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37 Shemagh Tactical Scarf Uses For Military Survival

Updated by Editorial Staff

shemagh uses

How many shemagh uses do you know of?

There are a surprisingly large number of uses for shemagh scarves. In this post, you’re going to discover 37 ways you can use a shemagh tactical scarf for survival.

What does a shemagh make you think of?

Well, after reading this post. You’ll think about how much a tactical behemoth this one piece of clothing can do. You’re about to discover why the military, especially the army, uses this tactical scarf for camping survival.

We love tactical gear that has more than one function. It’s efficient. Multi-tools, a garden, tactical knives, all have multiple uses and functions in one item. This scarf is one of the kings when it comes to multi-functional and tactical.

There are a surprisingly large number of uses for shemaghs. Dozens in fact. If a tactical scarf exists. It’s the shemagh tactical scarf. This just might be the most underrated survival item there is. Underestimation at it’s best.

Table of Contents

  • 37 Ways To Survive With a Shemagh Tactical Scarf
    • 37) Use as a Scarf
    • 36) Poultice
    • 35) Baby Swaddler
    • 34) Washcloth To Clean With
    • 33) Use As A Fishing Net
    • 32) Wick for a Lamp
    • 31) Collect Dew
    • 30) Starting a Fire
    • 29) Secure a Splint
    • 28) Emergency Water Filter
    • 27) Clean Space
    • 26) Primitive Pillow
    • 25) Kneepad
    • 24) Use It As A Belt
    • 23) Bandage For Small Wounds
    • 22) Protect Your Head From The Sun
    • 21) Protection from Dust, Sand, and Wind Storms
    • 20) Towel Sweat Rag
    • 19) Use It As a Tool Carrying Belt
    • 18) Bug Cover
    • 17) Foot Wrap
    • 16) Traveling Bag
    • 15) Ultimate Camouflage or Concealment
    • 14) Warm Layer
    • 13) Trail Marker
    • 12) Strainer
    • 11) Camping Seat Cover
    • 10) Potholder
    • 9) Tourniquet
    • 8) Sling For Injured Arms
    • 7) Sling to Use As A Deadly Weapon
    • 6) Small Blanket For You Or a Large Blanket For Children
    • 5) Water Collector
    • 4) Cool Yourself
    • 3) Sarong
    • 2) Rope
    • 1) Eye Mask
  • Conclusion

37 Ways To Survive With a Shemagh Tactical Scarf

37) Use as a Scarf

Starting with number 37, of course, you can use the shemagh for exactly what it is. A scarf. Fortunately for us, it just happens to have at least 37 other tactical and survival uses.

36) Poultice

You can use it as a Poultice to speed up the healing process.

35) Baby Swaddler

If you happen to be around a newborn baby. And you happen to have nothing else for a baby swaddle. Grab your shemagh because it can be a great substitute for a baby swaddle.

34) Washcloth To Clean With

Like practically any cloth out there. The shemagh can be a washcloth as well. Use it to wash what you need to. Throw it in the washer and you have a washcloth for life that can also perform dozens of other functions.

33) Use As A Fishing Net

Forget to bring your net for fishing? Well, as long as you didn’t also forget your shemagh scarf, you can use that as a net.

32) Wick for a Lamp

You can use it as a substitute for a wick for your lamp.

31) Collect Dew

Use it to collect things, like dew for example.

30) Starting a Fire

Start a blazing fire with it if you have no other supplies to light a fire.

29) Secure a Splint

If you find yourself with an injury. You can secure a splint in place by tying it with the scarf.

28) Emergency Water Filter

If you don’t have any sort of water filter at all. You can use the shemagh as a filter. It won’t filter out small particles and I’m not saying it’s an effective option for filtering water. But it will at least filter out larger debris that would otherwise not be filtered out.

Most of these scarves are made of 100% cotton. So it’s an effective material

27) Clean Space

Need a clean space to lay objects on? You can spread out the cloth and have a nice clean surface to use.

26) Primitive Pillow

Wrap up the scarf and you have a comfortable cushion to use as a mini pillow. It’s all you need. Pillows, in general, are overrated.

25) Kneepad

Protect your knees from scrapes and bruises. If you’re doing work that requires a lot of knees on hard ground time. Wrap your shemagh around your knees for some padding between your knees and the ground.

24) Use It As A Belt

You can wrap it around you’re waste and now you have a belt.

