Gardening in a Kilt (Buzz Kidder Canvas)

**string** · 25th January 08, 06:51 AM

Originally Posted by Ted Crocker

Also, um... it's easier to take the kilt off than the overalls... either of which come off usually when I come in from working in the garden.

Suddenly, I don't want to come visit the sunshine and pineapples anymore, even if it is 5F outside.

**Bugbear** · 25th January 08, 08:19 AM

Originally Posted by string

Suddenly, I don't want to come visit the sunshine and pineapples anymore, even if it is 5F outside.

Sorry String... I keep editing this post because I keep thinking of ways it could be misread. Just think of your time in Costa Rica, String, and you'll be fine.

**way2fractious** · 24th January 08, 06:27 PM

Originally Posted by Chef

The kilt is a garment but it is not practical for everything.

Agreed, but the exceptions are relatively few.

Originally Posted by Chef

There is no practical reason to wear a kilt to garden over jeans.

Disagree. With the constant stooping, kneeling, stretching, etc., the kilt gives immeasurable freedom of movement as opposed to jeans. As mentioned earlier, either knee pads or the kneeling pad are needed for ground work.

{The Tale of Two Trees} Aerial work requires preplanning, however. Climbing and pruning a fruitless mulberry tree presented no problems with its relatively small branches. On the other hand, the enormous, old elm tree is going to require a climbing harness and something to protect the valuables when straddling and scooching along the very rough limbs.

Originally Posted by Chef

Given that the kilt you are wearing would by a half-dozen pairs of jeans I don't see the point other than to say you did it.

From Buzz Kidder's website:

Buzz Kidder's Celtic Shoppe offers ... Casual Canvas Kilts from $112 with FREE SHIPPING

Other than the fact that someone else sewed the kilt (making it cost a bit more), canvas kilts are low-cost, low-maintenance, and low-worry for gardening and other greasy, grimy, gopher-hunting activities. My homemade canvas kilts are hard-wearing and see plenty of dirty labor before being tossed into the washing machine.

O.K.! - one doesn't normally touch up their blue denims with a steam iron before the next go-round - but neither do jeans have the élan a kilt has, IMHO.

w2f

**Bugbear** · 26th February 08, 10:51 PM

Originally Posted by Chef

Hi Ted, I don't mean to offend but why bother? There is no practical reason to wear a kilt to garden over jeans. In fact as you pointed out there are things you don't want to do in a kilt while in the garden. Given that the kilt you are wearing would by a half-dozen pairs of jeans I don't see the point other than to say you did it. The kilt is a garment but it is not practical for everything.

Ok Chef.

**Bugbear** · 24th January 08, 06:46 PM

Out here, we have these little ants that all swarm up your leg, wait a little bit, then start stinging. It's a lot easier to get them off your legs when your wearing a kilt than pants. They don't seem to crawl down into socks or hose...

Also, I use knee protection whether I'm in a kilt or pants. A big part of my garden is made of cacti and those types of plants.

I live in the brier patch, te he.

**Keith A** · 25th January 08, 04:47 AM

Wearing a kilt helps you to learn to lift with your legs not your back, thats for shore.

**Bugbear** · 25th January 08, 09:01 AM

Originally Posted by keith A.

Wearing a kilt helps you to learn to lift with your legs not your back, thats for shore.

I've noticed that too.

Bending at your knees and keeping your back strait does make a difference. I'm sure people who are against gardening in a kilt would point out that you can stop bending down from your hips and so on while wearing pants. I'm really not sure what the problem with kilted gardening is, but most of my life is tied up with my work in the garden, and I might only wear a kilt once or twice a month when going in town to the store if I wern't wearing it around the house and so on.... I'll try to stick to my own realm of kilt wearing and stay on my own turf, so to speak. I know I don't belong out there with the PC jackets and checked hose posts and threads.

**Bugbear** · 25th January 08, 03:30 PM

Just to experiment a little, I switched back to wearing pants while gardening today. Noticed that I have to keep adjusting my pants upward a little. Overalls take care of that problem though. There are the other comfort issues with pants too, so I'll probably go back to gardening in a kilt part of the time. Guess if I had the skill, I would make a gardening kilt. I don't have those skills, so the Buzz Kidder works just fine for me.

**Graham** · 25th January 08, 04:02 PM

Every kind or work can be done in a kilt, I garden, cut wood with a chainsaw, build things...all kilted.

If a kilt is more comfortable than jeans (and it is) then that is reason enough to do everything kilted.

Picking the right kilt is the key, I "cycle" my kilts as I did jeans, ie. as kilts get older I wear them for dirtier jobs.

Usually I wear my oldest hemp RKilt or a USA Kilt PV casual.

**Bugbear** · 25th January 08, 04:10 PM

Thanks for adding that, Graham . I was just thinking about the parts of the jeans that wear out too. The pockets usually tear and the bottums of the legs wear out on mine. Also the inseam splits some times. Kilts don't really have those parts. Also, Graham, I do think the USAK casual would be a very good kilt for the work I'm doing. I don't have one yet, but I have thought to myself that it would be very good to have the velcro closure as I am putting it on and taking it off. Sorry String, to bring that up again, but...

As far as any other gardeners, I don't care if people wear kilts or pants or what ever to garden in because I wear other things as well. This is about the kilt though. I'm just sharing what I've noticed as I garden in a kilt as aposed to pants or overalls. I also work with ceramics, and those clothes are usually my gardening clothes too, so I will just have to set aside and use one kilt for those things.