I had a great time hanging out with Dixiecat who came to visit us here in Tokyo! (Pix will be posted soon in another thread)... And Saturday evening, as we were enjoying some beers at an outside pub, we got to talking about kilts (fancy that, huh?) and more specifically, the one I happened to be wearing.

I mentioned that it was pretty light and cool for the warm, summery weather but I had some concerns about whether it in fact was, 13oz wool, which is what I ordered and paid for... When Dixiecat felt the fabric, she thought it seemed rather thin and light too -- more akin to her 10z dancing kilt, she figured.

I thought I'd share the story, and the conclusion of my inquest with the rabble, just in case anyone else has found themselves wondering whether or not the kilt they had was in fact, what they thought they had.

So being the inquisitive sort, when I returned back home on Sunday, I looked up some old XMTS instructions on how to reverse-engineer a kilt's weight. Thanks ever so much to Pleater, btw., as those are the instructions I used, but also Steve and a few other members who discussed this at length a few years ago.

This is how to do it:

First, measure the kilt from end to end, along the bottom edge. Mine was 154.5 inches. At 36 inches to the yard, it was: (154.5 ÷ 36)= 4.3 yards.

Then, measure the kilt from top to bottom. Mine was 23 inches. In yards, that's: (23 ÷ 36) = 0.64 yards.

Next, weigh the kilt. I used my digital kitchen scale... My kilt weighed exactly 703 grams, which converted to ounces is: (703 ÷ 28.35) = 25 oz.

Now the calculations:

The idea is to compare what you have to what it SHOULD be. In order to do this, we have to know the latter to determine the former. The problem is, not all mills use the same standard for fabric weight, so we have to make a few assumptions.

Tartan fabric weight (when you see for example: a 13oz kilt advertised) means: 1 linear yard of double-width cloth should weigh 13oz. This is where the problem arises, because not all widths are the same. Many mills assume "double width" to mean 54 inches... But this isn't set in stone. Some double widths are as wide as 60 inches....

So because my kilt isn't made from 1 yard x 1.5 yards of fabric, but much more, we'll need to do a bit of multiplication.

My kilt is 4.3 yards long x 0.64 yards wide, with the pleats at the top of the kilt NOT being cut out (this is important to note). 4.3x0.64=2.752 square yards.

Then, I divide the weight of the kilt (in my case: 25oz) by the square yardage of the kilt (in my case: 2.752). 25 ÷ 2.752 = 9.084...

Final step, I must multiply this number by 1.5 (because a linear fabric yard is actually 1yard x 1.5 yards). So for me: 9.084 x 1.5 = 13.6 oz.

This makes sense. Because of the added buckles and straps, liner, thread, and kilt pin (which I didn't remove due to laziness), it's probably close to 13oz spot-on.

Sanity check:

(1.0yard x 1.5 yards) = ........ 1.5yards^2 ------> 13 oz
(4.3 yards x 0.64 yards) = .... 2.752yards^2 ----> x oz

Rule of 3: (2.752 x 13) ÷ 1.5 = 23.9 oz. So my kilt should weigh this in theory (without straps, buckles, etc) and in reality it weights 25 oz.

Therefore Q.E.D.

Yes, my kilt IS in fact a 13 oz, even though it sure doesn't feel like it!

(I hope my math and explanation are correct. If not, let me know and I will correct it. Don't want to lead anyone down the wrong path here)...