I Think I’ll Wear Khaki
Most of my friends think khaki is my favorite color because most of the time I wear khaki pants. In the summer, it’s rare not to find me in a khaki shirt and pants. When my daughters criticized me for my choice of clothes, I would threaten to wear khakis to their graduation.
Even my best friend from college tells people that they will know me because I’ll be wearing khaki. That same friend once bet a group of guys that I would be wearing khaki to a semi-formal meeting. He was half right; I had on khaki pants. He still won his bet.
There are some 18 shades of khaki. They range from a light brown or tan with a tinge of yellow to a greenish-brown earthy color. I once wore blue jeans for my daily work clothes, but as I approached 35 years old, I transitioned to khaki. I still wear jeans in the winter or my good jeans for special occasions.
Khaki has a world of benefits. In my line of work, the biggest benefit is that khaki is a neutral color that insects tend to ignore. Since I work outside most of the time, I am exposed to a lot of insects. Ticks, fleas, mosquitos, gnats, bees, wasp, and more zip or crawl past me throughout the day. They generally ignore me.
I can be standing next to a group of nature lovers in my khaki and not get harassed by insects, while they are swarmed all over in their dark clothing. As someone who has been stung over 100 times by Africanized bees, I prefer being ignored by biting and stinging insects.
The second reason I like khaki is that it is a cool color. I never understood why anyone would wear black on a 100 degree day. My khaki work pants are cooler than the same brand work pants in blue. I even wear a khaki hat sometimes. It is cooler than the darker hats I wear in the fall and winter.
Even my cattle recognize me in my khaki “uniform”. One winter, I wore blue jeans and a blue coat to the pasture and the animals fled. Once they stopped and looked back, they were still confused by this person coming towards them in their pasture. It wasn’t until they heard my voice that they settled down.
Khaki blends into the brush country. I see more wildlife in my khaki than in my camo hunting clothes. Hard to believe, but maybe wildlife are conditioned to fear people in camo and are not threatened by khaki.
The British red coats stood out in shooting wars. When they changed to khaki, they lost fewer troops. But then war is terrible no matter what color the soldiers wear. When I wear my khaki uniform, combat boots and khaki web belt, veterans will pass me and (in a low but audible whisper) say “Navy.” Guess the clothes remind them of Navy veterans.
Khaki is also easier to keep clean looking. It doesn’t show dirt and grime like lighter colored clothes. It doesn’t hide black dirt, but again it is cooler than black. Working on the ranch and in the landscape, I get very dirty. I clean my cotton clothes with just soap and water. Some stains remain but fade over time. It is easier to pretreat khaki with detergents because it is easier to see stains.
People rarely comment on my khaki work clothes. That wasn’t so when I wore jeans. In khaki I look like a business person who has come to work in the landscape. The khaki looks like a work uniform. It doesn’t look like a rancher. But then I am more of a pasture guy than a cow guy. When I consult, cows don’t care when I dig holes or take measurements. Cows seem to be unconcerned when I am in the pasture in khaki. Not so in jeans. I suppose they have had too many bad experiences with men in jeans.
Some people spend a lot of time worrying what they will wear when they start their day. Not me, I think I’ll wear khaki.
David E. Will is a local rancher. He can be reached at (830) 629-9876.