Who's wearing an Elkommando, Sport Kilt hiker, or similar lightweight kilt?

[rlh2]

I have the Elkommando kilt and wear it around the house a great deal. It's perfect for laying around. I have yet to put it through the paces outdoors, but with summer almost here, it won't be long.

[ratspike]

It's kinda funny, even though he's very much into the ultralight thing and knows why cotton isn't always the best choice, there's a camouflage pattern made by Kryptek that he really likes. Supplex was the first thing that came to mind when he and I were chatting about what he's planned to do in his kilt, but he's really digging the camo. It's not going to be strictly a backpacking kilt either, so I'm sure that's a consideration as well.

I've made a few other kilts for backpackers and those guys felt that nyco was a solid compromise - not too light but not too heavy, comfortable in the heat, enough nylon to dry reasonably quickly. The last one I sent out was about 56" in the hips and came in at 39.1oz with pockets attached, 31.5oz without.

I'm not sure whether he'll end up going with Supplex but I think I'll get some fabric to make up a test kilt anyway. Whether there's a market for it I'm not sure, with choices like the Elk being so inexpensive, but if nothing else it'd make a nice addition to my closet.

[brewerpaul]

The comments about the waistband and belts interfering with packs is great. We talked quite a bit about fit, and he's happy with his UK in that respect, but I'll make sure that we cover this specifically. Velcro is definitely my go-to for waist fastening, because velcro is rad.

Brewerpaul, Rockywoods is fab. I get my Multicam and some hardware bits from them. What kind of nylon did you use for that running kilt? I'm assuming something along the lines of Supplex/Taslan?

.

It was a nylon quick dry fabric I found on fabric.com three years ago so the specifics of it I no longer have. It is the weight and feel of most any light weight nylon used in pants or shorts made by Mountain Hardwear and others.

[Kiltedingeorgia]

This is me in a Sportkilt that I bought for St Patties day this year but forgot to wear it that day. So I decided to break it in on a bike trail over Memorial Day weekend. As I have several kilts I wear on a daily basis. Only wish I had the shirt off or tucked in to show the Sport kilt logo..

[Alan H]

I hike in a plain old kinguisse style knife pleat made out of cotton-poly camouflage stuff from Joannes fabric. Works great and the stuff is super inexpensive.

I suggest thinking about the kinguisse pleating style for a backpacking kilt. There's a serious "positive" to the notion of having the pleats pointing to the back on both sides of the kilt.

My kilt is about 4 1/2 yards of material and has about 18, maybe 20 pleats. If weight is a serious issue, just use a yard less...3 1/2 yards. If you get 6-8 pleats on each side for a total of 14-16 pleats, then it'll look fine, IMHO.

[ratspike]

After talking with him some more he's 110% set on waiting for the Kryptek fabric to become available again, so that solves that. I, on the other hand, have 6 yards of brownish khaki Supplex and some microfiber for a lining that's waiting to get sewn up.

I love Kingussie/RevK pleating, but that center back pleat getting pulled off center bugs me aesthetically. I only build in about 1.5" on either side of the waist measurement though, so maybe I'm just overthinking it. I agree 100% on rear facing pleats and crashing through the brush. Or navigating a crowded workspace.

[FinnKilt]

Got my first Elkommando in 2012 for the closing section of the Camino de Santiago in late October (rainy season – well, it's always rainy season in Galicia).



Walked in torrential rain for 2 hours to test it out in comparison with my GoreTex jacket: the Elkommando was damp round the hem when the GoreTex was already leaking, and was bonedry within half an hour vs several hours for the jacket. Supercomfortable in chilly wet as well as in scorching hot dry weather. Have worn it ever since for hiking, including 100 km TransPennine Challenge at midsummer 2013



and most recently Hadrian's Wall end to end two weeks ago; and have just ordered a 2nd one. Can easily be re-proofed with NikWax, as it loses some of its waterproofing after repeated washes. I also (like other thread contributors) wear it simply as a supercomfortable garment (as it happens, right now, since it's a hot day). BUT since I use a leather belt to carry my phonepouch I got a seamstress to take a strip off the left edge of the underapron and make beltloops all the way round – it comes with just one, oddly, at front left.

[James Hood]

Reading / keying this thread in 5.11 Tactical Duty Kilt in Tundra.

Solid fan of the design, especially the fabric and pockets, despite the truly weird box pleats and narrow apron. The "modesty snap" does work well for preventing fly-up in most circumstances.

One can only imagine the referenced fans' effects on ladies in lightweight skirts and dresses.