Love the idea of the sandstorms being more than just a visual experience, u go into any desert of a real world and get hit in the face with sand at high speed you can be guaranteed quite a bit of discomfort .. it makes sense to bring that realism into the game. ^^
What about tailors being able to make something similar to a bedouin robe to fend off the sand, allowing the player to keep whatever armour/clothing he wants on underneath.