Black turbans of the Taliban ?

[Menigmand]

I was wondering why the Taliban in PR are not equipped with their infamous black turbans? It would add to the realism and at the same time make them better at hiding than the red/white jordanian style kuffeyeh (headcloths).

This would also make them seem a bit more professional than just general insurgents, who might have bravado but little common or tactical sense..

[bosco_]

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/2692 ... 040di6.jpg

Looks dark enough for me.

[Menigmand]

Maybe it's just my eyes, but the headgear (helmets?) in the screenshot looks light grey/brown.

Contrast if you will with these chaps:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_6eonppuEMEo/S ... liban7.jpg



(seems I remembered wrong about the red/white cloth though - my bad)

[charliegrs]

some of them have black turbans, some have brown turbans. its for variety as the taliban does not have an actual military uniform.

[Doro]

They often will only wear black Turbans behind closed doors at this point. A group of guys running around in the middle of nowhere wearing black turbans might as well be lasering themselves.

[Hresvelgr]

They often will only wear black Turbans behind closed doors at this point. A group of guys running around in the middle of nowhere wearing black turbans might as well be lasering themselves.

You'd be surprised at how open Taliban fighters are. They still control large portions of territory, run around flogging people for various reasons, and hold interviews with western reporters. They aren't exactly hiding in caves and mountains hoping no Americans come by.

[gclark03]

I also can't understand how they came up with the bright idea of wearing black turbans in 115 degree weather and -10% humidity.

[STORM-Mama]

i personally do not see how people where black items of clothing in such intense heats of the desert it is madness.

Madness?! THIS... IS... AFGHANISTAN!

No, you're right. It can't be very comfortable... But the black turban (as most things in these parts of the world, where history and legend plays an important role in everyday life and thinking) has got symbological and religious purpose of some sort. Supposed to mean that they are direct descendants of the Prophet, or something like that. IIRC the guy wore a black turban when he was leading his armies to war.

[ReadMenace]

I also can't understand how they came up with the bright idea of wearing black turbans in 115 degree weather and -10% humidity.

A balmy 28°F in Kabul today.

-REad

[gclark03]

LOL! You must mean Celsius.

28 Fahrenheit is a heat wave near the middle of New York state around this time.

[Hresvelgr]

Learn a bit, will ya? I know a person who's been to Afghanistan. Not a freaking desert, people. While it does get over 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, it can also get freezing. Several feet of snow, water freezing over night, both are common. This is not Iraq we are talking about.

[ReadMenace]

LOL! You must mean Celsius.

28 Fahrenheit is a heat wave near the middle of New York state around this time.

Really? did I mean Celsius?

-REad

[bondsan]

i personally do not see how people where black items of clothing in such intense heats of the desert it is madness.

dark colours absorb heat light colours reflect yes ?

ok so the dark colours also let the heat out but the light ones reflect it back in creating more heat ergo it is better to wear dark colours in the heat

[Kirra]

dark colours absorb heat light colours reflect yes ?

ok so the dark colours also let the heat out but the light ones reflect it back in creating more heat ergo it is better to wear dark colours in the heat

Try wearing black shirt next time its 30+ celsius and bright sun outside...

[Tannhauser]

Guys, things are not always as simple as they seem. Wonder how women survive wearing burkas under the heat? Same goes for Bedouins or random people wearing black under those conditions for different reasons ; it's not as far fetched as it seems and actually would be a good Mythbuster case IMO.

Didn't search too much, there probably is a better source but I hope it helps.

why do bedouins wear black robes?

I had heard (via my high school physics teacher) the black clothes will keep you cooler than white clothes. Is this true?

An extensive and detailed study (Walsberg, Campbell, & King, 1978. J. Comp. Physiol. 126B: 211-222) examined different colors of bird plumage under different temperature conditions--with the added wrinkles of examining whether the plumage was fluffed or flattened, and varying the wind speed.

Under cold conditions with no wind speed, black, flattened plumage held in heat the best (though barely, compared to fluffed black plumage). Under hot conditions with no wind, white, fluffed plumage let heat escape the best. Both pretty logical findings.

But once the wind picked up, the results changed dramatically. With even a modest wind (anything above 3 m/s, or about 7 m.p.h.) fluffed white plumage exhibit the lowest net heat loss. This explains the large number of arctic animals that are fluffy and white. It's not just camouflage.

At high temperatures, as I say, white is best at not transmitting solar/ambient heat to the skin when windspeed is zero (only barely better when fluffed). However, with an increase in windspeed (again anything above 3 m/s), fluffed black plumage is the best at reducing the amount of heat transmitted to the skin. Flattened black plumage is the worst in terms of heat gain no matter what the windspeed.

What this means is relatively straightforward: black clothing absorbs sunlight and the heat radiating from your body, but if it is loose-fitting, and there is wind, the wind convects the heat away faster than it is absorbed. White clothing reflects sunlight, but also reflects internal heat back towards your body, so the net effect under identical conditions is less cooling than if you wore black. While it's true you don't often find fluffy black animals in deserts, you don't find many white animals, either--typically you find animals that blend into the background. So it appears that if heat gain and camouflage are in conflict, the need to avoid predation outweighs other considerations. On the other hand, desert-dwelling nomadic people such as the Tuaregs wear loose-fitting black clothing, and have been doing so for a very, very long time. If there were an advantage to wearing white clothes, you'd certainly expect they'd have figured that out by now.

If you are packing for a trip to the desert would it be better to pack light or dark clothes? The answer is not a simple as you might think, as Don and Yael discuss.

D: Hey, Yael, check out my new white linen suit. It's going to keep me cool on my vacation to the Mojave desert.

Y: That is one snazzy suit, Don.

D: Oh, I'm stylin'. Plus, everyone knows that white reflects heat and black absorbs it. Yes, if you're out in the sun, you're better off wearing white.

Y: Not always, Don. After all, Bedouins, the nomadic people who spend their entire lives in the desert, wear black robes.

D: But that doesn't make sense. Dark surfaces get warmer in the sun than light surfaces. You'd think the Bedouins would have figured that out by now.

Y: Don, Don, Don. Things are never that simple. You're right that the air underneath black fabric warms up faster than the air underneath white fabric. At the same time, though, black fabric provides more shade than white fabric, and this decreases the amount of light that directly reaches the skin. Plus, a lot depends on the type of clothing you're wearing. You see, warm air rises. And when it does, it's replaced by cool air. And if you happen to be wearing a robe, all that movement of the warm air creates a breeze that sucks up cooler air from the bottom of the robe and pushes it out the top.

D: So wearing a black robe is like having a suit with a built in fan.

Y: Exactly. But again, the key is that the robe is loose-fitting. Otherwise, there isn't enough room for the air to circulate. So if you're going to the desert in a tight-fitting suit, it's better to wear white.

[Chuc]

Hmm.. very interesting bits of information

[gclark03]

Really? did I mean Celsius?

-REad

It ranges from the 30s (winter) to 90s (summer) Fahrenheit, on average, with consistently low humidity.

I thought we were concentrating on summer temperatures for the black turban argument.