The Effects of Kilt Yardage on Body Heat Loss

[Tartan Hiker]

Procedure (cont'd). By observing the real-time readings of the LabQuest unit it quickly became apparent that even the slightest breeze was significantly affecting the temperature within the kilt. After trying several different locations, I finally settled on standing in my semi-enclosed firewood shed to shield my body from the breeze. Since the shed is an enclosed space of approximately three meters by four meters, and has half-walls on three sides, not to mention the thermal inertia exerted by several thousand pounds of firewood, I judged as negligible the affect of my body heat on the temperature of the ambient air within the shed.
I next discovered that five minutes was not a sufficient acclimation period. By extending this acclimation period to ten minutes the temperature changes occurring within the kilt slowed to an insignificant rate, and data collection could commence. After activating the LabQuest unit I stood perfectly still for exactly ten minutes as determined by the timer display on the LabQuest unit. At the end of this ten minute period I began to walk at average walking speed; not a quick march but fast enough to illicit a decent swish. Not wishing the local constabulary to be summoned to check out “the guy walking around in the dark with a kilt and a stick protruding from his head”, I walked up and down my driveway (a distance of approximately 25 meters). I walked for exactly five minutes in this manner (operating under the assumption that five minutes of muscular exertion would not significantly increase my body temperature), then ended data collection and stored the data in the LabQuest’s memory. With all possible haste, resisting the temptation to warm myself by the cheerfully glowing wood stove, I swapped kilts and returned to the outdoors, where the procedure was repeated with the four-yard kilt, then with the poly/cotton kilt.

Results. All raw data collected during the study are presented in graphic form in figures 6, 7, and 8. Table 1 contains a summary of the data as well as analytical data derived from the raw temperature readings. In all three graphs, rear temperatures are in red, front temperatures are in blue, and ambient temperatures are in green.

Figure 6. 8-yard kilt data.


Figure 7. 4-yard kilt data.


Figure 8. Poly/cotton kilt data.


Table 1. Derived data.
(* all temperatures in this table are expressed in Centigrade degrees above ambient temperature)
(** final rear temperatures were calculated by averaging the five temperatures collected in the last 1.25 minutes of the walking period.)
(*** total temperature loss was calculated by subtracting final walking temperature from average standing temperature)
(**** per cent temperature loss was calculated by dividing total temperature loss by average standing temperature)