wear silk and the mall ninja ones you find everywhere are cotton.
 
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