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
The perfect cover for cold nights on the mountain, near a fire, or smoking a cigar with some whiskey... Or some combination thereof.
My friend from work is an Afghani immigrant and he has whole heartedly approved of my newest getup from Kommando store, stating "You look like a mujahideen" to which I asked if it was the 9/11 kind of the Soviet fighting kind and he affirm it was the Soviet fighting kind.
Cozy warm and cool looking
I usually have a shemagh" or "keffiyeh" kind of scarf in my car or backpack, etc. because they are so useful. The Patu shawl takes things to another plateau. I can definitely imaging this getting a lot of use while in the outdoors, or having in the jeep for an unexpected detour/adventure. The quality of the materials and weave is really nice, I have the darker colored one. It has just enough color and design to make it interesting without making it weird . Great size. May have to get the other color now!
Very cool
