What can I say...

I haven't had it long. I should have had it Saturday and I could write more about the test run.

First off, and I noticed this lugging the package around, it is HEAVY. The belt and sporran add to that... But no belt and no sporran, the kilt all by it self is heavier than my Stillwater Blackwatch heavyweight. The first gen SWKHW. 13 ounce acrylic. I held them both in my hands and let my hands do what they do... And the RKilt was considerably heavier. I don't think it will compare to a 16 or 20 ounce tank, but dang. The RKilt is a monster.

The fabric... I let my fingers do the seeing here, because they are better than my eyes for almost everything. The fabric is thicker between thumb and finger than any other kilt I have. It is also a bit coarse... Which is to be expected. I'd be sorely disapointed if I bought a hemp kilt and it was soft and silky. It is also has stiff as a board. I have to chop the apron to get it to settle between my knees when I sit. So stiff that it will hold up a full sporran sitting in my lap. So stiff that when I turned sharply and the pleats slapped against the elevator door, there was an audible "THUMP!" that echoed up the elevator shaft. The leather is just about the best leatherwork I have ever let my fingers feel. It was VERY difficult to put on. The leather straps feel like they must be thicker than two quarters. The roller buckles help. This is not a bad thing... I am used to the softer thinner SWK buckles. Robert included sporran hanger straps because of my substance... And I had my doubts at first if my sporran would hang where I like it. I don't know HOW he did it, but he did it. The sporran hangs "just right." It is not slapping me in painful places when I walk, and rests against the bottom of my stomach, just like my other sporran I have to put on with a strap. Robert also must have been paying attention to my problems, because there is a HUGE amount of expansion in this kilt, which is great. I can go from a size 44 to a size 48 in just a few hours, and then go back down. Some days, IBS is just obnoxious to live with.

The pleats do not pucker up from my bow legged stance! This amazed me. They flare out beautifuly, er, well, they are a little stiff right now, but I know in time they will do what pleats were born to do.

Public reaction, what little there has been so far, has been mostly suprise. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!' was just one of the exclaimations made tonight. "It is SO black!"

Going outside was educational. It is friggin cold outside, and WINDY. Probably because it is so danged stiff, but it didn't budge in the wind. My wife noticed too. My pleats rippled a little bit, but that was it. She was disapointed. She was hoping for more. And the cold? HAH! The hemp was even warmer than the SWKHV that I wear through the winter. The wind around me howled because it knew what lurked beneath the kilt, but could not show the world. I did learn one thing... Hemp is very abrasive. In the wind, with the apron pressed against my legs, the rub was just a little painful on my skin. This will sort it self out in time after it softens.

I think the dog likes it too. She keeps sniffing it, licking it, snotting on it, and when I finally took it off and laid it on the bed, before I could stop her, she jumped on top of it and rolled all over it and then sneezed a whole bunch.

I will write more later, I promise. Need a few days to really wear it around.