A collection of backpaking/hiking kilt blogs/site etc. and "rain kilts"

[ratspike]

The way the ultralight crowd interprets "kilt" is interesting for sure. These three are new ones to me. While definitely not kilts, I think the rain kilts are both pretty brilliant and definitely a very practical thing to have along. Wet clothes are no fun at all, regardless of the fabric they're made out of, so I give rain kilts two big thumbs up.

The Jkilt...I dunno. It's got an apron and some pleats but those side panels kill it for me. They don't list a weight but I can't imagine it beats the SportKilt hiker, a claimed 330 grams, by a meaningful amount.

I am not an ultralight backpacker so my $0.02 should be taken for exactly what it's worth. I get the need for reducing weight but a kilt is what it is. It's going to have a bunch of fabric in it because it just does. I'm not one for drawing too many lines in the sand regarding what a kilt is and isn't based on what it looks like, but I do think that a kilt has to have an apron in the front, and everything else is pleats. Those pleats can be big ones, like the El Kommando or TDK, or they can be little ones. Too much re-engineering of that basic design and, IMO, you have something that's less kilt and more skirt.

For the record, I have no problems with men wearing skirts! Skirts are comfortable and wonderful and can look great on dudes. Like it or not, a kilt is a skirt too. Embrace the fabulous!

Anyway, I'd think that if weight was the primary concern then a simple skirt would be a better choice. I know there are one or two commercially available products but I can't remember the names. The designs were really basic, no pleats or anything, and I'm not sure if the ones I saw were even wraps.

I'm really curious about the market for a hiking kilt that's made like a proper kilt, but it could be a really tough sell when SportKilt and Mountain Hardware are already delivering products at a pretty sweet price point.