Backpacking In A Belted Plaid - A Question Revisited

[Sir Didymous]

Gee, an old Scout Commissioner here... I thought the reason people stopped doing one thing and did something new was because the new thing worked better than the old - more comfortable, easier, healthier, safer...!

I don't know about that. I've found that a lot of things simply fade from use due to lack of necessity. Modern convenience has a tendancy to change our clothing styles. Look at driving clothing. With the advent of windshields and enclosed cabs, specialized driving clothing went away. Modern coat fashions tend also to be result of things like heated vehicles and the fact that we as people spend little time in places without some form of climate control. I wear my full length black medieval cloak as part of my hiking attire. It serves as a blanket and in some cases a make-shift shelter, plus just a general top layer garment. That's not to say that all old clothing and what have you are superior to modern in terms of roughing it, but I can see where he is going with this. Since the kilt I use the most is a great kilt, I'm interested in his findings.