Desert Survival, why do Arabs wear so many clothes?

fixer27 said:
After 5 years of seeing media shots of Arabs/Desert Dwellers, why do they wear layered robes and head gear and why are they dark colored?

Is there some sort of evaporative cooling to be found wearing all of those clothes, or are they more designed to act as insulation from the Sun, keeping their bodies temperature constant?
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I don't about the clothes, but there is this consert.................:D

original.jpg


:D:D
 
Rat Finkenstein said:
I use the same basic idea to stay cool in the summer. Baggy short-sleeve cotton shirts over t-shirts. I rarely sweat, only when there is high humidity. I am comfortable while others sweat like pigs in just a t-shirt and complain about the heat.
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I agree with you.:thumbup:

In the summer I oversize my clothes size also.

the more room the better.:cool:
 
The easiest way to explain it would to think of it as a mini climate with the robes on. It would keep the moisture in longer so you dont lose water as fast. It would keep the sun off you skin at mid day. Belive it or not but at mid day you would be much cooler under all the cloths. Another by product of the dark cloths is less light reflected into your eyes. Do think about it in terms of 100 years ago. You didnt have diffrent outfits to chose from every day. So it had to work for you. Day or night cold or hot. When i grow up in israel i sometimes would go with my dad to work. He used to travel all over. In the summer time at mid day you might see the guys make a tent from the robes. They would use the walking stick to that they would put in the front and drape the outer robe almost like a TiPi. What i did notice intresting was that they would sit sideways to the sun. One guy said that the wind almost always blows away from the sun direction. So they get some breeze to help stay cool. Little things that get passed from father to son. With today fabric they did start changing the kind of cloth they use. Cotton is much easier to get now then before and its cheap.

Sasha
 
Page and a half deep ;)
I think , the robes ( as well as the other good points listed above ) Are also used so they can hide the AK's , ammo , and explosive vests.
Also they keep the women fully covered so that you really don't know what you get untill after you get married ;)

This post was writen in a light hearted tone, and I really dislike having to put a "PC" disclaimer on it. If I offended anyone tough taters.

Phil
 
1894,

Personally I think they cover the women so nobody knows how fine they really are.:D
 
fixer27 said:
After 5 years of seeing media shots of Arabs/Desert Dwellers, why do they wear layered robes and head gear and why are they dark colored?

Is there some sort of evaporative cooling to be found wearing all of those clothes, or are they more designed to act as insulation from the Sun, keeping their bodies temperature constant?
Click to expand...

Clothing

To avoid the heat, people in deserts have to dress up carefully :

The long, flowing robes shield the skin from the sun and allow air to reach the body. The clothes are loose-fitting to prevent immediate sweat evaporation so that the body does not dehydrate so quickly in the very dry air. Headgear shields the head from the sun. Veils protect the face and keep the sand out of the mouth. The clothes also keep the people warm at night and in winter
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Color

In the desert, wear white clothing. White reflects heat. Even the Turags, a desert people famous for their blue-black clothing, wear white outer garments occasionally. Next, cover your entire body. The reason desert people completely clothe themselves, even in the heat of the day, is because it slows the rate that sweat leaves the body. In other words, ration sweat, not how much you drink.
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Ask A Scientist
General Science Archive

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Black Clothing in the Desert
2002042

name Jon
status student
age 16

Question - hello,
We all know that white reflects heat while black absorbs most heat. In
the desert wearing a black robe would absorb more heat than a white one
(naturally), and wearing a black robe could increase temperatures inside
by about 6 degrees. Why do people wear black robes in the desert?
------------------------------------------------
Some assumptions need validation:
1. Who says few/some/most/all people in the desert wear black robes -- or
have we been taking "Lawrence of Arabia" too seriously?

2. "Black" and "White" apply to the absorption / reflection of visible
light. It says nothing about the absorption / reflection of infrared, which
might be a more important factor.

3. It is assumed that the "black" and "white" fabric are the same type
material woven in the same way, etc. This point may not be correct. A black
loosely knit fabric may well be "cooler" than a tightly knit white fabric.
It would allow the fabric to "breathe" better.

4. Other issues than the coolest garment may be important. For example: Are
there religious or cultural reasons for wearing one color vs. another? If we
believe the newspaper and magazine photos, it would appear that most people
in the desert wear turbans rather than loose fitting headgear. Certainly
this practice is not consistent with keeping cool since most body heat is
lost from the head.

5. If the color of the dress is important, then certainly the color of the
skin is equally or more so. However -- although this is a generalization --
people living in hot climates tend to be dark skinned, and people who live
in cold climates tend to be light skinned.
This does not make sense, does it?

Need more data before any conclusions can be made about this inquiry.

Vince Calder
========================================================
I am going to guess...These things are usually not just for one reason.
First off some wear white , some wear black...even in the same tribe. Here
are some factors that will come into play:

Availability of color fabrics
Cost
Personal preference
Custom
Thickness of the fabric...layers


I recently saw a special on desert nomads of the African desert and some
wore white while other wore black. Also, I am not at all sure I would
accept the 6 degree estimate...It seems possible that the color will matter
much less in the multiple air layer that the robes assume. The outermost
layer would certainly absorb more heat but then it would have to be
conducted to through the inner layer(s). Here is a scenario. I wear a thin
tee shirt on a sunny day..if it is black I notice the difference form white.
If I then wear a tee shirt and a black shirt over it...it makes less of a
difference.

