I am going to wreck it, I'm sure...so I need help!

[wildrover]

Reading between the lines a bit...

Don't get overly caught up in the romantic idea of kilting up and striding over the heather with the sound of pipes at a comfortable & picturesque distance and an impossible stag outlined on a nearby hilltop or however Jock put it a while back, I'm paraphrasing.. Wool is a durable material, and kilts are comfortable, however a kilt is not necessarily the best clothing for every job.

There is nothing more uncomfortable than wrapping up in a wet bedroll at night. You are likely to freeze your *** off, nothing less...or to put it another way, if there's bad weather, be smart and get out of it. Abandon the idea of wild shaggy Scotsmen stoically tramping over the moors through all manner of hell in their great kilts...if they had to do it, they probably weren't any more comfortable than anyone else would be in the same situation, and were probably thinking "only three more miles to the house!", which is what most people caught hiking in bad weather are thinking.

With that in mind, the army blanket idea is perfect. Get a few, sew them up as necessary, pleat them if desired, and give it a try. Just don't blame us if you come back with monkeybutt and hypothermia .

Spend your money on a nice 16x8 in your family tartan, get your regular hiking kit, and get out the door. I have hiked in my kilt, I have clambered over rocks while wearing it, gone up and down ladders, walked through rain storms and hail, and forded small creeks. If chafing is addressed, you will be fine, also, you will be much more comfortable if you have something to change in to, post-hike. I recommend the old standby, loose sweatpants, or the other classic, Carharrts...then you can BS around the campfire without smoking or torching your kilt, and without accidentally showing your goods to all your buddies while you're kicking back on the ultralight camp chair you packed in. The kicker here is that in all the aforementioned conditions, the upper half is covered in either a vented Gore-Tex hardshell, or a quick-drying "race shirt", or both. Water is not an issue. Regarding the kilt and water, you have to work to soak the inner apron and the insides of the pleats. If the inside of your kilt is soaked, you either just forded a creek or you were standing on your head in the rain.

...Spoken from experience, BTW. I actually just brought some surf shorts, but in colder weather, a larger pack with foul-weather clothing is a requirement to avoid becoming a statistic. Try a great kilt from surplus army blankets, pack additional gear according to your local weather patterns, and see how it goes.

As regards cost, kilts are a niche market, and are now viewed and treated by most as a luxury item, and the price reflects that as well as the quality and hand labor that goes in to a niche market item.

The bottom line? Hike in your kilt. Once you do, if you ever go without it again, you'll be wishing you had it! But abandon romantic ideas and be appropriately prepared for your climate and terrain.