Kilts and Trench Coats

[Raphael]

I wear my trench coat with my kilt because Vancouver is wet, cold and windy in the winter months. It is not just a protective layer for the kilt, but myself as well.

[Barclay]

My Inverness is my standard raincoat; kilted or not. It's immensely practical, and with wide arm holes instead of sleeves, and doesn't build up condensation inside, even in Florida.
Aside from an Inverness being a traditional topcoat for a kilt, my case may be somewhat different; I'm on occasion required to stand out in a cemetery in a street-flooding, monsoon-like downpour in a kilt. I can assure you that with a foot or so of (quite expensive) kilt exposed I'd be even more miserable than normal.

Since you quoted me, I'll respond. I specified that I wear the car coat for protection from the cold. In fact I neither wear, nor own, any rain coat, preferring to use an umbrella. When my wool kilts and wool blend suits get wet, they don't tend to get too wet and dry quickly enough to go from an 11:00 graveside service to a 1:00 visitation without changing. However I do wear wellies when my feet get exposed to standing water.

[Barclay]

I wear my trench coat with my kilt because Vancouver is wet, cold and windy in the winter months. It is not just a protective layer for the kilt, but myself as well.

yeah, if I lived out there I'd be perpetually wrapped tightly in cellophane - it does get cold and wet out there.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

Not a trench coat, but a full length wool coat when we were up north. Guessing I ought to sell that sucker now.

[mkmound]

Not a trench coat, but a full length wool coat when we were up north. Guessing I ought to sell that sucker now.

And when is your trip to Toronto?

[Nanook]

so where can I get one of these Inverness cloaks?

Most of the inverness capes are made of nylon or some other synthetic material and really only intended for use by pipers during play. Up until around 1960 or so (at the very latest from what I've seen) there used to be some very nice rubberized cotton canvas capes available--- quite like the construction of the WW-I era Burberry coats (trench as in trenches). A few years ago I saw a new series of coats made to these standards but unfortunately I did not purchase one--- one can't always buy what the eye fancies. I'm not sure who made them but there was a bit of a fashion in the late 1980s to make some items to archaic standards--- I got a pair of shoes (what is today called ankle boots) from Edward Green in 1990 made to recall their 100th year completely to their finest 1890 standards using materials, tools and methods of the time (no rubber heels, for instance but 100s of nails).
I think if one likes the cape design and is not intent on keeping to British one should have a look at loden Kotze (cloth cape made of Loden). They are quite common in German Alps and at home among hunters in their high seats as at the opera houses of Munich, Salzburg and Zurich:
http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=2608787
Most common is this look: but some look like woolen ponchos and I've seen other colours (even tartans) and other materials.

Since they are relatively common there is a very wide selection available and reasonable models made of 100% virgin wool loden can be found for prices hardly above what some of the better plastic Inverness capes demand (the picture above was from some shop I just randomly found and was priced at 150 EURO which is around middle field for these).

I personally just wear a (heavyweight) Barbour jacket or a plaid.