Uses for the Bandana
This basic square of cotton may well be the single most useful implement you could ever take traveling. A bandana can stay with you 24/7 on a volunteering trip, changing uses all day by keeping the sun off your neck in the morning, serving as a toque in the evenings, and working as an eye mask at night. The following is a list of these and other practical uses I once organized in a travel journal, gathering some from a quick google search, some from survival guides, and a few from personal experience.
- Collecting: beach combing, gathering edibles
- Washing: washcloth, towel, dishtowel, facecloth
- Sleeping: eyemask (adjustable, VERY comfortable), pillowcover, pillowcase (stuff with clothes etc.) Warning: while this can make for a serviceable pillow, like the rock Jacob slept on in Genesis, it can also be just about as soft. I learned this the hard way on the back of a mountain one night.
- First Aid: sling, bandage, compress, icepack, tourniquet (tie knot for pressure)
- Wearing: sun protection, neckwear, bracelet, hair tie, head band
- Polish: fruit, sunglasses
- Mask: for sand, dust and spray from waterfalls, rapids etc.
- Carrying: use as a sack, runaway-style
- Cooling off: wet in cold water/fill with ice and tie loosely around neck
- Weight: use to tie stones to lines/ropes
- Survival: trail marker, signal, pre-filter water, use as cordage (tear in strips or use as-is)
- Fabric: patches, for sewing whatever you find you need
- Collect water: tie around ankles and walk through dewy grass
- With Food: pasta strainer, tea strainer, moisten and use to wrap biscuits, cover food
- Marker: use as bookmark, tie to luggage to identify it in an airport, tie to members of your group to identify them in a crowd
- Car window shade
- Hang flashlight from tent ceiling
- Water bottle holder (see instructions below)
- Multipurpose pouch (see instructions below)
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