My dear friend, the late Chris Janowsky, who ran the World Survival Institute, in Tok, Alaska was famous for always wearing a bandana on his head. And that bandana wasn’t just a fashion statement. Chris wasn’t a fashion trendsetter in the least. Janowsky was, probably the best wilderness survival instructor in the world. The US Marine Corps sent their winter survival instructors to Chris for their training, and in return, those instructors would train US Marines in winter wilderness survival techniques. Now, if the US Marines thought so highly of Janowsky, that says it all in my book. As an aside, Chris Janowsky put out quite a few VHS tapes on wilderness survival, and it would be worth your time to find them and add them to your collection.
Hoo Rags has come out with a line of bandanas in a variety of designs, colors and patterns. Now, if you are serious about survival, you really need to add a Hoo Rag to your Bug Out Bag. A Hoo Rag only takes up a very little space and weighs practically nothing – you can even carry one in your pocket. Now, the Hoo Rag isn’t just used as a bandana, it has a number of uses. While a bandana is a handy thing to have in a hot climate, for keeping sweat out of your eyes, that is only the beginning of the uses you can use this for.
For you gals, you can use a Hoo Rag for a pony tail rag – and as I mentioned, they come in a variety of colors and designs – and if you wear your hair in a pony tail most of the time, you will have a pretty cool survival tool on your person at all times. A face rag can also be made out of a Hoo Rag, this keeps dirty and dust out of your mouth – and it’s a pretty good thing to have if you ride motorcycles – I used to, and always got more than my share of bugs in my teeth! If you’re out in a desert area, the Hoo Rag can be made into a Balaclava Rag, covering your hear from the hot sun – believe me, if you’ve ever been out in hot area, without a hat, you’ll really appreciate some form or head covering.
Ladies, once again, you can make a fashion statement by wearing the Hoo Rag as an Alice Rag – you don’t need a beret when you can wrap this around your hair and keep the hair out of your face. Also, a neck rag can be fashioned, making you into a cowgirl of sorts – it’ll drive the boys crazy. How about a neck warmer in cold climates. When I was a teen, back in Chicago, I used to have to stand on the street corner, waiting for a bus to take me to school – and we are talking a lot of below zero temps – it can make a big difference in keeping you much warmer when you neck is covered. You can also wrap a Hoo Rag around your head and look like a Pirate – once again, covering your head from the hot sun, as well as making a fashion statement – believe me, I’ve seen plenty of guys and gals with a Pirate rag on their head. How about as a good ol’ fashion bandana, just like Chris Janowsky use to wear all the time? The possibilities are seemingly endless to the ways you can use a Hoo Rag, and with some thought, I’m betting you can come up with a lot more uses for a Hoo Rag.
When I was a kid, it was quite the thing to carry a “Hankie” in your pocket – for wiping that runny nose. You can also, in an emergency, use a Hoo Rag as a bandage to help control bleeding, or use it as a tourniquet to stop arterial bleeding. Chris Janowsky always advocated carrying plastic bags in your Bug Out Bag, to help you collect food and berries along the way in a wilderness survival situation. You could fashion a make-shift “bag” out of a Hoo Rag and use that to collect nuts and berries along the way – sure beats putting stuff in your pockets, doesn’t it? In a pinch, you could use a Hoo Rag as an aid to starting a fire if you don’t have some dry kindling – neat idea, huh? How about tying the hands of a bad guy, with his hands behind his back, if you don’t have handcuffs with you? Sure beats having a bad guy’s hands free to do more harm. Ever get some bad blisters on your feet, and didn’t have anything to cover them with? Well, you can fashion a covering over those blisters with a Hoo Rag, couldn’t you?
I could probably think of half a dozen or more uses, that you could use a Hoo Rag for, but take a little bit of time yourselves, and come up with some ideas of your own, as to how you can use one of these rags in a survival situation. Oh wait, I just thought of another one – how about as a water pre-filter – to filter out some sediment in dirty water, before boiling the water to make it safe to drink? See, there are lot of uses a person can come up with for a simply piece of well-made cloth.
For the life of me, I can’t come up with a good reason to not have a Hoo Rag in your Bug Out Bag, or on your person. You can put one in your pants pocket, in a shirt pocket, and you ladies, you can put one or two in your purse – they don’t take-up any room and weigh next to nothing. Why not add this simply “survival device” to your survival gear? It can make a big difference when you need it. Right now, Hoo Rag is offering free-shipping on all orders, and the variety of different patterns and colors available to you will blow your mind. A Hoo Rag is $14.95 and well worth the investment – why not order several as gifts? I’d really like to hear back from SurvivalBlog readers, with some of your ideas for different uses of the Hoo Rag. I’ll bet you all will fill-up my e-mail box. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio
