If you have been a loyal follower of The Loadout Room, you may be familiar with Triple Aught Design (TAD). The Loadout Room has featured several of TAD’s gear and I myself own several TAD gear in my wardrobe. TAD offers a variety of gear, most of them being outdoor apparel. One product that may be overlooked more than others though is their Mean T-Skull Shemagh.
Practical or For Show?
The shemagh, or keffiyeh, is a type of headgear that is commonly worn in the Middle East or other arid regions. When worn properly, the shemagh can shield the user’s face from the blowing sand and as well as the sun.
Shemaghs have also been seen worn by several groups such as hipsters, air-softers, and military personnel around the world, especially with increased involvement in the Middle East. In my personal experience, it was common to see soldiers or contractors wearing these shemaghs during our field training. Matter of fact, many of the “tactical” stores and AAFES shops on the installation, as well as in the surrounding city, carried various shemagh styles for sale. Some soldiers loved them, others were belligerently against the idea.
While they can definitely be a fashion statement, the shemagh is a great piece of gear when you find yourself in the right (wrong) situation. I know I was thankful to have packed a shemagh during those field exercise moments where nothing was going on at the moment and I sat in the middle of the desert on a hot summer day. Matter of fact, as the field exercises went on, more soldiers would pick one up whenever possible along with their tobacco resupplies.
Recently, I found myself using TAD’s shemagh while I was in southern Utah and the Rockies in Colorado. Instead of a hat or sunscreen (which I’m not fond of applying), I opted to wear my TAD shemagh. I wore it as a scarf or draped it over my head for those cold mornings or hot afternoons and it protected me well in the desert as well as high altitudes.
Final Thoughts
The shemagh may not be for everyone’s taste, but they do come with a myriad of uses and advantages in the backcountry. For example, it can provide cover from the sun or sand, keep you warm as a scarf or small blanket, become a medical tool like a sling or bandage, be used as a towel, conceal weapons or valuables, become a place mat when disassembling something like a firearm, filter the debris out of water before you treat it and other uses.
Also, TAD has an Active Duty Program that offers a 15% discount for military personnel, veterans, law enforcement, fire and rescue, and select government personnel.
Do you have any experience using a shemagh? Whether it’s the TAD Mean T-Skull Shemagh or from somewhere else, let us know what you think!
Author – Matt Shin is an Army Infantry Veteran. He served from 2013-2017 with the 2 BDE/1st Armor Division.