Peter Faletra Ph.D.
Assistant Director
Science Education
Office of Science
Department of Energy
=========================================================



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Wrong Fixer, I'm not a 16 year old Student.:D:D:D
 
pancakeman157 said:
not only is it great for beating the sun and heat, the ideas surrounding the clothing styles of that area of the world were designed with modesty in mind. and not just for woman. basically the only part of your body that might be seen uncovered are hands, feet, and head. it shows such a deep conviction to their faith, one in which i think many western cultures could learn a great deal from
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If I'm in a survival situation, modesty as religious conviction-- modesty for any reason, for that matter-- is going to be the last thing on my mind.

I can definitely see keeping oneself covered in low humidity in order to minimize sweat loss. I do keep myself covered if I can't find shade any other way - and two layers of cloth works quite well at keeping the heat out in direct sunlight. And if I only have access to one layer, even that's better than getting sunburned - but if it's a tight-fitting layer, I'd rather drape it over me somehow, than actually wear it.

If anyone here winds up making a clothing rig based on what's been discussed here, I'd be interested to know whether linen or cotton works better.. linen breathes nicely, and tends to let go of moisture much more quickly than cotton, which means it doesn't get soggy or heavy. Not sure how much of an effect it would have on the conservation of sweat.
 
Culturally, and I can't comment too much without making a mistake, a lot of the modesty requirements evolved from the practicality of dressing like that. The apparel long predates the cultural modesty of Islam.

One of those "As long as we aren't doing it anyway, let's prohibit it."
 
Watchful said:
One of those "As long as we aren't doing it anyway, let's prohibit it."
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Actually, they probably had problems with people uncovering, and then getting sun burn and/or heat stroke, so they baked the idea that you must be covered into their religion. Sort of like old testament prohibitions against pork, because they had trouble in the early going figuring out why pork made them sick.
 
bulgron said:
Sort of like old testament prohibitions against pork, because they had trouble in the early going figuring out why pork made them sick.
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I actually thought of posting that as another good example! Ditto for shellfish. BTW, the Muslim halal prohibitions are fairly similar to the Hebrew's kosher requirements. And they're pretty much all based on health and hygiene.
 
bulgron said:
If I ever make good on my threat to move to Tucson, I swear I'm going to learn how to dress like an Arab. Besides, that'll make it easier to CCW. :D
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Please don't move to Tucson, we have too many Californians as it is. :)

Also no need to CCW in AZ just strap it to you hip and go anywhere.

Chad
 
Someone explain to me why the Indians in the desert SW, such as Apaches, wore almost nothing. Maybe they had the right idea....
 
There is no reason to think pork goes bad in the Middle East any faster than beef or mutton or goat. There is some reason to believe that pigs are ecologically less effective outside of well-watered or forested areas.

Reading the thread, I was wondering if darker clothes might not serve as a better sunscreen, then someone posted a reference to light skin being common in cold climates and dark skin in hot climates. Of course -- dark skin screens out the heavy solar radiation.

Ideally, Arab style clothing should have at least one dark inner layer but a white outer layer, if only thermal efficiency was the point.
 
bulgron said:
If I ever make good on my threat to move to Tucson, I swear I'm going to learn how to dress like an Arab. Besides, that'll make it easier to CCW. :D
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Yeah, dress like an Arab and you can carry your Uzi slung under your robe. Or you could go Doc Holliday style and just carry your sawed-off double barrel alley cleaner slung under there, too. :D
 
bulgron said:
If I ever make good on my threat to move to Tucson, I swear I'm going to learn how to dress like an Arab. Besides, that'll make it easier to CCW. :D
Click to expand...

That's great, run around disguised as a gun-toting Arab.
Department of Homeland Security, we have a rocket scientist in the house! :D
 
Watchful said:
I actually thought of posting that as another good example! Ditto for shellfish. BTW, the Muslim halal prohibitions are fairly similar to the Hebrew's kosher requirements. And they're pretty much all based on health and hygiene.
Click to expand...

muslim halal or jew kosher meat is mostly about killing an animal cruelly and inefficiently for the sake of ancient desert religious hallicunations
:thumbdn:
 
fixer27 said:
After 5 years of seeing media shots of Arabs/Desert Dwellers, why do they wear layered robes and head gear and why are they dark colored?

Is there some sort of evaporative cooling to be found wearing all of those clothes, or are they more designed to act as insulation from the Sun, keeping their bodies temperature constant?
Click to expand...

It is not only Arabs - in Central Asia, where temperatures in some areas are over 40 degrees Celsius during the day and get into near zero during the night, local people tend to wear coats made of cotton or leather that covers you completely including feet. http://www.ummagurau.com/art/russia/man3.jpg
http://www.spurlock.uiuc.edu/search/details.php?a=2003.05.0001
http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rog3=AF&rop3=110472
http://www.david-black.com/newsilkroad_5_detail.htm
They tend to avoid activities that require lot of energy during the day, though not always.
Also, cotton coats are insulating you from the heat during the day if external temperature is much higher than your body's temperature, I mean when temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius. Yes, you sweat profusely if you move much, and it is uncomfortable, but it is still more comfortable than wearing lightweight clothing.


nephildevil – please don’t say such things, many people can get offended.
 
many animals get killed cruelly for no reason at all, thats way worse than "offending people"

i was just using "free speech" and saying my opinion on that subject
 
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