What kind of hankie?

stingray4540

stingray4540

Joined
Mar 26, 2007
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I remember in some old threads that people preferred silk hankies to cotton. Is there any particular reason to this? What advantage does a silk hankie have to a cotton one? And, were do you get silk hankies? Should I even bother getting a cotton one, since they are so readily available?
 
The main reason I prefer silk bandannas is they are far more compressible so take up less valuable space in a pack. I don't use them for blowing my nose, however. I carry a small cotton handkerchief all the time in my back pocket for that.

Google "silk wild rags". Try to be sure to get something at least 36"x36" for maximum versatility.
 
Depends on your intended use. I carry a handkerchief every day, and it will always be 100% cotton. It's comfortable, absorbent and dries quickly. Silk rags may have other uses, but for hygiene purposes, whether that's blowing your nose, wiping sweat from your brow, or drying your hands in a washroom... nothing beats cotton, IMO.
 
100% cotton bandanna form wally world. handy as a pocket on a shirt. don't leave home without it.
 
cortopar said:
Depends on your intended use. I carry a handkerchief every day, and it will always be 100% cotton. It's comfortable, absorbent and dries quickly. Silk rags may have other uses, but for hygiene purposes, whether that's blowing your nose, wiping sweat from your brow, or drying your hands in a washroom... nothing beats cotton, IMO.
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Exactly. You can't beat cotton for a hankie.

However, if you're looking for a bandanna then you can't beat silk. It blocks the wind well....I use a silk bandanna around my neck on the motorcycle when it's cold out and my neck stays nice and warm. In the summer you can wet the silk and it evaporates slowly to cool you off. Any good western store should sell silk bandannas, and the ones I've seen are much larger than a cotton hankie.
 
Silk is prefered for hankie's when you have a cold and runny nose as its less likely to make you nose red and sore from abrasion. Kinda like medicated tissues vs not.

I am going to chug a beer now and fart to preserve some manhood.

Skam
 
I saw a guy once who pulled several dozen silk ones from inside his left ear, so they must be compressible:D. I myself carry cotton (in a pocket) to sop southwestern desert sweat when I'm hunting or fishing.:)Regards, ss.
 
SHEMAGH!

:thumbup:

SSH11.jpg
 
I carry a 36x36 silk bandana. I use it for a variety of things, not the least of which is filtering water to remove particulate matter, prior to chemical treatment. Because of the tight weave, the silk does a much better job than cotton at filtering dust, when worn as a mask.
 
longbow50 said:
Because of the tight weave, the silk does a much better job than cotton at filtering dust, when worn as a mask.
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I am very sensitive to wood smoke, so I carry a Spec-Ops Recon Wrap for that. Since it's a tube, it slips down over my head to cover my neck against the wind, and can pull up over my mouth and nose quickly.
 
I like a large cotton bandana for my universal rag, but I rarely use one like a cowboy would. It is my pot holder and sweat mop and covers a lot of first aid uses. Most of the commercial ones are too small. I carry a small synthetic hiker's towel that makes a good washcloth too-- dries fast.

I have a shemagh too, but I haven't gotten around to trying it in the field. I did braid up a paracord agal to go with it. The agal is the cord wrap that some Arab cultures use to hold the shemagh in place. This article on Wikipedia says that the agal was originally used to whip or hobble camels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agal . Here we are coming back from jack rabbit hunting :rolleyes:

Special_Air_Service_in_North_Africa_E_21337.jpg
 
I always carry two or three cotton bandannas whenever I'm camping, and one every day in my back pocket. They just have way too many uses, from first aid to gross water filtration to weapon to pot holder....
 
In my daypack I carry a traditional red bandanna and a camo one. The red one is for when I need to temporarily ditch the pack and need to easily find it again. The camo one is for when I might need to ditch the pack but don't want anyone else to find it. I rarely need them for these purposes, but they do happen.
 
Thanks guys. I think I'll pick up a cotton one for my pocket, and a silk one for my kit. I think I'm going to like those silk ones though.
 
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