Weathering

[Doc Hudson]

This raises a question I've been considering. As many of you know, I plan on hiking the Pacific Crest Trail next summer (2006), which begins at the Mexican border in California. It traverses the desert in southern CA, then the Mojave Desert, before it gets to the high Sierra. Having never worn a kilt in the desert before, what's the "grit factor" on kicked-up dust getting under the kilt? I'll certainly be sweating, and wearing Body Glide, and I'd hate for the dust to get caked onto sensitive bits.

Andrew.

I have a solution. It is called underwear. Pack a couple of six-pack packages. Wear 'em and discard them when dirty. And if you don't need them for grit, they might be handy as wash clothes, or for sleep wear when sharing a campsite with strangers.

[Rob Wright]

How about heat? I know a few people have mentioned that with living in Tucson - things could get a little hot in a 16oz. Of course we don't have the humidity here.

Some however has disagreed.

??

It depends, how much are you going to be outside in the heat? The more layers, the more heat, i.e. shirt, kilt belt, also heavy kilt hose is extremely hot in the summer. Also when a monsoonal downpour hits and the humdity spikes you will notice, believe me.

Rob Wright

[Andrew Breecher]

Is this the same route that Colin Fletcher took in his book "The Thousand Mile Summer"?

Not quite - the PCT doesn't go through Death Valley. In that book, Colin Fletcher only hiked in CA - the PCT also goes through Oregon and Washington, to end in Manning Provicial Park, British Columbia.

I have a solution. It is called underwear. Pack a couple of six-pack packages. Wear 'em and discard them when dirty. And if you don't need them for grit, they might be handy as wash clothes, or for sleep wear when sharing a campsite with strangers.

Regular underwear would be a kiss of death, as the cotton would stay wet (with sweat or rain) and chaff badly. I do have a pair of silkweight Capaline boxer shorts that I carried for the last 700 miles of the Appalachian Trail, to sleep and swim in. I'll probably carry them again, but don't want to wear them (or anything!) while hiking. What's the point of wearing a kilt for freedom if you're going to wear something under it that simulates wearing pants?

I guess my question isn't "Will there be a problem?" but "How bad will it be?"

Andrew.

[Riverkilt]

Not sure where the trail goes Andrew, but my sense is you're more likely to have sand than dust...but there is that sort of powedery stuff too.

The only time I've had a problem with stuff going "up" is when I wear my Z-Coil hiking boots without the enclosed heel. The paddle tends to flip sand up when I walk, but its not an up problem as much as it is sand falling down into my boot tops.

I think there's sort of a heat driven pressure pocket under the kilt...never had a bug or a bee get loose under there...

Imagine telling the officer you weren't a flasher, just letting the bee out....

Ron

[M. A. C. Newsome]

AS for cleaning Buzz Kidder canvas kilts, I've never done it myself, but I have asked Buzz about it, and this is what he says.

He has thrown his kilts in the washer with no ill effect whatsoever, and he used to tell his cusomters that this was ok to do.

Then he had one guy return a kilt to him that had somehow gotten all splotchy (like someone spilled bleach on it). According to the customer, all he did was wash it like Buzz said, and it was ruined. So Buzz had to replace the kilt.

After that incident, Buzz has been telling his cusomters to dry clean their kilts, if they need it, just to be safe.

Again, this is what Buzz told me once... I haven't tried cleaning any canvas kilt myself with any method.

Matt

[MACKAY]

He has thrown his kilts in the washer with no ill effect whatsoever, and he used to tell his cusomters that this was ok to do.

Then he had one guy return a kilt to him that had somehow gotten all splotchy (like someone spilled bleach on it). According to the customer, all he did was wash it like Buzz said, and it was ruined. So Buzz had to replace the kilt.

I have a UK Workmans that gets washed quite a bit. I actually wear this one when I am doing my "Honey Do" list and usually end up with saw dust, plaster, animal hair, dirt, moss, etc... on the darn thing on a regular basis. After seeking advice from UK, reading the washing label, and finally conversing with other UKL Workman’s owners, I have some advice.

1) BEFORE WASHING ... run the washer with nothing but water ... no clothes, no detergent, no fabric softener, etc. This gets out any left over bleach, sediment, and detergent residue ... this is VERY important especially if you recently ran the washer for a normal load.

2) Wash your kilt alone! DO NOT ADD OTHER ITEMS TO THE WASH.

3) Use ONLY cold water! No exceptions!

4) NO BLEACH! I have used a 'color fast' spot remover without problems, BUT I SUGGEST YOU TEST FIRST!!!

5) I personally put a SMALL amount of liquid detergent in the wash, unscented of course!

6) On the rinse cycle, make sure you use an unscented fabric softener. I use the same amount you would normally use for a full load.

7) Remove your kilt from the wash AS SOON AS IT STOPS! Snap it out a few times, smooth out the wrinkles (if any), press the pleats with your fingers (like you are closing a zip lock bag) and line dry or put on a sweater rack for drying. NO DRYER NEEDED!!!


Your kilt will come out great and maintain its shape and color for may years this way. My UK is starting to show some very light 'highlighted' fading on the edges of the pleat, etc, but that is because I of my washer and the fact that I have a well with very hard water.

Hope this helps!

Brian Mackay
'Manu Forti'

[Mr. Kilt]

Thanks Matt & Brian for the washing info. I ran my BK through a cold wash yesterday and hung it up to dry. I have to go check it this morning to see how it turned out.