23) Bandage For Small Wounds

Wrap it around a wound any body part that needs protection from air exposure or such. The shemagh can do it. For larger blood gushing wounds? Maybe not. But for smaller wounds that need some padding. You can skip carrying the band-aids if you have this scarf.

22) Protect Your Head From The Sun

The shemagh is popular in the middle east and other hotter climates. Mostly because you can wrap it around your head to protect your head from the blazing heat of the suns rays.

Watch this video for step by step instructions on how to tie a headwrap.

21) Protection from Dust, Sand, and Wind Storms

Not only will it help protect your head against sun exposure. Gain protection from dust, sand and wind storms as well. The shemagh is particularly good at this because it allows you to cover your entire face and get as close to your eyes as possible without actually covering your eyes.

Any movie you’ve seen that had a sandstorm scenario, you saw everyone wearing shemagh scarves in the scene.

20) Towel Sweat Rag

Great for hiking, running, or other sweat-inducing activities.

19) Use It As a Tool Carrying Belt

Not only can it help keep your pants up as a regular belt. It can also be a belt to carry your tools.

18) Bug Cover

On a camping trip and need some assistance keeping bugs away from your face? Yes it’s very annoying. You can wrap the scarf around your face and neck to help keep the bugs off.

17) Foot Wrap

Injured your ankle? Need to protect your bare feet from the harsh terrain? Wrap it around your foot and your good to go.

Watch this video to see exactly how to do it.

16) Traveling Bag

Need another bag but don’t want to carry another bag? Me too. Just use your shemagh.

Watch this video to see how to use the shemagh as a lightweight pack.

15) Ultimate Camouflage or Concealment

This scarf can be the ultimate concealment piece of clothing. Buy one with camo colors, wrap it around your face. No one will be able to see you in the outdoors.

14) Warm Layer

They can be warm if you buy one that is made of a thicker material.

13) Trail Marker

When you’re on a trail off the grid, getting lost is one of those worst case scenarios that are always in the back of your mind. At least it is for me. Which is why marking your trail as you go is so important. You can use the scarf to mark your trail if you have nothing else to do it.

This video shows you what I mean.

12) Strainer

Need to strain when you don’t have a strainer? The cloth makes a good material for straining your water or other liquids to remove smaller particles.

11) Camping Seat Cover

One aspect of camping is always finding yourself with a dirty seat cover on your camping chair. Somehow someway, the seat always gets dirty. And you don’t necessarily want to always be walking around with dirty pants. Use the scarf to cover the seat. Works perfectly.

10) Potholder

If you’re cooking over a fire, you can use this cloth as a potholder to remove the hot pot from the flames. Use the whole scarf to wrap your hand up to create a nice thick layer of protection from the scalding pot handle.

9) Tourniquet

Serious injury? Transform your shemagh into a tourniquet.

This video below shows you how.

8) Sling For Injured Arms

Use it as an arm sling if you injure your arm. It’s much more comfortable than a traditional arm sling too.

7) Sling to Use As A Deadly Weapon

Take it off your head, wrap a rock around it and within a few seconds, you have a deadly weapon.

Wrap a big rock up in the middle of it and start swinging. If an instant defense weapon ever existed, this is it.

6) Small Blanket For You Or a Large Blanket For Children

These things can be surprisingly large when you unfold them. You can at least cover your upper body if you need something to give you some warmth. If there’s a younger person that needs it. It will be a large blanket to them.

5) Water Collector

It’s useful to collect water with.

This video below shows you how.

4) Cool Yourself

Walking through the desert? If you have some water. You can have it absorb some and then wrap it around your head. It’s an effective method to reduce body temperature.

3) Sarong

Wrap around your waist if you just seeking modesty.

2) Rope

Not only is this scarf incredibly versatile. It’s tough. Tie it against a post or what you need to and use it as a rope. Tie a bowline knot or any knot you need it for.

1) Eye Mask

Last and not least. You can use it as an eye mask. Blocking all the light from your eyes when you’re trying to go to sleep has been shown to make a significant difference in the quality of sleep. So instead of buying an eye mask. Just use your shemagh. If you don’t have one yet, getting one for this reason alone would be more than worth the small investment.

Conclusion

Is there anything this thing can’t do? It would probably be a shorter list of what it cannot do.

We hope this article on different uses for a shemagh scarf helped you.

You might also like our post on the different uses for old gasoline and also our post on different bamboo uses.

shemagh scarf uses

About Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at The Survival Journal is a team of survival experts in a range of survival expertise from wilderness survival, disaster preparedness, to preparing for the next financial collapse.

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