Que Sarong Sarong

The last issue of “N” magazine had a couple of articles in it authored by me. This is one. I’m adding several extra illustrative photos that weren’t in the magazine:

I have a friend that produced a video documenting 69 different arrangements for wearing sarongs. As clothing, they can be elegant or practical.

Borrowing a phrase, “But wait, there’s more!” I use mine as a multi-use addition to my ultralight backpacking and nude hiking outfits. It is a constant companion. It may not slice, or dice, but probably can give duct tape a run for its money as an all-purpose problem solution. The following is a short list.

A sarong is light and folds up into nothing, so it’s easily packed out of the way. It is often all the clothing that I need, and I can wrap it around my waist as I get from the trailhead parking out into the sticks. When hiking nude, if the need comes, it is a quick cover-up. It can be a covering for a female hiker, too.

I’ve used the sarong folded and draped over my shoulders. It then cushions a backpack or day pack, or for the shoulder straps on my water bottle or camera. Moreover, it covers my shoulders in such a way to protection me from too much sun, while avoiding those awful tan lines.

It can also be configured into several varieties of head covering.

On a hot day, I wet my sarong to make a cooling evaporative system. I either drape it over my body like a cape, or a cloak, or wrap it around my neck. It keeps a bare body’s back from perspiring next to a backpack. On cold days, it makes a warm scarf, helping to avoid heat loss around the neck and head. It’s not the best, but it’s better than nothing when a cold wind picks up.

A sarong can work as a picnic blanket or beach towel. Ever find a nice soft tuft of green grass along the trail, but not so sure who might be living there and get angry at your buttocks? Sit on the spread-out sarong.

Folded, it’s a cushion when sitting on a rough rock, or its insulation when beach sand or rock surfaces are hot. It is shade netting when tied overhead, or just held above.

When cooking, a sarong can be an oven mitt, or a camp kitchen towel. To help protect my camp stove’s flame, my sarong can serve as a wind break tied to branches. At a campfire, it can fan flames.

Do you ever collect fun rocks, or wood? It can become a backpack. In the Andes, people use a cloth called a manta tied across foreheads or shoulders to pack all sorts of things, including babies and small animals.

My sarong is green. I can place it over my hidden backpack as a camouflage and walk away unencumbered. I just need to remember where I put it. Or, I can use it as a curtain for privacy.

For first aide, it makes a great tunicate or sling. It’s sad to destroy a favorite, but if you really need bandages, sarongs offer valuable material. It can be used to filter smoke or blowing dust as a mask.

It has, I’m told, been a fishing net, and a water filter in desperate times. Wrap up in it or spin it in circles to fend off pesky bugs. Spread out, it can make you look bigger to a bear. A friend once threw one over an angry rattlesnake and it calmed down.

It will wipe a brow and makes a headband. It’s a good sheet to keep the sleeping bag clean. It makes a nice top sheet, or bottom sheet on warm nights. And at first light, it works to cover a head and get a couple hours extra sleep. Folded, it makes a light pillow, but all of those needless clothes and cloth “stuff” can be rolled up inside to make it bigger. I use mine as a pillowcase for my blow-up backpack pillow. When you arise in the morning, it’s is a good dust cloth for brushing the debris and sand out of the tent.

It can be used for protection. It can choke, or put a rock in one end and swing away. You can also use it to hang your food in a tree and away from bears.

A simple sarong can be used in many ways, and helps lighten your load, making it easier to get further along the trail, and thus away from more overly clothed people. It’s thus a valuable tool for any naturist hiker.

I am on the forum of FreeRangeNaturism.com often, if you would like to converse.

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