Editing Balaclava (clothing) (section)

==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 driver]]s 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 [[Ribbing (knitting)|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 (game)|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>

===Military and police===
[[File:Afghan National Army Soldier MOD 45152324.jpg|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 [[Himalaya]]n 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 "[[Mask|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=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/34863049/why-anti-terror-officers-wear-different-clothes |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 ===
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>