It's a shawl. It's a blanket. And it's comfortable as hell. It's one of the most versatile pieces of clothing from the middle east, and it actually qualifies as tacticool.
The Patu is an ultra-cozy wool blanket with simple embellishments & tassels on the top and bottom edge, designed to be worn for cool nights in the mountains or be used as you'd use any other blanket. That's Literally it. But there's more to it.
So what's KommandoStore doing selling Afghan Blankets? During the hunt for Bin Laden in Afghanistan, and particularly during the Battle of Tora Bora, these very shawls were seen on Operators from the United States Delta Force and CIA as a means to blend in with the local populace - a 'when in rome' approach to urban camouflage. Paired up with other pieces of locally-worn garb, an operator could conceal most of his kit neatly beneath these blankets, and flip it over his shoulder when the need arose. Of course, being a blanket, it kept them warm in the inclement weather in the Khyber Pass and even kept their arms out of the sun.
So whether you're using this as a means to LARP or not, it's hard to argue with it's utility.
Specs
Wearing Your Patu Shawl
Patu shawls are most commonly worn using a simple "once around" wrap. Start with the short side of the shawl draped off your shoulder, wrap it around your back, over the other shoulder, around your front, and back over the shoulder you started on. It should sit around or below your waist just like our model photos, with a relatively even distribution all around.
Ready for some CIA LARP? For concealing rifles, start on the shoulder opposite your trigger finger. This will allow the long angle of the shawl to match the gun across your body, and makes it easier to swim the muzzle out. To keep your shawl wrapped tight with a rifle outside concealment, wrap the shawl between you and the sling before the final wrap on the starting shoulder.
Afghan Patu Mountain Shawl
I can now LARP as a delta boy and make the local
Muslims feel uncomfortable as I walk through their market saying Bomboclat wallahi habbibi. Thank you Ivan’s for the excellent products.
Its great & I like it but its scratchy
Smells like wool. But idk if 100% wool. Very fancy looking blanket. Ill eventually get off my lazy arse and look at the threads under a microscope to see if I can tell the material. I really love wool. Then I'll get back to ya.
Got me and my wife each a shawl. Very nice and well made. Warm and very soft
So I had ordered a mountain saw before maybe a year and a half two years ago and it was brown, as the black one was not available at that time fast-forward. I just ordered the black one. It is phenomenal. It’s soft. It’s comfortable. It’s big. I’m 511 180 and it’s perfect for my size. I’m very glad that I order one more than likely, I will order one again in one month a buddy of mine ordered one from Etsy and he said that mine is nicer and softer than the one he got.
