Friends, Teufulhunden and countrymen!

Lend me your ears!

I’m a proud former Marine, and I wear a kilt. When I was just starting out in kiltdom (kilthood? Rabbledom? Whatever . . . ) I wasn’t sure which tartan to wear. (I also wasn’t sure which kilt to buy, but that’s a different matter.) I ended up ordering a Utilikilt original in olive drab. Why the olive drab? Because I thought about it and I said, “My clan is the Marine Corps.” And olive drab is one of my “clan colors.” But if you’re going to wear your clan colors, you might as well wear your clan tartan, right? Well, this is my clan tartan: http://www.lindaclifford.com/USMC.html

I wear a kilt every day, and I live in Houston, Texas. It gets hot and humid in Texas, and I’ve noticed that I wear my two USA Kilts kilts a lot. I’ve got a USAK casual Farquharson and a USAK semi-traditional in Ramsay. The Farquharson I picked because I like the Farq falling block single shot rifles, and the Ramsay because I have a tenuous family connection (and also because it’s a sharp looking tartan). If you’re a regular at Xmarksthescot.com you’ll already know about Rocky and Kelly’s work at USA Kilts. I love their kilts. When I go out on the town with the wife, I have a hard time dressing in anything besides my USAK Ramsay traditional.

All of the above count as prefatory remarks. This (stamp, stamp!) is where the meat of the post begins.

I e-mailed Rocky Roeger at USA Kilts and asked him what it would take to get a special run of tartan from Marton Mills in poly-viscose. He told me that if I could gin up fifteen orders for USA’s semitraditional kilts in a given tartan, he’d ask Marton Mills to do a special run.

Gents, I want a USAK semitraditional in the leatherneck tartan. For that matter, I want a USAK casual in the leatherneck tartan---but I can’t do it on my own. I’m going to order four semitraditional kilts from Rocky, one for me and three for my “clansmen” from the Corps. Riverkilt is in for one as well. That puts us a third of the way towards something brand new---a PV kilt in the leatherneck tartan.

Here’s the deal. I need you to commit to order a kilt from USAK in the leatherneck tartan. In my e-mails with Rocky, he’s said that he’d prefer that I act as the collection agent and gather enough money to show him that there’s enough interest in a leatherneck PV to warrant his order to Marton Mills. In cold hard numbers, I need to be able to slap US$3500 down in front of Rocky for him to order a CUSTOM RUN of something that’s NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE.

Gents, I think we can do this. Here’s my proposition. I’m in for (at least) four of these kilts. If you are serious about wanting a USAK semitraditional kilt in the leatherneck tartan (or a USAK casual), send me a private message and I’ll give you an address to send a check to. Take a look at USAK’s website http://www.usakilts.com/ and send me a check made out to USA Kilts. I WILL COLLECT THE MONEY BUT I WILL NOT I SAY AGAIN WILL NOT DEPOSIT IT TO ANY ACCOUNT THAT I CONTROL.

When I have US$3500 in checks in hand, I will turn around and forward them to Rocky and Kelly at USA Kilts. Rocky and Kelly will deposit said checks and, assuming they all clear, will then order the custom run of leatherneck tartan from Marton Mills.

What sayeth the rabble? We can do it. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers . . .

Best regards,

Kid Cossack
CPL, USMC
’92-’96 2d RadBn