Cold weather kilting?

[GreenDragon]

Any tips on kilting in cold weather?

[Splash_4]

Um, do??

[Detroitpete]

Same advice as I'd give cold weather hikers: layers. I LOVE a kilted hike during the winter. Many of us who life in the lands of 4 seasons either learn to enjoy the cold and dark half of the year or it makes us nuts.

A 'tank' of course will always work well, but not many of us have an expensive 16oz. wool kilt to smash about in. SWK heavy weights or similar kilts do fine. I don't really wear anything heavier and 13 oz. myself. For hiking I tend to stick to my SWK standard weights. On VERY cold days I'll slip a pair of hand -made (cut) kilt-johns on, two pair of socks, layered tops with a heavy wool commando sweater on top and I'm usually roasty-toasty.

I've learned that life is too short and winter too long not to kilt up and get out there and it enjoy it.

[McFarkus]

On the coldest days I wear my 22oz WPG MacKenzie. Wool kilt hose help a lot, and if it's frigid, wear sock liners as well. A wool kilt will keep the bits and pieces warm, so just use layers everywhere else.

Last January I went to two Burns suppers. Both nights the temp was around 9º F with wind chills down around -15º F, I was perfectly comfortable. Even my knees were only slightly chilly.

[JRB]

I'm much more inclined to wear boxer-briefs under my kilt when going out in winter weather. It definitely helps keep me warmer.

[jkane]

Walk faster!

[Pleater]

Wool hose make a big difference to cold weather comfort.

I find that ribbed patterns - the hose look to have vertical grooves - are warmer than flat knitting, but they need to be knit on fine needles, so they are thick and heavy otherwise the wind will just whistle through them as though they are not there at all.

Shoes or boots with thick soles also make a surprising difference to comfortable walking even when there isn't snow on the ground. Wearing anything that pinches your toes is not a good idea - the circulation tends to give up the fight much earlier. I have seen people with dead white toes many times, in pain as the blood returns, due to wearing fashionably narrow toed styles.

Depending on what sort of terrain you will be crossing an Inverness or long coat can help to keep you snug, or be a confounded nuisance, but layers, and gloves, hat and a scarf around neck and ears, even over the lower part of the face, all make the cold more bearable.

I have still not had the chance to test a plaid in cold weather.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Tartan Hiker]

Same advice as I'd give cold weather hikers: layers. I LOVE a kilted hike during the winter.
(snip)
A 'tank' of course will always work well, but not many of us have an expensive 16oz. wool kilt to smash about in.

Pete's right. I haunted eBay for months looking for beater wool kilts that I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg for to use for hiking duty. My usual winter hiking kilt is an old wool band kilt in weathered Robertson. It's only got 5.5 yards of fabric, and is fastened with velcro rather than buckles (which feels much nicer under my pack belt!) A long day of snow hiking (15 to 35 degrees F) was quite comfortable.
The real problem is with my knickers. Hiking without a pack...no problem. Put on the pack and the belt will slowly but surely push my boxers, boxer briefs, etc. down to my knees every time.

[RockyR]

A warm hat and a good jacket...

As long as you keep your head warm and your 'core' warm, your blood flow will stay relatively good and you'll stay much more warm.

I forget the exact percentage but I saw a statistic that you lose something like 50% of your body heat through your head.

[Riverkilt]

Hot air rises - much warmer than bifurcated garments.