Utilikilts

[JonathanB]

I’ve got one casual kilt and another on the way, but I’m thinking I could do with more as summer approaches. Any comments on Utilikilts. Their website is full of yo-dude-ery which isn’t me, but the kilts look interesting. Is the postage from the USA to the UK likely to be a problem.

What are their socks (sic) like? It would be a pity to dirty good kilt hose gardening or at the gym.

Comments appreciated.

[Riverkilt]

Well, I love 'em. What got me to kilts was seeing a Utilikilt at a Ren Faire. Just had to have one....and I did...and off to the kilt races went this olde geezer. Eventually tried tartan kilts and leather kilts....I've owned 18 Utilikilts over the last ten years or so. Early on they had some quality problems but those seem long ago ironed out. My favorite is the Survivor with all the pockets. Its a great kilt for hiking and flying. One trick is to take the snap pockets off to run through the X ray at the airport. If you walk through the beeper thingie sideways you may avoid the follow up wanding.

My worry at age 69 is I'd look silly in them. I still own three. I've "outgrown" the others and churned them. They do hold their value well and I've been able to sell them to other guys my size and use the proceeds for more kilts.

Here's a pic of the Survival I have now...decide if it works for an olde guy.





Think they call this pattern Desert Digital camo. Hope that helps a bit.

[TexasPete]

Utilikilts tends get their non-kilt items from outside vendors, and the socks I've seen them carry seem to all come from Sock Dreams. They're inexpensive but not very cushioning. I mostly end up wearing some wool blend hiking socks I got from Costco and those work well.

As for the kilts themselves, I'm fond of the workman's model. I started with an original, and it's good, but I like the heavier fabric of the workman's. The tradeoff is needing to iron it to keep the pleats vaguely straight. It's not a dress kilt, but having the pleats straight makes it look better, in my opinion. I've read recently that you can put weighted binder clips on the kilt as it's hang drying to achieve the same results.

[GMan]

I too like them for hiking, etc. Granted they are not traditional in any sense, but they do generate more conversations than do my traditional Kilts. Not sure of the postage to you so that also may be a consideration.

[Creag]

I have an original Utilikilt in dark grey. It is solidly constructed and well designed. It doesn't look or fit quite like a traditional kilt, but it is quite comfortable and easy to get around in.

Tobus - off topic, but it is nice to know I'm not the only person out there still carrying an external frame pack. It's easier on my back.

[Hawk]

I also have two UtiliKilts. Both being "Mockers", one in dark gray, one tan. An interesting addition to the Mockers are the two front slash pockets that go inside hidden and very deep. Also, they have both back pockets. Substantial is the word for the front ones, and I never want for room to carry whatever I need.

Hawk

[Tobus]

I’ve got one casual kilt and another on the way, but I’m thinking I could do with more as summer approaches. Any comments on Utilikilts.

I own a Utilikilt Workman which I use for hiking/camping, working out-of-doors around my homestead, and other activities where I'm going to be dirty and sweaty. I don't give a hoot about the "image" that they are trying to sell. For me, it's a very functional and rugged style of kilt that holds up well to abuse. And it's easy to wash!

The exterior hanging pockets are very useful, and I don't need to wear a sporran with it. The stitching is tough like a pair of blue jeans, and the material is "duck cloth" type canvas. So it's going to be much stiffer feeling than a wool kilt. The pleats are shallow and don't really swish like a wool kilt, and they're stitched at all the folds. So there are a lot of seams in the construction, and it's not really a naturally-folded garment like a wool kilt. If you sit wrong, the pleats will crumple up and you'll have to pull them straight again. And, quite frankly, it's not a very comfortable kilt to sit in if you wear it regimental, due to all the stitching.

The front apron is very narrow, with pleats on either side, so that when you sit, it drapes between your legs more naturally than a traditional wool kilt. The model I have also has a "modesty snap" inside the front apron and at the rear of the kilt (it's a reverse kingussie style pleating arrangement in the back). You can snap the front to the back between your legs when needed. It feels very awkward to do that, though, and I don't use it.

Sizing is important on the Utilikilt. It has no side-buckle adjustment like a traditional kilt. It's more like a pair of jeans. You just snap the front closed, and it fits the one size it's made for. You can use a belt to cinch it a little tighter (just like trousers), but it doesn't work all that well on a Utilikilt. It just bunches up the top of the kilt and becomes uncomfortable.

It doesn't have any of the interfacing or internal pieces that a traditional kilt has (nor does it have all the extra material at the top where the pleats are sewn down in the fell area), so it's much thinner around the waist. I still get hot and sweaty at the top, under my belt, but it's much cooler for wearing in hot weather than a traditional kilt would be around the torso. But to be honest, the lack of pleat swish does tend to minimize the airflow you get underneath.

Here are some pics I've posted numerous times on this board.

[OC Richard]

Any comments on Utilikilts. Their website is full of yo-dude-ery which isn’t me, but the kilts look interesting.

I love that word, 'yo-dude-ery'! Never seen it before but I know what you mean!

The Utilikilt phenomenon has been pretty amazing here on the West Coast, its home.

I've been involved with pipe bands and Highland Games and Scottish dancing and kiltwearing since the 70s. Of course it's always been traditional kilts, the only sort that existed.

Then a number of years ago, at one of our Games, there was a huge Utilikilt booth. Nobody had ever heard of them. Nobody here had ever seen anything like it, a canvas kilt with snaps and pockets and all. That booth was swamped and they pretty much sold everything they had. It seemed the Utilikilts met a need we didn't know we had!

Utilikilts are fairly mainstream here. I work at Disneyland and I see men wearing them all the time. (Most often they're from the Pacific Northwest, Utilikilt's home.)

Not only do men with no Scottish/Celtic connexion wear them regularly as part of their ordinary daily dress, but they have also taken the local Scottish community by storm, so that at our Highland Games I would say that Utilikilts outnumber traditional kilts.

I took the plunge once! I'd often admired the camouflage Utilikilts, especially the RealTree ones (it's a West Virginia thang) and when one in my size came up cheaply on Ebay I bought it. It came in the mail, I put it on, looked in the mirror, took it back off, and sold it on Ebay a few days later. They look great on other people but they're just not for me.

So perhaps they are slowly spreading in the UK?

[tundramanq]

From my experience with Utilikilts.
I am either in a Utilikilt or a USA Casual every day of the year.

I have almost all styles and colors/patterns except the "New Original". 33 Utilikilts in all.
I dry all of them aprons closed, on two clip hangers with weighted clothespins on the aligned and dressed pleats.
How posted here: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=76200

The cotton/poly ones are the lowest maintainance as far as pleat curling and wrinkles. Never need the pressing.( Originals and Mockers )

The cotton ones do need the iron at times if looking good is a factor. But they are the most comfy. I have worn out two and replaced them. ( Survivals )

The very light weight Desert Digital fabric that shows up on Survivals and Originals is very cool on a hot day. But has the most pleat curl and wrinkle issues.

The denims have some pleat curling but doesn't seem to hold a wrinkle. Warm and comfy - my winter "go to" kilts.

The cotton ducks wear like iron, tougher than the rose bushes I trim. If dried per above, the iron isn't needed except for the worst of the rump wrinkles. (Workmans)

I wear all of them at the times and conditions that fit, bit mostly wear the Survivals for the front pockets and cleaner look of no side pockets with the Survival pockets removed but loaded for when needed.

[Jock Scot]

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So perhaps they are slowly spreading in the UK?

I have no idea OCR, but I have only seen one of that type in the wild, some two or three years ago, worn if my memory serves, by a Scandinavian chap. I could not swear that it was actually a Utilikilt, but it may well have been. I can't say that I was terribly impressed, but its owner was very enthusiastic about it.