I've hiked in snow, rain, sleet, and hail in a PV Bear kilt. While the material got wet, it only chaffed at the hem twice over 2,000 miles, and only in one location on my knee, and only when ice crystals formed along the hem and the wind was blowing from a particular direction...in other words, nothing I'd worry about in the future. If the material was wet, even soaking, it would always dry within an hour as long as I wore the kilt. I did have a raincoat, but only wore it when it was cold (i.e. below freezing) and raining; if it were any warmer I couldn't wear the coat because it would make me sweat too much, and I'd end up getting just as wet. I'd rather be wet from the rain than wet from my own sweat. I guess it depends on how vigourously you're hiking.



In this photo, there was a snowstorm going on, which turned to sleet, and I was wading through up to two feet of cold slushy water (in the Smokey Mountains). Good hypothermic conditions. While my fingers were cold, the rest of me was just fine.

Andrew.