Shemagh vs gamcha

@Alanaana, looks like the newer Grayl model has a better lid. The old one did not feel as water tight as this one looks. So you may be able to get away without a second bottle. I gave my 16.9 oz one to my daughter when she moved out and bout the larger geo press. Think I am going back to the smaller one. I usually carry another bottle anyway. On the trail, it is a titanium canteen with canteen cup. I sometimes take that when I travel too. Can cook in the cup on a hotel iron...

16.9oz UltraPress® Purifier - Covert Edition

 

@Hanzo thank you for sending me this link. This is a really nice size especially since I wanted to find something smaller... My Nalgene was feeling a little too thick to carry around with ease .
I updated my Water Purification Guide and included your link. Thanks again!
Best 5 Methods of Purifying Water for Survival - Prepper Facts

 

@Hanzo I tried wearing the Shemagh as a dress and you're right, even for a short person it's a bit too short.

Shemagh_dress by Alanaana posted Mar 11, 2024 at 8:49

It works really well for everything else and is a super warm and versatile scarf. I was even able to put it through the washing machine and dryer and it retained it's shape and stitching.
My cat obviously wore it best.

Alleyjandra_wore_it_best by Alanaana posted Mar 11, 2024 at 8:49

It became my favorite portable blanket and I even brought it to the Pohoiki hot springs. Sadly, I just remembered that I lost it in the car fire last Friday. I doubt it survived that one. Though it had a short life (the Shemagh), at least it was adventurous.

 

You were rocking it!

 

My dog rocks mine too.

I like to keep in the truck too. Sorry about your car again. The first time I bought bread from Lana's farm stand, she just had the bread laid out. So having any kind of clean fabric in the vehicle made for improvised bread bag. I keep mine in a zip lock to keep it clean. Dogs inhabit the truck too. And the wife... She's usually the one to drop food.

 

Long term gamcha review. It has been 20+ years since I bought the initial bunch of gamcha. They have been used regularly during that time. One finally tore in the middle when I stretched it across my back to towel off. So now, it will be two big bandanas.

I can't believe how long they last. The other three, no damage yet. They are sooooo thin, but strong. And because they are so thin, they dry really fast.

 

I bought a couple for the wife to destroy and both are holding strong.

 

Awesome

 

I do not think they are that useful when the winter is harsh.

 

There is usually no one thing that suits everything. Know your environment. Thin cotton is not usually for cold winters. Awesome for the tropics.

 

I was, lets say, less than correctly dressed for the 1840's at a recent museum event and one of the other participants gifted me a GumCha to wear in place of my modern cooling towel. I found that it held far more water and evaporated far slower than the any of the modern ones I wear at work. I was quite comfortable through a whole day sitting in a hot rainy North Carolina farm field. It's always hot and humid here at the beach and the large, soft, surface area of this cotton cloth lets me refold parts that get dirty to the inside until it can get a wash.

I have no stake in this company, but this is the website info printed on my GumCha.

GumCha4Health – Self-sustaining funding for Rural Health

In Okinawa we wore tenugui cooling towels that were soaked in water and "shibori" - to "wring, squeeze or press," which makes sense since they were wrung out and rolled up. Basically a thin and light elongated terry cloth towel with no fuzz on about ten inches at each end. These can be rolled and tied around the neck or head for cooling. It wasn't uncommon to see them neatly rolled and stacked in the refrigerator at work. When one got dry or soiled a fresh cool one was available. Local construction workers all seemed to wear white ones around their neck and head, and I marveled at their ability to keep them clean. At the tire store we had lightly colored ones. I always thought black or brown would be the best color for me, wrangling truck tires and split rims, but the hardware stores carried only white or light colors.

Surviving the summer here is the only real challenging time of year and anything that makes it more comfortable is welcome.

 

$20 is quite expensive. They are available for about $3-4. Mine dry really fast.

And tenugui are great. Just returned from Japan and we carried our own around, though mainly for hand wiping. Thankfully, it was mostly cool and overcast. We probably walked a couple marathons. We hoofed it everywhere, probably about 12 hours a day, stopping to eat and shop and sightsee.

Every time my wife complained about being hot, I would tell her to wet her tenugui and wrap it around her neck. She never did, so kept complaining about being hot. Cool and overcast weather is still hot when you are walking lots.