Warm Climate Kilts

[Cawdorian]

As the owner of both a 13 oz 8 yard wool tank and a 16 oz 9 yard wool tank, I can tell you there is a distinct difference in the weight and feel of the kilts. The 13 oz looks as good as the 16 oz, but is a little more comfortable during the warmer months. There is nothing like like the swing and feel of a 16 oz 8 or 9 yard wool kilt.

Most of the guys I have talked to here in Georgia buy the 13 oz kilts.

[Ayin McFye]

I asked a similar question not too long ago, and the overwelming consensus was that a Poly-Viscose Kilt would be great for hot weather. I live in Phoenix Arizona and it will reach 120 degrees at some point every year. PV breathes great, and is light weight. Plus wearing your PV kilt is even better than shorts, because of the better air draft. I am going to order my PV here soon, so that i can stay kilted all summer long.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

You know, the traditional 4 yard box pleated kilt was actually revived because of just such a discussion. As Bob Martin tells it, sometime in the early 80s (I want to say 1983), he was having a discussion with Micheil MacDonald, then of the Scottish Tartans Society. He was asking Micheil what he needed to do to convince those in the American south that heavy weight wool was the way to go for the best kilt. Everyone was wanting the lightest weight possible because of the temperature.

Dr. MacDonald responded by saying, "Why don't you offer a 4 yard box pleated kilt in heavy weight wool?" The rest is history....

(For those who may not recognize the name, Bob Martin is a retired kiltmaker and kilt historian, who revived the box pleated kilt style in the early 80s. Micheil MacDonald is a Scottish anthropologist -- his son is renowned tartan expert Peter MacDonald).