# Ski masks (Balaklavas) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 13, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ski-masks-balaklavas/395765 "2007-03-13T17:00:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ski-masks-balaklavas/395765/1 "2007-03-13T17:00:15Z")
[From here](http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=20634): > [@](#): > > Folks in Winsted might not remember his name, but they’re likely to recall the incident that landed Lambert in trouble. He and his brother, Jason, bought beer at Ledgebrook Spirit Shop in September 2005. Lambert went outside and slipped on a ski mask for an impromptu photo shoot. Fearing the store had been robbed, a passer-by called the police department. > > Officers charged Lambert with breach of peace. He performed 15 hours of community service, volunteering for a youth soccer team in town. What kind of impromptu photo shoot? Did Lambert pose as a robber, which would reasonably lead a passerby to assume he had just robbed a liquor store? Or would a reasonable person assume that most robbers wouldn’t hang around to have his picture taken, or at least have noticed that the robber wasn’t brandishing a weapon (I assume) for his publicity photo? Lambert’s website is [www.crazyskimask.com](http://www.crazyskimask.com) There’s an image of a newspaper article that says he ‘ran’ from the store. Someone must have been pretty quick on the phone if they decided it was a robbery and dialed 9-1-1 before Lambert stopped running. I’m reminded of a cartoon I saw in the late-1970s or early-1980s. It’s a street scene, and one character is portrayed as wearing a balaklava. The caption was: ‘Little do they know that I’m not wearing a ski mask. I’m an alien, and this is my _real face!_’ The other characters in the cartoon payed no attention to the alien, so it seems that 30 years ago people could still wear ski masks in public. I’m a SoCal native. I did have a balaklava for skiing, but I found that it tickled my nose so I didn’t wear it. I’m thinking they may be, or may have been, more popular in places like Minnesota. I’m thinking I might pick up an [Outdoor Research Option Balaclava](http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47927119&parent_category_rn=40003705) to wear under my motorcycle helmet. It’s more stylish than the oversized bandana I wear bandit-style to keep the chill of my neck. Having an open face instead of the traditional three-hole style, visibility is improved and it won’t tickle my nose. But would I wear it – or a traditional balaklava – just walking around the street? Not here in NoWA. It doesn’t get that cold. Maybe if I was working outside. (Last year we were shooting a film, and it was a bit brisk and I could have used one.) ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ski-masks-balaklavas/395765/2 "2007-03-13T17:16:17Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Someone must have been pretty quick on the phone if they decided it was a robbery and dialed 9-1-1 before Lambert stopped running. [/QUOTE] The article also says that bystanders took down the license plate number. I assume that is how they were apprehended. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2007, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ski-masks-balaklavas/395765/3 "2007-03-13T19:26:04Z")
I have a black balaklava that I only wear when I am ice fishing. …or pretending to be a ninja