Review: Stillwater Heavyweight

[Mr. MacDougall]

As mentioned in another thread, last month I had a bit of an unexpected windfall, and I spent most of it, as one is wont to do, on kilt stuff. One of the things I got was Jerry's heavyweight kilt, in a black watch tartan. It arrived in a day and a half, in keeping with Jerry's reputation for supernatural delivery speed.

As I took it out of the box and tried it on, I discovered that it had two rows of basting stitches, in contrast to the Standards, which have only one. I tried it on for fit, and then laid it out on the kitchen table to remove the basting stitches. I was surprised at how soft the fabric was -- the Stillwater website lists it as being 100% Merrino wool from Australia (something it doesn't, at the time of this writing, say about the other heavyweights).

It appears to be the same construction as the standards. The straps are a little thicker, but the buckles appear to be the same. The cloth, of course, is wool, but the construction style appears to be the same, with the same attention to detail we've all come to expect of Stillwater's suppliers. It's pleated to the sett, the pleats are (eyeballing, here) about 4" hidden for every 1" exposed.

I was tempted to sit down and write up a review right away, but then decided to hold off 'til I'd worn it for a couple of days. I'm glad I did, because my initial impression was that the wool really wasn't worth the increased cost. However, after wearing the thing for a number of hours, I'm a believer! The Merrino wool feels great against the skin, and while it seems to be a lighter-weight fabric, the extra comfort is well worth an extra $40.

As it happens, I also have one of Jerry's Thrifty models in black watch, so I had the opportunity to compare the fabric. While the accrylic is a full ABCB sett, the wool is ABAB, or a half-sett. This doesn't actually matter a great deal in this case, as the blue is so dark, it's nearly impossible to actually see the black lines in it from more than a foot or so away.

So, grades:
Fabric: B Light weight, half sett.
Construction: A
Customer service: A
Value for the dollar: A
Likelyhood I'll deal with this company again: Virtually certain.

Two words about my grades... first of all, they're subjective. I can only grade based on my experience, and my experience says these are very nice kilts for the price, and I am in no way dissatisfied with them. Secondly, my giving a Stillwater kilt an A does not mean that I'm placing it in the same league as, say, a Kathy Lare hand-sewn tank... it just means that I think that this product for what it is is about the best it could be.

[Sean_the_Kilted]

Great review!

[Marshal Moroni]

Thanks for the review!
It seems more and more certain that a SWK Heavyweight or two will be in my future.

Now can if only you could give lessons on that windfall thing....

[McMurdo]

Good review, thanks and congratulations on the new kilt.

[Galician]

Thanks for taking the trouble to write this review. I have several heavy weights from Stillwater, and I find them to be great. I'm not sure, though, that my Black Watch is merino wool! Now I'll have to check about the pleating, something I didn't know about, and so didn't appreciate.

[McFarkus]

Thanks for the review. I agree with you. I just received two kilts from Stillwater, both heavyweight: one Black Watch and one Lamont. The merino wool on the Black Watch is definitely softer than that of the Lamont. Considering the modest price, both are beautifully made.

[James MacMillan]

Mr. MacDougall - Is the pleated material under the fell cut or trimed at all to aliviate the thickness?

[Mr. MacDougall]

Mr. MacDougall - Is the pleated material under the fell cut or trimed at all to aliviate the thickness?

No, they seem to use exactly the same construction method as in the Standards, which means they don't cut the material under the fell.

[Arizona Scot]

Thanks for the review, I have a standard for stillwaters and I love it, saving up for a heavyweight and hoping they will have the Gordon modern when I am ready to order. If not then it will most likely be the black watch.

[Mr. MacDougall]

I have a standard for stillwaters and I love it, saving up for a heavyweight

I have yet to receive anything from Stillwater that I didn't feel was worth the money I'd spent to aquire it. Plus, Jerry's excellent and on-point responses to emails and fast shipping times make his customer service excellent in my book. Even Perldog, who initially received a nylon cargo sporran he felt was sub-par, was brought around by Jerry's customer service, and is now a huge fan.

I was chuckling to myself yesterday when I went to lunch with my roommate, because I abruptly realized that almost everything I was wearing had been purchased from Jerry. Kilt, jacket, sporran... only my shirt and shoes were from somewhere else!