{{Short description|Woollen cap covering the head and neck}} {{Redirect|Ski mask|other uses|Ski Mask (disambiguation)}} {{redirect|Shiesty|the American rapper|Pooh Shiesty}} thumb|Different ways of wearing a balaclava upright|thumb|A woman modeling a knitted balaclava
A '''balaclava''', also called a ''' ski mask ''' or a ''' racing mask''', is a piece of cloth headgear designed to expose only part of the face, usually the eyes and mouth. Depending on style and how it is worn, only the eyes, mouth and nose, or just the front of the face are unprotected. Versions with enough of a full face opening may be rolled into a hat to cover the crown of the head or folded down as a collar around the neck. It is commonly used in alpine skiing, snowboarding, motorsport and motorcycle racing.
==History== Similar styles of headgear were known in the 19th century as the ''Uhlan cap'' worn by Polish and Prussian soldiers, and the ''Templar cap'' worn by outdoor sports enthusiasts.<ref name="Chico">{{cite book |last1=Chico |first1=Beverly |title=Hats and Headwear Around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-6106-9063-8 |pages=35–36 |chapter=Balaclava}}</ref><ref name="Rutt" />
The name comes from their use at the 1854 Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War, referring to the town of Balaklava near Sevastopol in Crimea,<ref name="Games2007">{{cite book |last=Games |first=Alex |year=2007 |title=Balderdash & piffle: one sandwich short of a dog's dinner |isbn=978-1-84607-235-2 |publisher=BBC |location=London |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/balderdashpiffle0000game}}</ref> where British troops there wore knitted headgear to keep warm.{{r|Chico}} Handmade balaclavas were sent over to the British troops to help protect them from the bitter cold weather. The troops required this aid, as their own supplies (warm clothing, weatherproof quarters, and food) never arrived in time.<ref name="Shepherd">{{cite book |first=John |last=Shepherd |title=The Crimean Doctors: A History of the British Medical Services in the Crimean War |volume=1 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |year=1991 |pages=296–306 |isbn=9780853231073 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpCgkcvNiLcC&pg=PA296 |access-date=2019-08-15 |archive-date=2021-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216122423/https://books.google.com/books?id=HpCgkcvNiLcC&pg=PA296 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Richard Rutt in his ''History of Handknitting'', the name "balaclava helmet" was not used during the war but appears much later, in 1881.<ref name="Rutt">{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Rutt |title=A History of Handknitting |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fztUAAAAMAAJ&q=balaclava |publisher=Interweave Press |year=1987 |pages=134–5 |isbn=978-0934026352 |access-date=2021-12-09 |archive-date=2022-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210193829/https://books.google.com/books?id=fztUAAAAMAAJ&q=balaclava |url-status=live }} (Note that there is a misprint in the date of the Battle of Balaclava, which took place 1854, in the original edition cited here.)</ref>
==Uses== ===Warmth=== Thin Balaclavas can be used under motorcycle, snowmobile, ski, and snowboard helmets for warmth in cool or winter conditions.
===Sports=== [[File:Colin Skinner in 2009.jpg|thumb|right|Balaclava worn during a snowstorm]]
Many skiers, snowboarders, cyclists, and runners wear balaclavas in cold weather for warmth. They protect the head, face, and neck from wind and low temperatures and can fit easily under helmets. These sports balaclavas can be full balaclavas, which cover the entire head leaving only the eyes uncovered, or half-balaclavas, which leave the forehead free, but cover most of the head. Key elements of sports balaclavas are that they are warm, windproof, and moisture-wicking.
