Some Belted Plaid/Great Kilt Questions

[KMCMICHAEL]

I have no expertise in your proposed style of camping but I have been a barefoot hiker for several years. The terrain makes all of the difference but extremely rocky terrain takes some conditioning and is slow if you are hiking with others. Downhill can be downright painful due to all the weight being on the more tender areas. It gets worse as the miles add up...but it does give you a sense of accomplishment.

[OC Richard]

I did my share of Civil War re-enacting in my late teens and early 20s: wrapped in a wool blanket, in a wool jacket and wool trousers and wool socks, in a canvas tent (don't touch it when it's raining!).

No thanks... I much prefer a goose down sleeping bag, a foam mat, and a waterproof nylon tent!

[jthk]

I don't have Before The Kilt but I do have



which is wonderful because the author presents the actual evidence by category (written accounts, surviving examples, imagery) so that the reader is in the same position as the author.

I always prefer authors that are heavy on presenting evidence and light on drawing conclusions, rather than the other way round.

BTW I don't think you can point to a certain point in time and say "before this time the kilt didn't exist, and after this time it did." In my opinion there was a period of unknown length in the Highlands during which the mantle was an undifferentiated garment which at the wearer's whim could be thrown over the shoulder like a cloak (the brat of old Ireland) or wrapped around the waist (a proto-great kilt).

Just why the fashion began of wrapping the mantle around the waist in the Highlands, and not in Ireland, who can say.

I've often wondered that myself; could it have been a climate difference or outside influence?