The correct way to tie a neckerchief ?

[Marshal J.D.Lightning]

Howdy Pards,

Is there a correct way to tie a yellow cavalry neckerchief / cravat ?

Any help &/or instructions would be very much appreciated !!!!

Take care & all the best.

Lightning

[Pitspitr]

Is there a correct way to tie a yellow cavalry neckerchief?

Not unless you're a Boy Scout.
The yellow neckerchieves on cavalrymen was a hollywood invention.

[River City John]

This for a cravat.

[Books OToole]

Not unless you're a Boy Scout.
The yellow neckerchieves on cavalrymen was a hollywood invention.

In Five Years a Dragoon, 1849-1854, Percival Lowe wore/carried a red and yellow silk scarf/handkerchief.  He says it was one luxury item that he allowed himself.  Obviously it was a private purchase.  No meniton on how it was worn, or even if it was.

Books

[ColonelFlashman]

Well the references of private purchase, multi-colour 'kerchiefs, made of various types of faberics (silk, rayon, polished cotton, etc.) I've come across, have stated that it was worn so as the Neck wouldn't chafe from the wool of the Field Blouse/Shirt, keep the neck from getting sunburnt & could be pulled up over the nose & lower portion of the face to cut the dust, blowing or otherwise.
So, it was propbably knotted in such a fashion that it could be adjusted as needed, say some sort of slip knot.

[Guns Garrett]

The only specification I've seen for tying a neckerchief (as opposed to the "field scarf") is for the neckerchief worn with the Navy Jumper or "Cracker Jack".  I think it's just a square knot - unless you're on SP duty, when you can use a slide, supposedly so a rowdy drunk, or other miscreant won't hang you with your neckerchief in a fight.   Instead of the slide going on like for a Boy Scout's neckerchief slide (up-and-down), the Navy slide was just a cloth tube, the same material as the kerchief, about 3/4"-1" in dia. and about 2" long.  Each end of the kerchief is fed into opposite ends of the "tube", so the slide is actually sideways, and the kerchief runs thru it horizontally, and the ends each hanging out and down. (It's supposed to allow the kerchief to slide off if pulled on.)

[ColonelFlashman]

Which lends itself to a rather cool looking piece of attire for the S.P.

[Rancid Roy]

[Captain Lee Bishop]

Not unless you're a Boy Scout.
The yellow neckerchieves on cavalrymen was a hollywood invention.

The Rough Riders bought large amounts of them, and they're very well documented. I've taken a good look at photos on how they were tied, appears there was no standard way to do that.

[Pitspitr]

The Rough Riders bought large amounts of them, and they're very well documented. I've taken a good look at photos on how they were tied, appears there was no standard way to do that.

That was my point. Since they were a private purchase item and not an issued item, there would be no regulation way to tie them. To further clarify my self, the idea that each soldier had matching yellow neckerchiefs as part of their uniform a la "They Died With Their Boots On" is a Hollywood invention. This isn't to say that no soldier bought or wore them.

[Guns Garrett]

Rancid Roy's photo gave me flashbacks of some pretty rough nights on Magasaysay.

[St. George]

The one associated with the Rough Riders was a private-purchase cotton polka-dot in either blue or red - sold by a couple of enterprising troopers while the Regiment was at Camp Tampa - before shipping out.

They show readliy in photos  - as do a couple of different patterns.

Tying one can be done in a square knot - a 'checkerboard' knot ('way' to convoluted to describe) - or like a four-in-hand - the point being to tie a secure knot.

They were also wrapped twice around the throat and tied in front with a square knot - giving the neck both sun protection as well as keeping it from rawness from dust and dirt.

Later, WWI pilots would use the same technique with their 'flying scarves', since the silk allowed for comfortable swivelling of the head when checking for the 'Hun in the Sun'.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!