First off, welcome to the addiction!

Now, I don't want to muddy the waters even further, but I think that the SWK site is pretty accurate in terms of explaining their sizing. I have 4 SWK's, a standard Nightstalker, a HW Shadow tartan, and a Weathered Lamont HW all in 40", and a solid green in a 42". Now I am curently a 42" waist, and probably was when I ordered the 3 smaller ones. I can wear all of these kilts, the smaller ones at the last hole, and the larger one at the tightest hole, or maybe one out. So it seems to me that the sizing is pretty consistent. Possibly others have different experiences based on where they are wearing them (SWK's only come in one lenght, so it can vary by the person), or people are not using a tailor's tape or possibly not being acurate in measuring.

Just my experience. If you are looking for something in a diferent material for more rugged use, a UK is probably the first option that comes to mind, but FK and RKilts both offer non-wool options.