Features:

  • 100% Cotton
  • Quality tested and ensured for maximum durability
  • Designed with only the toughest, roughest users in mind
  • Comfort and Performance come hand in hand with Rothco
Thin and Lightweight, but Warm

I was surprised at how thin the shemagh was when it arrived, but after perfecting how to put it on I was surprised at how warm it became. I brought it along backpacking at Glacier National Park in early May where I really learned just how useful it was. Glacier in May is still very cold, it dipped below zero every night and snowed a few times while we were up there. When the sun disappears behind the mountains the temperature drops. I most often wore it around my neck while still tied in the configuration that I could pull it over as a hood and around my mouth as a mask. When tied like that it provides excellent insulation (hot or cold) and just feels really good. The cotton almost feels like fleece. I often wear it like that for a majority of the day at my cabin. When you have the mask around your face it blocks wind as well as any single-purpose mask you could ever buy. However, I wear glasses and often those single-purpose thinsulate or any other material masks always, always cause my breath to fog my glasses. I've never had my glasses fog up wearing my Shemagh. The hood keeps you as warm as a light wool cap, but with the benefit of covering most of your exposed skin instead of just the top of your head. I wear it at night because cold air still gets into your sleeping bag through the hole where your head is. I've found nothing better to stave off that cold than the Shemagh. Even in the heat, after several hours of backpacking I threw it over my back where my shirts were soaked in sweat and becoming too cool in the sun. It stopped the sun from evaporating too much sweat too quickly and kept the temperature much more even. When you're not using it, it's light and thin enough to pack anywhere comfortably. It was great to take along backpacking in the cold and it'll be the first thing packed when I head out next year, and I keep it on me at all times of the day any day of the year at my cabin. It's permanently a part of my cold-weather gear, and I even keep it in my car during the summer for those cold morning commutes. It was worth the $15 or so I paid and easily that much again.

Awesome OD Green/Black shemagh!

Awesome Rothco OD Green/Black Shemagh!! I ordered Condor shemaghs from other sellers and received brown ones. Go Commando is the Awesome seller that I ordered this Rothco shemagh from and it came actually green! Per everyone's recommendation, I soaked the shemaghs in the sink to get out the excess dye. The Condor shemaghs had to be soaked and rinsed at least 5 times each and the water was dark especially when I finally hand-washed with dish soap. This Rothco shemagh did not bleed at all! I soaked it for hours and the water did not change. Even when I finished by hand-washing with dish soap it did not bleed any dye. Also the Condor shemaghs from other sellers were made in Pakistan, and this Rothco shemagh was made in India. The Condor shemaghs had packaging with no labels at all and no tags at all. This Rothco shemagh I got from Go Commando had a Rothco retail tag with "Made In India" on it hanging from it with a sewn in "Made In India" tag. I highly recommend this shemagh and make sure you get it from the seller "GO COMMANDO GEAR!" They were really nice and answered my questions nicely and quickly and I highly recommend them! I also got Rothco forward and reversed OD Green/Black subdued USA flag patches which have the best coloring out of several brands and sellers I have bought from on Amazon. Other brands have colors either a little or a lot off, but the Rothco ones I bought from GO COMMANDO GEAR match my OD Condor Tactical Vest and gear PERFECTLY!!! Thank you GO COMMANDO!!!

and honestly they simply look good. It's pretty neat to find something so useful ...

I've traveled to a lot of places and you'll see poorly made shemaghs being peddled throughout the world. My introduction to these head scarves was when I was in India and found them necessary for sun protection and for warmth in Himachal Pradesh (Manali and such). The ones I bought while traveling were cheap imitations. These Rothco ones are amazingly thick and warm. I come from a major midwestern city where winter is being on par with Siberia. This shemagh has kept my core warm and truly has become invaluable during the cold weather. I bought the Rothco ones because I knew they were well made (despite the hilarious 1-star reviews that are incredibly suspect to ignorance and competitor motives). warm, durable, cheap, and honestly they simply look good. It's pretty neat to find something so useful from another culture that perfectly translates to your own on my levels.

Rothco vs. Camcon

Upon initial glance I can say this shemagh is leaps and bounds ahead of the multimat Proforce Superlite Mat, Olive/Black. Out of the package this Rothco felt softer (like cotton should) than the Camcon, and the thread count appears to be a little higher. One noticeable difference between the two was the odor. The Rothco (made in India) had no offensive odor, while the Camcon (made in Pakistan) had a very pungent chemical odor. Another difference was color fastness. Prior to use I rinsed each product in hot water and found that the Rothco colors did not run, yet the Camcon colors continued to run after about five minutes of rinsing and hand-wringing. The colors finally stopped running after machine washing in cold water (this also eliminated the chemical odor). The size of both were sufficient to tie the traditional head covering style.

