Bandanas

A Field Reference and Foraging Tool

Foraging is an art that's all but lost in today's modern society, but it can make a huge difference in your life. A foraging tool like this bandana is meant to give a person power over their situation, leading to purpose, and the ability to self-aid and self-rescue.

The Foraging Bandana was designed in cooperation with some of the finest foraging instructors. It lists the 12 most common plants/fungus of North America, including their common and scientific names. The field uses of all 12 plants/fungus are listed using part indicator icons on each plant illustration. The bandana also includes the ”5 Steps of Identifying Edible Plants” by Samuel Thayer and ”Rules and Ethics of Foraging” by Mark "Merriwether" Vorderbruggen. 

We designed this bandana to act as a learning primer, field aid, and emergency reference. For neophytes, this bandana serves as a fun, stepping-stone educational tool. For more experienced foragers, this bandana should encourage impromptu foraging, help in sharing the passion of foraging with others, demonstrate alignment with the foraging lifestyle, and help promote awareness of continued education in this field.

We worked with experts, Mark "Merriwether" Vorderbruggen and Dr. Nicole Apelian to choose plants based on the following criteria:

• Abundance in USA

• Ease of Identification

• Few or no poisonous look-alikes

• Ability to represent on a bandana

• Ease to process into its usable form  

Hands (paws, hooves, or otherwise) down, this is the most legitimate tracking bandana.

Accurate identification and interpretation of animal behavior via track and sign is an outdoor skill that has been all but lost by the average person, even to the most experienced outdoors-folks. Learning even the basics of tracking will yield a more enriching awareness in nature as well as a practical tool when your life may depend on it.

It should be acknowledged that this is not the first tracking bandana ever made, but hands (paws, hooves, or otherwise) down, it’s the most legitimate! It contains the most accurate tracks available, shown to scale, and includes default gaits for each animal.

We partnered with tracking experts to help guide us and choose the list of animals based on certain criteria that would allow you to have the most success with this bandana. We requested animals:

• Found across the majority of North America
• Most abundantly found in the wild
• That may indicate water nearby
• That are easy food sources
• Most useful for side-by-side comparison

We also included false eyespots. These are a form of mimicry adapted by various insects, birds, fish, and reptiles, as well as by some human cultures. The bandana can be folded so the “eyes” face outward and can be worn on the back of the head to serve the same purpose, or worn on the front while napping.

They say that a bandana has 101 different uses, but that was before we put legit foraging info on it, and now... a mesh pocket?! So what's 101 cubed?

*PLEASE NOTE: We have been prototyping this thing for over a year. Some of the photos feature prototypes, therefore color and style may slightly vary.

The problem is that often foraging opportunities pop up unexpectedly, but we may not have the resources to take advantage of them. Wouldn't it be a crying shame to come across a stand of delicious wild berries or a cluster of elusive morels, but have nothing to carry them home in?

So we took one of our most popular products, the Foraging Bandana, and sewed on micro-mesh, a simple addition that multiplies the capability while staying compact, so you can still pack it in a pocket and have it when you need it.

If you are into foraging, a foraging bag is a critical piece of gear. It allows you to harvest and transport plants and fungi. The best ones are made of mesh to allow the wilting plant parts to breathe and stay fresh, or to allow mushrooms to drop their spores to help maintain the natural resource. Check out the belt-mounted foraging hip pouches by our friends PNW Bushcraft if you're hooked on foraging and looking for a more hands-free product.

Aside from being a convenient foraging bag, it also makes a great head net against bugs. 

Having a foraging bag the size of a bandana means you can always have it in a back pocket, backpack, or purse, so you always have it at hand! 

USES

• Foraging Bag - Tie one top corner to a belt loop (or Wazoo Cache Belt gear loop), leaving the bag easily accessible at waist level and allowing easy picking and packing.
• Bugnet - Made of special purpose "NoSeeUm Mesh" means that insects like mosquitoes or "no-see-ums" AKA biting midges, can't bite through. Simply put the Bandanet on your head to use in this way.
• Tinder Pouch - Dustin discovered this one on a Pathfinder School survival course. All the Tulip Poplar inner bark was soaked through from days of rain, which was needed that night for starting a bow drill fire. The rule at the course is that you have to keep all of your gear with you at all times and are required to perform tasks all day. Throwing the Poplar bark in the Bandanet and then hanging it on the back of the backpack allowed the sun to penetrate through the mesh while allowing the moisture to evaporate. 
• Net - Not only can you catch small aquatic creatures in it, but you can also keep them submerged and alive inside.
• Filtration - The tiny mesh can be used to pre-filter water of debris.
• Field Pillow - Stuff some clothes inside, tie closed. Poof! You have a pillow. 
• River Fridge - Throw beverages in, tie to a branch, dangle in a river, and enjoy a chilled beverage.

SPECS

• 21" x 21" - 3 sided sewn mesh open-top pocket
• Sage-Grey .09/oz micro-mesh polyester bug net material
• Big thanks for the design inspiration from Ben's Backwoods
• MADE IN USA!