PLEASE NOTE: We are sold out of Shemaghs, but they can be backordered without obligation (price set to 0) from this page. We expect to ship some of these in MidWeight Lynx Pattern Fabric in 2nd Quarter of 2022, and more, in other Fabrics, by end of 2022. Latest information about our production is here. Our entire inventory is here.
We've had some requests for Shemaghs over the years. And so we decided to offer a few to those who would like to test them and give us feedback. ... We only made about eight, and they sold out pretty quickly. So we made more and they also disappeared pretty quickly. We hoped for more feedback than we got ... but I guess the main feedback was that nobody ever returned one.
We're looking forward to hearing back from an American who was raised in the Middle East and has been wearing a shemagh since he was a kid. He is now a photographer / videographer for Nat Geo and he'll be wearing and testing the shemagh during his work.
The Shemagh, also known as the keffiyeh, is a traditional head-covering that originated in the Middle East. It is similar to a scarf, but used generally to protect the head and face from blowing sand and dust. Its use has been generalized in many ways ... some more uses are shown in the list at the end of this entry.
The Shemaghs are very simple ... The original Shemaghs we made were a square piece of MidWeight Fabric, made from bolts of Fabric that were 46 inches (117 cm) wide. So each Shemagh used the full width of the bolt. Two sides of the Shemagh were the selvedge (edging) of our bolts, similar to the Poncho. And two sides of the Shemagh are merrowed, to prevent unraveling. Next time we make Shemaghs, they may be larger if our next bolts of Fabric are wider:
- Next generation of Shemagh is anticipated to be 53 inches (135 cm) wide (the width of our Fabric, with selvedge) but we are not sure if that would be too large of a square. So we're not sure yet of the length. We need input, please
- Two edges selvedge, two edges merrowed (stitched so they will not fray). Selvedge is the natural edge of the bolts of our Fabric. Like our Poncho, we felt the natural edge, the selvedge, was appropriate for this ancient design. (Selvedge -- or selvage -- is the "self-edge" ... the border of a bolt of fabric, where the machines grip the material. Although the selvedge is generally not used, it is made from the same woolen yarn as the rest of the Shemagh and we felt it was perfect for this application.)
- One tester told us we need to add small strips of fabric to the corners of the Shemagh to facilitate tying. We may do that, but that would probably increase cost
- The Shemaghs will be $150 unless we add ties to the corners, which will increase costs
Given that the Shemaghs are offered only in MidWeight Fabric, a discussion of the differences between FullWeight and MidWeight Fabrics may be of interest.
Again ... these are test garments, at least in my mind. At this point there are a lot of them out there, but we haven't gotten much feedback. We really need feedback from everyone who purchases, please. THANK YOU!
All WeatherWool items, including these test Shemaghs, are covered by our No-Risk Guarantee. I suppose the fact that nobody has returned one for refund is pretty good feedback, but I am hoping to hear whether they were too big, too small, too bulky, etc.
Lastly, what I have heard -- from Advisor Will Cooke in particular -- is that he intends quite a few general uses beyond the basic head-covering. This gentleman greatly prizes Freedom. He lives outdoors in Nature much of the time and owns only what fits in a rucksack ... as a result he demands versatility from all his kit and expects to use the Shemagh in a number of ways :
- Hood
- Cape
- Rain Shield
- Part of the Sleep System
- Extra Pillow
- Sitting Cloth
- Ground Cloth
- Mini-Blanket
- Lap Cloth
- Bag (for holding things!)
- Even makeshift Skirt while washing pants!
Also
Based on all these possibilities I have decided to add FullWeight Shemagh to the offerings. --- Thanks --- Ralph
Care and Cleaning
Details about WeatherWool Construction
21 February 2023 --- Ralph
The REVIEW feature below, which enables anyone to publish a review, was added in March of 2022. We probably won’t see any Reviews here until we start shipping these pieces again.
