You’ve probably seen a shemagh in the movies and never knew what it was called. Anytime there’s a military movie and you see professional private contractor trying to look cool with his automatic rifle, he’ll usually have a white and black scarf around his neck or face. This scarf is a shemagh.
It’s just like a bandanna, but bigger and apparently more ‘macho’… which explains why most preppers loving buying these. Besides just the cool factor, shemaghs have a wide variety of uses that are only limited by your imagination.
When buying a shemagh, all you really need to look out for is the material used and the stitching. The shemagh needs to be strong, yet flexible. The stitching shouldn’t fray easily after repeated use.
If you’re going to get one, you might as well get it from Tapp Collections. Their shemagh is one of the most popular out there, with more than two thousand reviews (mostly positive), and a high rating on Amazon. The product is very affordable and lightweight.
You can easily keep a couple in your bug-out bag. They don’t take up much space and are lightweight.
There are many ways to tie a shemagh. You can easily see all the different ways by searching on YouTube for “tie shemagh”, and you’ll have a whole list of videos to watch and follow. Once your shemagh arrives in the mail, it’ll be a good idea to test the different methods out and familiarize yourself with them.
You may be wondering, “Any ideas what I could use one for?”
If you’re in a polluted and dusty environment, you could use it as a mask. Just wrap it around your face. If someone is injured, you could use it as a bandage. What if the injury is a dislocation or fracture? No worries. The shemagh is large enough to be a sling and strong enough to be used to secure a splint to reinforce a bone fracture.
Don’t have a pillow? Just fold it and now you have a makeshift one. The sun is too bright and you’re trying to rest in your tent? Fold the shemagh and place it over your eyes.
Run out of water? Rub your shemagh over the dew of many leaves in the morning and squeeze the cloth until water droplets come out. If you do find some murky water that has sedimentation, you can use the shemagh as a strainer to remove the larger foreign matter.
Now boil the water, wait for it to cool and you can drink it through a LifeStraw if you have one. Or you could use a water purification tablet.
Besides these uses, a shemagh can be used as a towel, flag, fire starter, tourniquet, feminine hygiene, foot wrap, net, pot holder, compress, toilet paper, short rope (rolled up), belt, trail marker and much more.
A shemagh is as versatile as paracord and mylar blankets. Every prepper should own one and if possible, you should get one for each family member too. If you get your shemagh from Tapp Collections, you can rest assured of getting a scarf that is soft, yet durable. It really doesn’t get better than this.
