Handy uses for bandannas

We often include bandannas on our packing list and people often ask, "do we really need one?"

True, it is not essential, but it is incredible multi-useful and here are just 5 suggestions:

1) For your head. You can use it in lieu of a hat to cover the top of your head. You can use it as a sweatband around your forehead to keep sweat and sunscreen from running in your eyes. You can wet it in a cold stream and either wrap around your head or tie it around the back of your neck. This will cool your body temperature down a couple degrees.

2) For your lunch. You can use it as a napkin, or like a plate to hold your sandwich. You can pour some of the trail mix into it and use it like a little sack to eat you loose snack out of. You could even use it to collect wild blueberries or raspberries should you be lucky enough to find ripe berries.

3) First aid. You can use it as a cold compress on bumps and bruises. You can use it as a makeshift sling for an arm. You could use it to secure a splint. Or should you need it, you could use it as a tourniquet to stop bleeding.

4) As a pot holder. I am sure there are many uses for a bandana in a camping kitchen, but my favorite and most common use is when I am cooking over a stove and need something like an oven mitt. I wrap it up in my hand and can then use it to grab hot pan lids, coffee pot handles, and even a pot itself.

5) a pee rag. Instead of using toilet paper, dedicate one of your bandanas to being what you wipe yourself with when you pee. You can then rinse it off in a stream, the sea, or even a little of your drinking water. Then hang it to dry on your pack or across your canoe thwart. Urine is sterile so this an environmental and cleanly use. If you continue to store it in a zip lock after each use, though, even if you rinse it, it will soon become bacteria laden and stinky. And definitely do not use your pee rag on your head or to grab food at lunch!

Deb