Quote Originally Posted by shrednwail View Post
Well, I'm considering buying a Utilikilt as a hiking/backpacking/outdoors garment. How many guys here actually have hiked or camped in a kilt?...
I made my first kilt (cotton) in 2002 specifically for hiking/backpacking/outdoors activities. Since then I only go kilted in the great outdoors (poly/cotton.) Winter camping? Wool only, kilt and hose. Incidentally, I always carry a kilt on my bike rides for off-bike time.

My last backpack trip was three days in the Tetons in Wyoming, wearing a poly/cotton USMC MARPAT kilt. During the hiking day it was warm enough to cause the sweat to drip down the inside of the legs; on breaks and in camp it was fine. On the ridges the kilt was light enough to blow up in the updrafts, but with the nylon sporran in front and holding the hiking stick horizontally behind, exposure was minimal. Bugs never seemed to be a problem - but then, after a day or two one develops a sixth sense regarding their whereabouts. We carry ponchos for rain.

The only problem I had was the breezy, cold evenings and mornings in camp, especially trying to cook the dinner or heat up a breakfast. Because hiking socks leave the lower legs bare, my totally unfashionable - but pragmatic - fix was to wear a pair of long polypropylene bottoms along with the kilt. Other overnight trips at lower elevations presented no such problem.

Wearing a wool kilt on such trips would be nice, but the cost of such a thing prohibits most folks from even thinking such a thing. However, inexpensive used wool kilts from auction sites, or homemade kilts using decent wool fabric, could be a good bet.

The one outdoor problem that needs solving, kilted or not, is finding a decent place and way to sit down - kilted just makes it a little more interesting sometimes. Natural objects like logs, rocks, tree roots, the ground, etc. all present hazards to one's clothing and anatomy. IMHO, the only sure-fire solution is the lightweight, foldable camp stool.

w2f (a happy camper)