Thanks for the input. Seamstresses only provide labor, you have to furnish the material. I was thinking some medium weight red or orange cotton. My question about size was directed to what was the preferred size among users. I'm going to try with 60cm and see how it works.

I tend to use an od green army issue triangular cotton "bandage". Common name, "Drive on rag", the bane of BtB soldiers everywhere, but like a regular bandana, tremendously useful. Somewhat bigger tho, and triangular.

When the powers that be finally regulated we were not to wear then around our necks in the field, many of use took to wearing on through our belt loops on top of out belts, just to have it handy.

Uses included:
Sling
Bandage
Weapons cleaning
Personal cleaning
Emergency TP (usually leading to the rag being retired)
Torn into strips for camo
Rucksack strap padding
Do rag under helmet in the winter to hold in a little more heat

and all the uses previously mentioned

ahhh memories. Good job JBMat

I have several bandanas of several fabrics, sizes, colors, and patterns.

I have the following uses, depending on the fabric (which varies by season):
It's a muffler to keep out chill winds
It's a pad to keep my shoulder-carried canteen from chafing my neck and shoulder
It's a moderately successful filter for dust and sand in windy places
It's a face-covering if I'm really being blasted by sand
It's a head covering if my hat disappears and I need sun protection
It's a sign of love and caring - my wife says I look good in one she made for me
It's a signal device - light-colored ones can be seen waving through tinted glass, e.g.
It's a potholder
It's a sling - some of my bandanas are a yard square
It's a gauze pad
It's a compression bandage
and on and on.

I just wanted to point out that 100 years ago last Monday, Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Boy Scouts, felt that the bandanna was so useful that he made it a standard - and very noticeable - part of the Boy Scout uniform - the Boy Scout neckerchief.

Over the years the Boy Scout neckerchief's design has devolved from a large square multi-use piece of cloth to a small triangular limited-use wisp of fabric. Some troops are trying to bring back the original neckerchief. I'm trying to talk my son's Scoutmaster and the youth leaders into doing that in their troop.

Ken, that was a good point. As an eagle scout who had the square kind, I'm ashamed to hear about this triangle. Oh well.

Gaucho, I typically use a 22 by 22 inch red bandana. Not really sure if it is actually big enough but seems plenty big to me. 22 inches is about 60 cm so I think you're right on. Have you tried something like cutting your own cloth (maybe an old shirt or tablecloth or similar item) to the size you think would be big enough? I have done this with paper to compare sizes of pouches that I could not actually see before ordering on the internet. If you don't want to cut the cloth, simply folding it to the size you want to test and pinning it in place might work.

Philip you left out a use. Using the bandana to cover the shiny spots on your head.

Gee, I've come up with a few ideas for bandannas too...always a good thing to have, and I even advise other people on how to use them and they are sometimes surprised at the number of things I tell them they can do with them.

Hmm, based on comments above, a bandana is kinda like ... a towel.

But you can't go around saying "I'm a guy who knows where his bandana is!" People will misunderstand.

> Hmm, based on comments above, a bandana is kinda like ... a towel.

Arthur Dent would approve. :->