Kilt wearing in the summer

[prattw]

Living, as I do, in the Mohave Desert, I've some experience with wearing kilts in warm weather. That includes wearing a Stillwater Standard under 100++ conditions. In general, it's little different from wearing wide-legged shorts. EXCEPT for the area where the rise of your kilt encases your torso. That gets hot and sweaty. But then, so does the waistband of said shorts. I NEVER wear my wool kilts in summer. Not because they'd be too hot, they aren't any hotter than acrylic or pv of the same weight. It's because I know with certainty that the area of the rise is going to be sweatsoaked, and it's sooo much easier to wash a Stillwater than to dryclean a woolen kilt.

Will Pratt

[michael steinrok]

How do you stand the heat? I'd melt away entirely! 8-)

[Graham]

I was hiking in 46 deg C heat in the mountains this week, I wore an 8 yard PV USAK and was very, very comfortable (considering the heat).

For me, poly viscose is the ticket.

[NewKilt]

Thanks to you all for the great feedback. Graham, I'll have to try the PV material on some of my future kilt purchases. I'll probably take a look at one of Rocky's semi-traditionals.

I'm really excited about getting my first wool kilt. I've got a Stillwater Black Watch on the way made in 100% wool! I feel like a small child waiting for Santa to come. I'll be looking out the window most of tomorrow waiting for the sleigh . . . er, I mean truck.

Darrell

[prattw]

How do you stand the heat? I'd melt away entirely! 8-)

It's largely a matter of acclimazation. A very few never do adjust, but 'most anyone with normal physiology can adapt over the course of a year. That's not to say that you feel COOL, mind, just that you find the heat tolerable, at least in the shade. The saying among local field biologists goes that when you go out the door and feel like you are gradually melting, that's warm. HOT is when you step out the door and it feels like someone hit you in the pit of the stomach, all over. HOT is hard to take, just warm (say up to 110 or so) you adjust to.

Will Pratt

[UmAnOnion]

in regards to the heat question: would a trad kilt of 100% linen stray too far from the norm? Linen - albeit very prone to wrinling, is a nice light & breathable fabric and woudl give good swish when walking. in a good suit weight & solid color might not be a bad idea...

[cavscout]

I've endured Soutuhern Humidity all my life and I would rather deal with it in a kilt than shorts or pants. Currently I only have a USA Casual which is great in Georgia. I feel you are going to be better off simply for wearing the kilt. The best advise though is Body Glide.

http://www.ultrafit-endurance.com/bodyglide.html

This is the best price I've found.

[GlassMan]

I grew up in South Texas where it is over 100 degrees and almost 100% humidity much of the summer. I never got used to it because the two together are just a knockout punch.

Now I'm in DC where it gets hot and humid but nowhere near as bad as South Texas. I have several SportKilts that I wore last summer when I was going to have to be outside for any length of time. Since I can't exactly move quickly on foot, and spend much of my time in a chair, ventilation in a heavy kilt was definitely an issue for me. When I'm in that wheelchair, I'm soaked on the entire backside of my kilt as well as along the rise if it's not something really light.

[prattw]

in regards to the heat question: would a trad kilt of 100% linen stray too far from the norm? Linen - albeit very prone to wrinling, is a nice light & breathable fabric and woudl give good swish when walking. in a good suit weight & solid color might not be a bad idea...

It seems to me that maintaining the pleats would be, uh, a pain where a pill won't reach (as my old Granny used to say.) One great advantage of acrylic and pv kilts is that they're wash and hang dry and require little maintenance of the pleats. With linen you'd have to press the pleats every time you washed it.

Will Pratt

[macwilkin]

Coming from a reenacting background, I suppose I have a different view of this topic; A wool traditional kilt isn't necessarily the problem in the heat, but you wear with it. Remember that the Highland Regiments of the British Army wore the kilt in some very "hot" places, like India, Afganistan, the South African Veldt, Palestine, etc. Yes, wool can be "hot" -- but in my own experience of 10 years doing military living history with the National Park Service, wool garments are more durable and do "breathe" better than man-made ones. Also, I am usually hotter in a synthetic t-shirt and shorts with more skin exposed to the direct rays of the sun than I am in wool with skin covered.

I also blame climate-controls and air conditioning for a lot of this. Ask anyone who lived in Arizona before the Second World War and you'll see what I mean! ;)

BUT, I don't like heat anyway -- and Missouri in the summertime can be a bear -- I would much prefer cooler climes myself.

Cheers,

Todd