Sun protection
After you’ve successfully filtered and enjoyed your morning coffee you pack up and hit the trail. The sun gets hotter and hotter, and you start to wilt. A flash of inspiration: you reach into your backpack, take out your sarong and drape it over your head and shoulders. You suddenly have cool, lightweight protection from the sun.
Baby Cover-up
At noon, you meet up with your friends, bravely hiking with their two-month-old baby and their lively five-year-old. You all settle in for lunch, grateful for the break. Baby wants lunch, too—right now—but your friend is shy to nurse her in public. Another fishing expedition into the backpack. Another brilliant use for the sarong:  a lightweight, effective breastfeeding cover-up. Baby is fed, and peace descends over the picnic lunch.
Clothesline
After lunch, everyone except the baby takes a quick dip in the lake to cool off. This delightful dip generates wet clothing and towels that you don’t want to stuff back into your packs. The five-year-old alone seems to have gotten several towels wet. You again reach for the sarong, spread it diagonally, and twist it into a rope. Securing each end with a twist-tie from the lunch food, you hang it between two trees and drape the wet laundry over it.
Everyone takes a little siesta, and when you’re ready to hit the trail again, you find that the wet things have dried and you’re ready to be on your way.
Happy camping with your sarongs!