combat kilt

**Raphael** · 5th October 09, 04:14 PM

Have you looked at the Stillwater Thrifty Kilts? You can also put out a want ad here and see who is selling kilts that are in your budget.

**Rawlinson** · 5th October 09, 04:34 PM

Thrifty should work without Pitt funding, economy should work with it. How resilient are they? I'd still like to figure out the ideal fabric for a kilt, since I have a somewhat experienced (more so than me, at least) kilt maker that'll work for free and a connection that can get the material cheap.

**vorpallemur** · 5th October 09, 05:05 PM

Make (talk your friend into helping you) an x-kilt. (instructions are available in Alan_H's wonderful document; find a link in the DIY forum) Any chain fabric store will have a suitable "bottomweight" poly-cotton twill in solids for about six or seven bucks a yard (much less, if it happens to be on sale when you buy it, which it is about half the time; this is the fabric that cheap work trousers and cover alls are made of; it's not the best looking stuff, but it's sturdy, doesn't wrinkle much, and is just fine for a knock-around kilt.). It'll be 57 to 60 inches wide, which means you'll need two or two and a half yards to do a box-pleated x-kilt. Couple spools of thread, a package of sewing machine needles (buy your friend some, even if she does all the work; she'll love you for it), a pair of straps for closing (you probably don't want velcro for this...), and you're talking $25 in supplies. I'd put cargo pockets on it. (Well, *I* wouldn't, I'd do internal pockets, but they're a bit harder. Easy enough, though. I posted some tutorials to the DIY forum a while ago.)

**Rawlinson** · 5th October 09, 05:35 PM

Despite my lack of sewing skills and materials, I've read the x-kilt guide through several times and have it bookmarked. I'll have to look for your internal pocket directions; I think I may've seen them at least once. I do like how the MOLLE system incorporated into that paintball kilt... it's not exactly period, but I found out that camo is period enough; the referees (or heralds, I think they're called) are there for safe sport, not historical reenactment.

Thanks to my friend down the hall, fabric is always on sale.

"bottomweight?"

**vorpallemur** · 5th October 09, 06:12 PM

Bottomweight means heavy enough to make bottoms (trousers and skirts) from. For the stuff you're doing a polyester blend is probably the best choice. (Pure wool would be great, too, but it's well outside of your budget.) A 60-40ish poly-cotton of moderatetly heavy weight (8 oz a yard or so, about what most trousers are) will hang well, will launder nicely, will take a lot of abuse, is a breeze to sew up, and is availabe in whatever color (or camo) you decide on. (the first X-kilt I made has been lying on the floor of my closet for a couple months; I don't wear it, prefering the ones with pockets, so I haven't worried about it too much. I could wear it in public with about five minutes worth of pressing.) Box pleats are the most efficient use of fabric, and are easy to move in.

**Rawlinson** · 5th October 09, 06:39 PM

How much more material would I need for knife pleats or reverse kingussie? I guess that'd depend on depth.

What's the ideal pleat style for mobility? Probably wearing nothing, but that likely wouldn't go over well and would leave me too exposed in a contact sport.

**hospitaller** · 5th October 09, 09:42 PM

Originally Posted by Rawlinson

I recently joined a local chapter of Dagorhir Battle Games, and am planning on fighting kilted. There's dirt, mud, some river crossings, etc., so it's not going to be made out of anything expensive or hard to clean. I was thinking black denim (black because I was told that for my unit, earth tones are good, but black is better) would be a good material to use, but you guys are the experts.

Opinions? Suggestions? General comments?

want a 'combat kilt'?

how about the 'original' combat kilt:

you can head to Stillwater Kilts and get one of their thrifty BW kilts.

.

**Alan H** · 5th October 09, 10:04 PM

I just looked over the website...it seems to me that you can wear anything.

You want black? OK, so go get some black twill from your buddy, or his mom, or buy a few yards off of ebay. schmooze that girl in your dorm who has a sewing machine and recruited you. Make an X-Kilt. You're stylin'. It'll take about 13 hours for her to maker the first X Kilt.. Subtract one hour for each subsequent X-Kilt. By the time she's made six, she'll be able to whip 'em out in about 6-7, at most 8 hours. This is assuming she'll actually DO this. What I'm getting at, is that if you have 10 people, it's not totally impossible for you to outfit the whole lot in X-Kilts.

It's just a lot of WORK.

**Rawlinson** · 6th October 09, 12:32 AM

So I'm tossed between a Black Watch Stillwater kilt, or an x-kilt integrated with the MOLLE system, using PALS webbing....

You can wear pretty much anything that isn't blatantly street clothes.

I need to find out if the green in the Black Watch tartan counts as an earth tone. I need earth tones or black to match the units around here. No real uniform, just quasi-uniform colors.

The Spartans are the elite unit in this area; they wear red and black. After 6 months of fighting for this area, I'll be eligible to try to join them, as I already meet their physical requirements. A black kilt would be wearable now and then; earth-tones, not so much.

Originally Posted by vorpallemur

For the stuff you're doing a polyester blend is probably the best choice. (Pure wool would be great, too, but it's well outside of your budget.) A 60-40ish poly-cotton of moderatetly heavy weight (8 oz a yard or so, about what most trousers are) will hang well, will launder nicely, will take a lot of abuse, is a breeze to sew up, and is availabe in whatever color (or camo) you decide on.

Sounds good to me, but if I knew, I wouldn't be asking about it in the first place. Everyone agree this is my best fabric choice? If I can get pure wool with Pitt money and a good discount, what sort of weight, etc. should I look for?

**Pleater** · 6th October 09, 04:42 AM

If you are going to be moving through areas with low level vegetation then the reverse Kingussie is going to be your best option.

I decided this the first time that I wore a forward pleated kilt and found that it was almost impossible to get through the heathland.

With a standard box pleated kilt you would have 3 layers of material around you. There is the double box pleat which is 5 layers in the pleats, but the reverse Kingussie can have as many layers as you feel you need, plus it doesn't snag on things.

Black Watch is usually a dark tartan and can look to be simply black in low light.

My heaviest kilt made from real all wool tartan, 8 yards by 24 inches, weighs almost 4 Lb. A similar one in a wool/man made fibre blend is significantly lighter, as the weave is more open, the yarn is softer and it will not last as long as the pure wool - but it has lasted several years already so when compared with modern clothing it isn't at all bad. The proper tartan cost 50 English pounds, and the blend about 8 pounds for enough for a kilt. I bought a whole bolt of the wool blend and that reduced the price per metre by a third.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: