Kilt for camping... what to get next.

[Nighthawk]

Your post is very timely Nighthawk as I was doing a little browsing around and was just about to ask about the Amerikilts. I like the look of them in the photos, particularly the Olive. And the price is certainly within reason. The UKs are a bit pricy for my blood, all things considered.

Question for you on the Amerikilt. How "flexible" is the sizing? I'm right about a 34-35" waist. My Stillwater 34" is adjustable enough to be just fine, but since it looks like the AK secures with snaps... Well, I'll be wearing a belt, but am not sure if a 34 leaves enough leeway for large meals if you know what I mean.

It leaves plenty of leeway. The waist is adjustable. Keep in mind that they are meant to be worn at your jeans waist. I've been wearing kilts exclusively for several years, though, so I got an AK with a 24 inch length and wear it like a traditional. That works well for me. I want one of the olive ones, too. I have two black one. My next is going to be the olive.

[Panache]

Man, Jamie, even when you're camping, you look spectacular. I just look like a biker in a kilt when I camp!

That's about as casual as I get.

I really thought I was roughing it in the last photo, I had to settle for a vodka tonic instead of one made of gin!

Cheers

Jamie :ootd:

[Spartan]

Honestly, I wouldn't take my 2 acrylics anywhere near a camp site. The plastic burns- rather ferosiously as evidenced by videos on this board- and wool does not. The acrylic doesn't breathe worth a crap. If you've never tried wool, you can't possibly know the difference in comfort. It's astounding. I almost never wear my acrylics any more, and I probably never will bother with them again. PV and wool are vastly superior.

I have one acrylic that I use for lounging around the house. Otherwise, I prefer my PV, my X-Kilt, and my 16oz wool. As Nighthawk said, if you haven't tried the wool.......

[Riverkilt]

I go with Utilikilts. Prefer the Survival II and the Original for camping. Workman's is a bit too stiff for comfort. Particularly like the Survival II if hiking or backpacking is involved.


Woodland Original


Tan Original


Basil Survival II


Black Survival II

Ron

[KiltedBrewer]

If you're looking for affordable camping kilts, I don't think you can do any better than to make yourself a cotton or poly-cotton x-kilt. I kept close track of the costs when I made mine, and for less than the cost of a UK Original, I bought a used sewing machine, had it serviced, and bought all of the materials for an x-kilt. And now that I own the sewing machine and it's in good working order, each additional x-kilt I make will only cost around $30. You can't beat that price!

David

P.S. And if I can sew one almost 20 years after my 6th grade home ec class, anyone can do it!

[The Barry]

If I were to go camping kilted, I'd leave it to the very-washable Utilitkilt style of kilt only.

They aren't flammable, don't melt, don't snag, and you can wash them. When I go camping, I'm off to the lake, tromping through the woods. building fires, climbing mountains (or hills, whatever), etc. I wouldn't want a wool kilt up there with me.

[turpin]

Campin at the GMHG I generally wear a UK around and about, and switch to tartan (PV or wool only) for trips out on McCrae Meadows. I find the UK hard to beat for utility and practicality. I have four and have only paid full retail once.

[Tartan Hiker]

If you're looking for affordable camping kilts, I don't think you can do any better than to make yourself a cotton or poly-cotton x-kilt. I kept close track of the costs when I made mine, and for less than the cost of a UK Original, I bought a used sewing machine, had it serviced, and bought all of the materials for an x-kilt. And now that I own the sewing machine and it's in good working order, each additional x-kilt I make will only cost around $30. You can't beat that price!

David

P.S. And if I can sew one almost 20 years after my 6th grade home ec class, anyone can do it!

Well said.

[Alan H]

Might I suggest that there's a big difference between camping 40 feet from your SUV, and say, backpacking in 20 miles from the trailhead.

If I was car-camping, then the main thing would be the fire issue. NO to Stillwaters acrylic. Aside from that, cotton (will wrinkle like there's no tomorrow), cotton/poly, polyester-viscose, wool and wool-polyester blends are all fine.

If I had a pack on that had a waistband that took most of the load, and the kilt was underneath that, then NO to traditional buckle closure. Buttons....OK, but velcro is great.

How to get the perfect kilt...non flammable, the length you want, velcro closure if you want it, etc?

Make it.

If you can't make it, and it's GOT to be tartan, then I would ask Rocky for a USA Kilts casual model and beg him for a wider under-apron. You can pick from 60+ tartans. It's light. It's polyester-viscose, so it doesn't ignite and melt down when exposed to an open flame. You can walk into the lake and swim in it to wash off the sweat...hang it from a tree and two hours later it's dry and becasue the pleats are sewn down, it looks reasonable.. IT SHEDS TREE SAP. (It takes a couple of washings, but it really does. I know because I have one, and it did.) It closes with velcro. I wear a really light nylon web-belt with a velcro closure, to help keep it up. There's nothing under there to rub you raw from the waistband of your pack. The only downside is that at mine, at least, the under-apron was pretty narrow and I wish it were wider, for modesty's sake.

Try getting tree sap out of a wool kilt. Ha!