===Racing=== {{see also|Racing suit|Anti-flash gear}}
Race drivers in Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned events must wear balaclavas made of fire-retardant material underneath their crash helmets. In racing events, hill-climbs, special stages of rallies and selective sections of cross-country events entered on the International Sporting Calendar, all drivers and co-drivers must wear overalls as well as gloves (optional for co-drivers), long underwear, a balaclava, and shoes homologated to the FIA 8856-2000 standard.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/4C1C7A762BC27980C12575B700525253/$FILE/Annexe%20L_2009_15.05.09.pdf |title=Appendix L to the International Sporting Code |access-date=2021-07-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711002355/http://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/4C1C7A762BC27980C12575B700525253/%24FILE/Annexe%20L_2009_15.05.09.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-11}}</ref>
===Concealment=== [[File:Balaclava 3 hole black.jpg|thumb|A rib-knit three-hole balaclava]]
Balaclavas are in certain contexts associated with criminality as gang members have used them to conceal their identity.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Manchester Evening News |date=2004-08-12 |title=Gangs face arrest if they wear balaclavas |url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/gangs-face-arrest-if-they-wear-balaclavas-1098765 |access-date=2022-02-28 |website=Manchester Evening News |language=en |archive-date=2022-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228132612/https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/gangs-face-arrest-if-they-wear-balaclavas-1098765 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2004, police in Prestwich, England, began demanding that people on the street remove their balaclavas, describing the garment as "extremely threatening".<ref name=":0" /> In 2008, police in Kent confiscated a copy of the ''War on Terror'' board game partly because of the inclusion of a balaclava, stating that it "could be used to conceal someone's identity or could be used in the course of a criminal act".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/cn_news_home/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=338658 |title=War On Terror board game seized by police |newspaper=Cambridge News |access-date=2021-07-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806052916/http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/War-On-Terror-board-game-seized-by-police.htm?ID=338658 |archive-date=2012-08-06}}</ref>
[[File:TISM Australian Music Vault.jpg|thumb|A TISM costume featuring a balaclava]]
The Australian band TISM utilised balaclavas as part of their onstage image and to conceal their identities. Often adorning their balaclavas with added features such as spikes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Spiked red balaclava from TISM |url=https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/item/spiked-red-balaclava-tism |website=National Film and Sound Archive |access-date=26 May 2026}}</ref> In similar fashion, the Russian feminist and performance art group Pussy Riot, also utilised colourful balaclavas, in order to remain anonymous, which became part of their image, with one member stating "You put on the mask – and you become Pussy Riot. You take it off – and you are no longer Pussy Riot."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gessen |first1=Masha |title=Pussy Riot: Behind the balaclavas |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jan/24/pussy-riot-behind-balaclava |access-date=26 May 2026 |work=The Guardian |date=25 January 2014}}</ref>
===Military and police=== thumb|upright|Afghan soldier wearing a balaclava
In South Asia, balaclavas are commonly referred to as '''monkey caps''' because of their typical earth tone colours, and the fact that they blot out most human facial features. Monkey caps sometimes have a small, decorative, woollen pom-pom on top. They are commonly worn by troops on Himalayan duty for protection from the cold.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ghosh |first=Subir |date=November 19, 2005 |url=https://www.rajibroy.com/2008/09/10/thanda-legey-jabey/ |title=Thanda lege jabey |newspaper=Hindustan Times |location=New Delhi |via=Rajib Roy |access-date=July 16, 2021 |archive-date=July 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210716052856/https://www.rajibroy.com/2008/09/10/thanda-legey-jabey/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In December 2006, the United States Marine Corps began issuing balaclavas with hinged face guards as part of the Flame Resistant Organizational Gear program.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/pmice/News/Clothing/Fire-safe%20fabrics_Sep%202006.pdf |title=Nothing "Sheepish" About Fire-Safe Fabrics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029084623/http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/pmice/News/Clothing/Fire-safe%20fabrics_Sep%202006.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2012 |date=September 2006 |magazine=Leatherneck Magazine |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/pmice/InfoPapers/Clothing/FROG.pdf |url-status=dead |title=Flame Resistant Organizational Gear |date=August 24, 2007 |website=US Marine Corps: Program Manager Infantry Combat Equipment |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916065851/http://www.marcorsyscom.usmc.mil/sites/pmice/InfoPapers/Clothing/FROG.pdf |archive-date=September 16, 2012}}</ref>
In the Soviet Union, the balaclava became a part of standard OMON (special police task force) uniform as early as the Perestroyka years of the late 1980s. The original intent was to protect the identity of the officers to avoid intimidation from Russian organized crime. Because of increased problems with organized crime of the 1990s, TV shots of armed men in black balaclavas became common. Armed Russian police commonly conduct raids and searches of white-collar premises (typically in Moscow) while wearing balaclavas. Such raids have therefore come to be known in Russia as "maski shows", an allusion to a popular comic TV show of the 1990s.<ref name=aknyt>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/business/global/bp-russia.html?nl=afternoonupdate&emc=aua22 |newspaper=The New York Times |first=Andrew E. |last=Kramer |title=Memo to Exxon: Business With Russia May Involve Guns and Balaclavas |date=August 31, 2011 |url-access=subscription |access-date=February 26, 2017 |archive-date=October 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016125712/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/01/business/global/bp-russia.html?nl=afternoonupdate&emc=aua22 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Balaclavas are often used by police battling drug cartels and gangs in Latin America to conceal their identity and protect their families.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/its-so-dangerous-to-police-ms-13-in-el-salvador-that-officers-are-fleeing-the-country/2019/03/03/e897dbaa-2287-11e9-b5b4-1d18dfb7b084_story.html |title=It's so dangerous to police MS-13 in El Salvador that officers are fleeing the country |newspaper=The Washington Post |last=Sieff |first=Kevin |date=March 3, 2019 |access-date=March 5, 2019 |archive-date=March 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190305141146/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/its-so-dangerous-to-police-ms-13-in-el-salvador-that-officers-are-fleeing-the-country/2019/03/03/e897dbaa-2287-11e9-b5b4-1d18dfb7b084_story.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-34863049 |title=Why anti-terror officers wear different clothes |publisher=BBC News |date=November 18, 2015 |access-date=March 5, 2019 |archive-date=March 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306051646/http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34863049/why-anti-terror-officers-wear-different-clothes |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Fashion === [[File:Shiesty.jpg|thumb|Rapper Pooh Shiesty wearing a balaclava during a performance]] Knitted balaclavas were featured in some collections at the 2018 New York Fashion Week.<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news |date=March 8, 2018 |title=Balaclavas and hi-vis: we know what you'll be wearing next autumn/winter |website=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/mar/08/balaclavas-and-hi-vis-we-know-what-youll-be-wearing-next-autumnwinter-a-photo-essay |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618101831/https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/mar/08/balaclavas-and-hi-vis-we-know-what-youll-be-wearing-next-autumnwinter-a-photo-essay |archive-date=June 18, 2018}}</ref><ref name="SZ">{{cite news |date=October 28, 2018 |title=Achtung, die Vollmützen kommen! |website=Sueddeutsche.de |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/stil/mode-winter-trend-sturmhaube-1.4182417 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212013809/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/stil/mode-winter-trend-sturmhaube-1.4182417 |archive-date=December 12, 2019}}</ref><ref name="Welt">{{cite news |date=August 28, 2018 |title=Diese Gangster-Mütze ist jetzt cool – muss das sein? |website=Welt.de |url=https://www.welt.de/icon/mode/article181288196/Balaclava-Diese-Gangster-Muetze-ist-jetzt-cool-muss-das-sein.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210725045006/https://www.welt.de/icon/mode/article181288196/Balaclava-Diese-Gangster-Muetze-ist-jetzt-cool-muss-das-sein.html |archive-date=July 25, 2021}}</ref>
Balaclavas gained newfound popularity as a fashion accessory in many cities in the United States during the early 2020s.<ref>{{Cite web|title=San Francisco sees surge in 'shiesty' mask popularity|url=https://sfstandard.com/2024/04/17/san-francisco-shiesty-mask-fashion-trend/|website=sfstandard.com|date=2024-04-17|access-date=2025-12-01|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ski Mask Bans and the Racist History of Criminalizing Fashion|url=https://www.teenvogue.com/story/ski-mask-ban-philadelphia|website=Teen Vogue|date=2024-04-03|access-date=2025-12-01|language=en-US|first=Kristin|last=Henning}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hunewsservice.com/variety/lifestyle/balaclavas-ski-masks-shiestys-high-fashion-or-high-crime/|website=Howard University News Service|access-date=2025-12-01|title=Balaclavas. Ski Masks. Shiestys. High Fashion or High Crime?|date=December 31, 2023|last=Wiley|first=Essence}}</ref> It is often colloquially referred to as a "shiesty", popularized by rapper Pooh Shiesty.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pooh Shiesty Kickstarts Ski Mask Trend That Leads To 'Shiesty Mask' Store Ban|url=https://hiphopdx.com/news/pooh-shiesty-kickstarts-ski-mask-trend-that-leads-to-shiesty-mask-store-ban/|website=HipHopDX|date=2022-01-07|access-date=2025-12-01|language=en-US}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Fashion}} * List of hat styles * Anti-flash gear * Anti-mask laws * Facekini * Keffiyeh (traditional Middle Eastern headwear) * Knit cap * Mask * Neck gaiter * "Ski mask" toque—Canadian English; also commonly worn when using snowmobiles; typically a three-hole balaclava with generous neck tube for maximal wind protection
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{Commons category-inline|Balaclavas}}
{{Hats}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balaclava (Clothing)}} Category:Cloth masks Category:Headgear Category:Hiking apparel Category:Military masks Category:Political masks Category:Safety clothing Category:Sports masks Category:Winter clothes Category:Masks