Velcro or Buckles?

[Spartan Tartan]

Buckles and I prefer two. Although I do have kilts with 3.

That said, for quick and casual comfort, I can see why people would be drawn to velcro. I would imagine they can also be adjusted over a more varied range of waist sizes.

Certainly my personal preference for buckles is not a judgement against any other means of securing your kilt. In fact, I have heard of those that have absolutely no closure whatsoever and rely exclusively on their belt to keep their kilt up. Again, not my preference but I find it fascinating.

[tundramanq]

Velcro can't be beat for speed, comfort and the simple ease of use. It leaves less bulk on the sides of your waist making a smoother fit for the jacket or vest. And more comfort if wearing a belt.

But this is like the zipper in pants though. some still prefer the old button fly.

[Benning Boy]

I like the idea of velco on the left, and a strap and buckle on the right. Kilts, like the USAKilts casual kilt, that close only with velcro, have a small problem. If you gain weight, and, and don't wrap the aprons as far around when closed, then some of the velcro on the right is exposed. The more weigh, the more the velco. Conversely, if you loose weight and tighten the kilt past it's nominal size, the right hand edge extends beyond the velcro patch and sort of sticks out into space, which seems to me an invitation to a prankster to rip your kilt off. Of course, wearing such a kilt with a belt solves that problem.


There aren't any issues using velcro on p/v kilts that I know of. On wool, velcro can chew up the fabric over time. I'm thinking of putting velcro on the left side of the wool tartan kilt I've been struggling to complete. But, I think I will sew in a bit of a lining to shield the wool from the velcro.

I prefer two straps on my kilts. The third serves no real purpose as far as I'm concerned, and when you consider the history of the third strap, as mentioned here on Xmarks, it seems an unnecessary vestige of a bygone time. On the other hand, if you're paunchy and proud of it, a third strap lets you display your proportions to the fullest. Which is another reason why I prefer two straps, I'm not one of the Say It Loud! I'm Portly and I'm Proud! crowd. I like to minimize the cantileveredness of me.

Usually the left strap sewn to the under apron of a a kilt is passed through a slit, or button hole, in the over apron and buckled on the outside. An alternative is to eliminate the slit, sew the strap to the over apron, on the left, and to place the buckle on the under apron, so no strap or buckle shows on the left. This simplifies the construction a bit. For me, it makes it easier to put the kilt on. If yor're going to do a kilt that way, why not just eliminate the left strap and buckle altogether and use velcro for its convenience, since the left side fasting isn't going to show anyway.

[sbevans]

I have two with 3 buckles, one with 2 buckles, and 1 with Velcro. I don't really have an opinion for which I like the best.

[mookien]

Overall I prefer buckles, but you can't beat the infinite adjustability of the Velcro closure. It works much like a Wilderness Tactical belt (or others like it).

If you sit down with buckles, you have to suck your gut in a bit (well, at least I do), while you're sitting. With a quick loosening and lengthening of the Velcro closure, you gain a much more comfortable fit and sit. Just remember to tighten it a bit before you get up again. Nothing says "uh oh" better than a kilt around your ankles.

[WillowEstate]

Buckles only - I don't have faith in velcro on a heavy kilt, especially after some use and it loses its "hookiness". Ex military kilt, 22 ounce, two buckles, right side only, the friction of the heavy cloth holds the inner apron just fine with no other assistance. Other kilts all with three buckles. Actually, I prefer the military arrangement. Y.M.M.V.

[ratspike]

Buckles only - I don't have faith in velcro on a heavy kilt, especially after some use and it loses its "hookiness". Ex military kilt, 22 ounce, two buckles, right side only, the friction of the heavy cloth holds the inner apron just fine with no other assistance. Other kilts all with three buckles. Actually, I prefer the military arrangement. Y.M.M.V.

Interesting that it only has two buckles, and both on the right. Did you remove the left side buckle or is this how the kilt was when you got it? I prefer my kilts this way as well and find even poly and nylon cotton blend fabrics hold themselves together on the left just fine.

[Tartan Hiker]

Like some others here I use Velcro on the left side and a leather strap on the right side. On really light kilts (4-yd box pleats) I just sew on two velcro tabs. Oh heavier kilts (6-7 yd) I sew a nylon belt keeper to the left inside of the kilt, then put a 2" cinch strap made of nylon webbing with velcro on the edge of the underapron. The strap threads through the keeper then back over onto itself to engage the velcro. Much more dependable than velcro alone.
On my poly/cotton, and even my wool hiking kilts, its just velcro tabs left and right. I don't want any hardware under my pack belt.

[ratspike]

Certainly my personal preference for buckles is not a judgement against any other means of securing your kilt. In fact, I have heard of those that have absolutely no closure whatsoever and rely exclusively on their belt to keep their kilt up. Again, not my preference but I find it fascinating.

I have five or six kilts made this way, no straps or buckles or anything. It's super comfortable and only takes a few seconds to thread a belt through the belt loops. Two thumbs up from me.

[OC Richard]

As Benning Boy alludes to, Velcro doesn't "play well" with wool.

I've noticed this when I've worn my handknit wool scarf with a jacket that has a Velcro tab on one side of the collar: the Velcro grabs at the wool and starts pulling off the wool in little tufts. So I keep wool with wool, and wear the scarf with a Harris Tweed blazer.

Likewise I had some garter flashes that had Velcro and sometimes while I was putting on or taking off the garters the Velcro would attach itself to the hose. One time the Velcro really grabbed onto my new $200 tartan full hose and I had to very carefully disengage it. Since then I've only worn garters with a hook-type fastening.

So, I keep Velcro away from my Highland Dress. Tightly woven modern nylon and cotton clothes don't give the Velcro anything to grab onto, so no problems there.

My kilts have two straps & buckles, one to each side. The third strap & buckle only seem to prevent the kilt from hanging well on that side.

I hardly ever wear a dirk belt, and when I do it's for looks. Traditional kilts stay up just fine with no belt.