Kilts and Humidity / Heat

[gseven1]

It must be a perspective thing. The hotter it gets, the quicker I get into the kilt. I don't typically wear a wool kilt, but my UKs or SportKilt work nicely in hot humid weather. I typically wear T-Shirts on days like that. Where I work, it doesn't matter how you dress, what is important is that you show up.

[tulloch]

I can't tell you how important it is to use powder. With powder and my tank I can put up with anything. Open front short-sleeve shirt too. Cheers.

[Pleater]

The weather here has been hot and damp for most of August - for the first few days very damp indeed, and I found that the kilts I have made from high quality poly cottons intended for bedding - so fairly crease resistant - have been the thing to wear.

Even when I was wet through I was warm enough - I stood next to people in jackets and trousers who were shivering with cold in the wind between downpours and I was wearing a teeshirt, kilt, sandals and plaid with a Tilley hat, (in case of a flash flood, the Tilley hat is marketed as unsinkable) and felt warm enough. The plaid and kilt create layers of still air inside whilst the wind dries out the fabric from the outside.

Several times I went indoors and found that I was steaming after a brisk walk through the rain. People found it rather disconcerting.

Removing the plaid and spreading the pleats around a chair or stool quickly reduced the temperature.

My kilts are 'primitive' in that they are pleated onto a waistband without sewn down pleats, so they move a lot and are not held close to the body. In hot weather I just pin the waistband closed, and do not use a belt.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Swampthing]

Sorry guys, much as I love wearing the kilt, in hot weather even although we do not get too much of it in Scotland, there is nothing to beat wearing shorts,
How do you guys survive in hot weather with even a lightweight kilt

Ah, but do you get it like we do?
Humidity makes a big difference.

[JRB]

Sorry guys, much as I love wearing the kilt, in hot weather even although we do not get too much of it in Scotland, there is nothing to beat wearing shorts,
How do you guys survive in hot weather with even a lightweight kilt

I happen to agree with you. I don't enjoy wearing my kilts in the hot, humid days of summer. I only do it to attend summer highland games or various kilt gatherings. I don't own anything other than 16oz. wool traditional kilts so I don't know how low slung canvas kilts feel, but for me, shorts are way more comfy during the dog days.

[sanddog28]

I can't tell you how important it is to use powder. With powder and my tank I can put up with anything. Open front short-sleeve shirt too. Cheers.

I cant agree more, I learned early on from my dad and his combat boots nothing beats gold bond powder for those hot sweaty body parts, and this is in the central Florida heat and humidity, even out on a long day with friends walking (and maybe some drinking) at Epcot.

[lasrl]

Sorry guys, much as I love wearing the kilt, in hot weather even although we do not get too much of it in Scotland, there is nothing to beat wearing shorts,
How do you guys survive in hot weather with even a lightweight kilt

I'd like to get on my soap box.....give my take on this topic....and ask some questions/make a few points. :

1.
I agree. I don't understand how a man can wear a kilt in such hot weather. Of course, to me, hot weather is anything that is at or above 25 degrees celcius/77 F (measured in the shade of course.). I have enough difficulty wearing my 16 oz kilt in anything 20 degrees C as it is. Just a few weeks ago I was wearing my kilt in the heat at a picnic and I almost died. Had to get into my swimming trunks and jump into the ocean to cool down. I'm much more comfortable wearing my kilt in -20 degrees Celcius/-4 F.

2.
My instincts tell me that I'd rather have just one kilt made of 100% wool from Scotland (which I do), than have 20 kilts made out of anything but wool...or any combination of wool and anything else, for that matter. In my mind, it just isn't a kilt otherwise. Although, to be fair, perhaps that is the sacrifice that one would have to make to wear a kilt in a warm climate...so I shall consider this an educational moment. For me though, cotton shorts make the most sense on a hot day. Unless it is a special occasion, I'm prepared to sacrifice looking good (Wearing a kilt is about the only way that I can accomplish this), for a comfortable body temperature.

3.
Perhaps I'm too traditional, but I'm also a bit mystified about these various posts that suggest that one should wear various types of high tech underwear underneath a kilt to stay cooler. Firstly, let's forget the fact that I've never considered the possibility of wearing underwear under my kilt, since the culture I was brought up in considered it to be "very poor form" (Nova Scotia) to commit such a "dastardly" act. Secondly, I do not understand how adding more fabric can make things cooler. I've competed in the sprints in track and field until the end of high school, and I've played Canadian Football at the University level (Running Back), and I've never known even lycra (which I have worn while competing in both sports) to make things any "cooler" for me. Although lycra it is supposed to be one of the best fabrics for making things cooler and taking heat away from the body...I find it makes me warmer regardless (As a Canadian I've played football under some frigid temperatures as well as hot ones). My logic is as follows: If even lycra makes one(me) warmer, I don't understand how any space age undies could do any better (at keeping me cooler), unless they are lined with some kind of cold pack, or "smart cooling nanofibre". I must sound like I'm 100 years old. Can anyone enlighten me on this topic?

[Bugbear]

Yes, you probably have a metabolism that results in feeling that way. There are other people that feel cold in many situations. As far as adding fabric to stay cooler, it all depends on whether the fabric is loose and in multiple layers around the body, or packed tightly around the body. If it is loose, movement creates an air flow etc.

[Sir William]

I've been kilted several times during this hot and humid summer in Virginia, as well as my trip to Toronto, and even one particularly warm day at the Gathering in Edinburgh.

I didn't notice the kilt or the hose as being warm. I was just hot from the waist up, even when wearing a polo shirt.

[sanddog28]

I'd like to get on my soap box.....give my take on this topic....and ask some questions/make a few points. :
3.
Perhaps I'm too traditional, but I'm also a bit mystified about these various posts that suggest that one should wear various types of high tech underwear underneath a kilt to stay cooler. Firstly, let's forget the fact that I've never considered the possibility of wearing underwear under my kilt, since the culture I was brought up in considered it to be "very poor form" (Nova Scotia) to commit such a "dastardly" act. Secondly, I do not understand how adding more fabric can make things cooler. I've competed in the sprints in track and field until the end of high school, and I've played Canadian Football at the University level (Running Back), and I've never known even lycra (which I have worn while competing in both sports) to make things any "cooler" for me. Although lycra it is supposed to be one of the best fabrics for making things cooler and taking heat away from the body...I find it makes me warmer regardless (As a Canadian I've played football under some frigid temperatures as well as hot ones). My logic is as follows: If even lycra makes one(me) warmer, I don't understand how any space age undies could do any better (at keeping me cooler), unless they are lined with some kind of cold pack, or "smart cooling nanofibre". I must sound like I'm 100 years old. Can anyone enlighten me on this topic?

lasrl let me see if i can help just a bit, while i agree with you i would never think of adding anything under my kilt; the concept of aditional fabric to keep you cool is very real these days, living in a place where 8 months a year see 85+ F temps and humidity always on the north side of 50 you learn how to stay cool. The moisture wicking fabrics used in most of the golf shirts i own as well as the under armour heat gear boxer breafs work in a specific way they lift the moisture off your skin and help it evaporate better, basically improving the way your sweat works... over the last couple of years as these fabrics have come more mainstream i have definitely noticed a difference.... But Ted definitely hit the nail on the head, genetics genetics genetics... both sides of my family settled in the south when they left England/Scottland so 200 years of living no further north than Atlanta Ga helps a body deal with the heat better than anything else.