Folks, I'm an enthusiast, so I tend to like kilts. I'll make allowances for things that are off, just because I'm so happy to be tartaned and unbifurcated. Rocky and Kelly made my first custom tartan kilt, a casual Farquharson, and then a blue Ramsay semi-trad, and then a US Army semi-trad. (Pittsburgh Kilts made my first custom kilts, but they were camo and not tartan.)

I like those kilts a good bit, I'll have you know.

I've been evolving, from a UK original and a SK up through the SWK line, and I've noticed that the kilts I actually wear a lot tend to be the ones from USAK. So when it was time (thanks to Riverkilt's own custom Leatherneck tank order) to get a Leatherneck of my own, I naturally thought of Rocky and Kelly.

The Leatherneck tartan represents my clan colors, and I wanted a kilt I could wear a goodly bit, so I went with a five yard iteration, and of course its 13 ounce worsted. I chewed over my options via telephone with Rocky about two months ago, sitting in the backyard with my youngest daughter and sipping on Lismore.

Friday afternoon it arrived. I was hot and sweaty and frazzled from a long day of running after clients, so I didn't put it on, just looked it over and hung it up. Ah, but Saturday morning I fit myself into it . . . SHAZAM! One of the reasons I went with Rocky and Kelly's shop (shoppe?) was that the kilts they'd made me fit me to a T, and I expected the same with this one.

As I had expected, so it turned out. The five yarder fits wonderfully. ALthough shipped without basting stitches, it came out of the box neat and sharp looking, and any crease hung out overnight in the closet.

If I was going to pick nits, I'd point out that the waistband doesn't exactly match the tartan sett . . . but I'm not going to pick nits, and that doesn't bother me in the least.

I wore it over to the Polish festival down the street yesterday (referenced in a General Kilt Talk post) on a day touching 90 degrees with some heavy humidity. It's got good swish, strong sewing, and pleated to the sett. Belt loops line up perfectly and are invisible from more than a couple of feet away. It was a good warm day and I felt great in the kilt. Everyone at the festival was sweating, but wrapped in five yards of wool I was sweating less than most people.

Pleating to the sett was Rocky's call. I tend to discuss options with the kiltmaker, and take their advice on things beyond my ken.

When I placed the order, Rocky said it would be about eight weeks, and the kilt arrived at the end of the eighth week. I am pleased. I've now got a Houston-friendly, hard-use custom worsted wool kilt in my gang colors. My interactions with the kilt maker were "the way they should be." Rocky and Kelly did a good job, in quick order, with good customer service.

Folks, I like this kilt. My only gripe is that I keep buying from USAK and that keeps me from exploring the other fine kiltmakers here on the board. And I cannae really say that that's Rocky's fault now, can I?