Originally used for protection against hostile desert conditions, these Shemaghs provide ideal protection against sun, wind, sand storms and the cold at night
Their practicality in an arid environment, as in Iraq, explains their enduring popularity with soldiers. Soldiers often wear the shemagh folded in half into a triangle and wrapped around the face, with the halfway point being placed over the mouth and nose, sometimes coupled with goggles, to keep sand out of the face. This is also commonly done by armoured, mechanised and other vehicle-borne troops who use it as a scarf in temperate climates to ward off wind chill caused by being in moving vehicles.