Pleasantly surprised upon arrival.

EDIT: I have used this extensively in the hot summer in my garden and on a few hikes. It is wonderful but very pink. It's been wet, dried, stressed, and holds up well though there is some minor tearing where it was really pulled hard. It makes a wonderful shawl and helps keep the mosquitoes from getting through my clothes! ORIGINAL: This has just now arrived and not been tested in the field. After reading a lot of reviews I was afraid I'd get something flimsy, dirty, or smaller than described. I was wrong. This came precisely as described. Not including the tassles, it measures 42x42 (actually a hair short of 42 on one side and a hair long on the other, less than 1/4" difference each way.) It is clean and doesn't smell, except for the dye. It reminds me of when I used to buy t-shirts with decals on them, not a strong smell. The weave is better/tighter than I expected. The holes in the weave are too small to measure - much less than 1mm each. The color (pink) is really pink. It feels strong. Pulling one edge from the other, I feel like I could rip it if I wanted to, but it would take effort. I'm sure I could hold one end down with a foot and rip the other with my hand. But for a lightweight item, it feels sturdy. I won't feel like I have to be dainty with it. I've just looked at some YouTube videos on how to tie this thing and it's long enough to do all of them, though 2" more wouldn't be bad. I'll probably buy another in another color someday. Looking forward to using this one.

Didn't Stink!

Smelt great, no holes, or other damage! I bought the grey and black version and it smelt like funk, lol. It is pretty soft, just wash it in the sink using cold water and put some fabric soften on it, then let it air dry. Do not attempt to use a dryer on this shemagh or it will shrink a a few inches on you all the way around. I made this mistake already and should have known better. I bought the same brand because I wear these everywhere, and even in the rain when they get wet, they dry really, really fast.

SHEMAGH HEAD SCARF

This is a great head scarf. I ordered black/white, and intend to also order the tan/black. The description says it measures 42' by 42' but, after washing and drying (without any fading or bleeding), mine measures 45' by 45'. It can be tied about the head as a regular head scarf, about the neck for warmth, or about the face to protect from blowing sand, blazing sun, pollen, etc. For instructions on how to tie, there are several good videos on YouTube.

Bought on a whim, but it's pretty great

OK, it looked cool and I thought it might make a good cold weather head cover that could be used for lot's of other random stuff like filtering water, a sling, something to carry loose assorted stuff in, etc, etc. It came the other day. I watched a YouTube vid on how to tie it on right. Put it on and my wife thought it looked a little scary so I took it off. Now here it is Christmas Eve, I've got to shovel snow again for the umpteenth time in the past few days, and of course it's now -2 degrees. Tied on the shemagh and put on my heavy parka and went out to start shoveling. The shemagh kept my head warm and pre-heated the air I was breathing while still being thin enough that the air I was breathing was nice and fresh. The top wrap shaded my eyes just like it was supposed to and and even with the bright sun I didn't need sunglasses (which fog up anyway when it's this cold). I admit a few of the neighbors gave my strange looks because of my newly acquired super coolness but I must say the thing works great in cold weather. I probably won't have to deal with too many sandstorms on the frozen tundra of Wisconsin but because of it's light weight and compact size when folded the shemagh will be with me every day through the cold half of the year. I suppose next summer when it's 95 degrees I'll have to see how it does for cooling when soaked with water. Did I mention I like it?

and keeping me both cool and warm

I bought this about a year ago to use in my field work for ecology out here in Wyoming. I needed something that was capable of blocking wind, sand, and keeping me both cool and warm. I used it for small hikes with success, but I eventually had an 11 hour field project from sunrise to sunset where I found out exactly how great this thing is. At high noon it was exceedingly hot, and I was wearing a regular hat. I eventually took it off in favor of the shemagh and found that it kept me much cooler and protected my ears from burning. A few hours later when the sun eventually set, the shemagh then started to keep my entire face warm. I live in Laramie now where temperatures have been reaching -40 with wind chill, and it's one of the few things that protects me when walking from campus building to building. Looks great, keeps you warm, keeps you cool. Perfect for outdoor work or rapidly changing temperatures

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