Keeping warm and staying cheap: A DIY head wrap tutorial

I've been eying a product at REI and other outdoor stores for a long time now. It's called The Buff Headwear and it's a multi use wrap that can be used as a scarf, head band, face mask, or bandana. It's an ideal accessory to throw in my backpack on hikes or camping trips that wouldn't take up much space and that I could use in a number of ways to keep warm. The only problem was, I couldn't justify spending $20+ for a sleeve of fabric. 

So I did some improvising. 

The last time I looked at The Buff, we were at a fishing/camping store in Pinedale. I took some mental measurements and noted the fabric that most of them were made from (about 2 feet by 1 foot of a knit that stretched only horizontally). Then I decided I would make my own. 

When we got home, I began the hunt for the perfect fabric and as luck would have it, I scored a remnant of this sweet tie dye knit for about $2 at the first place I looked.  

I took my measurements and made my cuts, being sure to cut two panels so that the pattern would carry from front to back when I wore it. I pinned and sewed my panels right-side together on three sides (so it was like an inside-out pillow case) and then flipped it right-side out (I'm sure these are very technical terms) to sew the final side together. Then, I matched up my two ends and sewed them together to make a large loop. 

That's it. Totally easy project for a very effective outdoor accessory that I have used almost every weekend since I made it. As expected, it takes up almost no space at all when stuffed into a backpack and I can even wrap it around my wrist when I'm not wearing it for one of these purposes:

It is great as a neck-warmer when I double it over my head

or for protecting my ears from the wind. 

It's also perfect looped around once as a scarf

or to block a certain rotten egg smell that might be seeping out of the ground. 

And, if you're a super bad ass like me, you can use it as a full face mask when riding on the back of a Harley and the temperature suddenly changes. 

Bad ass or creepy? I can't quite tell.

It has proven to be worth its weight in gold and I LOVE it. 

Oh and did I mention it was $2.00? Because it was. And that allows me to stick it to the wildly over-priced specialty stores who are probably making a 1000% profit on each one of these they sell.  

Take that!