Why did the Ottomans wear turbans?

[white-wolf]

Well, nothing beat that :

[Hookah Smoking Caterpiller]

Thats one hell of a hat!

[Watchman]

No wonder he feels the need to lie down...

[Barry Ferguson]

According to a book called Empires of the Sea, on many occassions Ottoman soldiers would be hit in the hit by flying debris, but the blow would be cushioned by the turbans and even save lives. I suppose in the same way layers of silk can stop a bullet but a steel breastplate cannot

[Watchman]

I suppose in the same way layers of silk can stop a bullet but a steel breastplate cannot

FYI 1600s cavalry plate armour was required to be musket-proof at about fifteen meters out, pistol-proof at about five.

Have fun trying to find instances of silk by its lonesome stopping musketry at combat distances.

[Hookah Smoking Caterpiller]

Have fun trying to find instances of silk by its lonesome stopping musketry at combat distances.

Actually, Turbans are very strong, and offer great protection, in the UK, Sikh builders wear their Turbans instead of hardhats, as they offer just as good protection.

[Barry Ferguson]

FYI 1600s cavalry plate armour was required to be musket-proof at about fifteen meters out, pistol-proof at about five.

Have fun trying to find instances of silk by its lonesome stopping musketry at combat distances.

Bullet proof vests in the 1920s were made out of layers of silk. Metal armour would not have worked, whereas these vests led to the Magnum revolver which was marketed as 'taking the bullet out of bulletproof

[Antiochus Seleukos]

The best Ottoman turban!

[Cyclops]

So turbans were bulletproof helmets, which explains why the Ottomans declined after adopting the non-bulletproof fez?

I think the Ottomans actually filled the turbans with hydrogen (generated by whirling, but this activity was disguised as religious dancing to fool the Christians) that allowed them to float over fortress walls ands narrow sea crossings: once the hydrogen had escaped through the top of the turban it was unfurled for use as a parachute (which didn't always work, hence the cracked brain comments above).