What does your kilts weigh in at ?

[MacGumerait]

Pounds head

So true .

[Tobus]

Hmmm, I am thinking my scale must not be accurate, since my 4.2 lbs makes it so much heavier than yours. On the plus side, if the scale is wrong, maybe Idon't weigh as much as I thought so I don't need to lose as much! A good side to everything!

Just for the sake of apples-to-apples comparison (and to save others the conversion math), my kilt weights convert to 3.23 lbs., 3.56 lbs., and 3.42 lbs., respectively.

I weighed mine on a food-grade kitchen scale by setting a lightweight canister on there and zeroing out the "tare", then folding the kilts and placing them on top of the can so that there was no danger of fabric draping over onto the countertop and not being counted as weight. As far as I can tell, it should be accurate. But indeed I was surprised that they weren't heavier. They feel heavier than that when I pick them up.

It does make sense, though. With about 3 pounds of tartan fabric, there's about another half-pound worth of stabilizer, interfacing, lining, straps, and buckles. Of course, the math for the tartan fabric alone would be impossible to determine, considering the cut-outs from the pleats at the fell area.

What really surprised me, though, is that my heaviest kilt was the DC Dalgliesh one. Their fabric is supposedly only 15 oz, not a true 16 oz. And while I love the feel of their fabric, it does feel lighter than Lochcarron Strome as well as the military cloth. But it's the heaviest kilt! I suppose this is due to the fact that the brass buckles on my Tewksbury kilt are fairly substantial. I really expected this kilt to be the lightest, and the military kilt to be the heaviest. The military kilt just feels like a beast, because the cloth is thicker and the military box-pleats make it feel more substantial. It's also a taller kilt, which means more yardage of heavier cloth. But the buckles are very small and light compared to my civilian kilts.

Unless there's something obvious I'm missing here, I'm going to have to conclude that for full-yardage woollen kilts, the cloth weight is less important to overall weight than the size/weight of the buckles.

[tundramanq]

The custom nature of individual, made to measure kilts makes the hip size variations a big factor in weight. A 1.5 inch increase means about 1 more pleat which depending on type of pleating and tartan. It can add 4 to 8 inches of cloth per pleat.
We can toss in the variations in under apron pleats depth and number just to make it even more entertaining..

[Norbo]

This has turned out be very informative as well as very interesting the heaviest kilts ive been told about are the ex army large sized ones coming in at 2.50 KG and 1 at 2.25 KG . It seems most Kilts are coming in under this at less then 2 kg on average. Im learning a lot on this post im glad I started it.

If you have not been looking for a kilt before like me you do of course start on E-Bay and use the terms that they use to describe kilts as that's all you have seen. what you are told by the people who are selling the kilts is what you believe to be correct as well not being told anything to the contrary. So this topic has told me a lot that I didn't know.

[tundramanq]

I added the Kg masses in my original post.
I was raised with pounds/ounces, I worked 24 years using metric weights mostly in the sub gram range before retirement. I still have absolutely no "feel" for the heft of a Kilogram. Old dogs and tricks?

[Grizzled Ian]

Ok, I just weighed 3 of my heavier kilts.

My 8 yard 16 oz kilt of Lochcarron Strome . . .
My Tewksbury 8 yard 15 oz kilt of DC Dalgliesh . . .
My MOD QOH kilt (8 yards) . . .

Just to be sure, Tobus, have you measured around the hem of each of these three kilts, and each is exactly 288"? Or is '8 yards' merely part of the product description?

If you do need to measure, you may find that it is pretty darned difficult to run a tape measure. Here's what I do. Hang the kilt up somewhere you can walk all the way round it (eg, doorway, clothes-line, tree); count the number of sett repeats around the hem; multiply by the width of one sett; then add in the part-setts at the ends. After that, you can do the calculation that Steve describes above.

[Norbo]

well finely got my first kilt and even after I was told it was a 2.5 kg one it came in at 1.65 kg but im still quight happy with it %100 wool and feels nice on and doesn't fly up at all . witch is what I was worried about with the lighter kilts. Frome reading this thread I don't think what I have is over light its about normal . It doesn't have any info on it so I don't know what oz it is or the yard

[Tobus]

Just to be sure, Tobus, have you measured around the hem of each of these three kilts, and each is exactly 288"? Or is '8 yards' merely part of the product description?

Oops, sorry, I must have missed this reply.

I have only checked the yardage on one of the kilts I weighed (I did this when I first got it back in 2010). The one made from Lochcarron Strome tartan actually measured 7.91 yards (23'-9"). I measured it by actually flipping open each pleat and putting a cloth tape measure along it, measuring continuously from the end of the inner apron to the end of the outer apron. So when I say "8 yard", I'm talking nominal length. As I'm sure everyone knows, there probably isn't a kilt out there that uses exactly 8 yards. It all comes down to the sett size, the wearer's hip measurements, and the number of pleats one can squeeze into it while still getting the kilt to come out looking right.

But your point is well taken. Actual weight comparisons aren't worth much without knowing the actual length and height. One of these days when I'm really bored and have nothing else to do, I may measure the true length of my other kilts.

[Norbo]

ill have to get the tape out on my one then and may be some one can work out what the Oz would be