Anyone tried a Scottish Lion Canvas Kilt?

[Ugly Bear]

I'm giving serious thought to buying one of these:

http://www.scottishlion.com/canvaskilt.html

These remind me of Buzz Kidder kilts, but I can't be sure. If anyone's tried one of these (BKK or otherwise), tell me what you think. Else, I'll have to buy one and review it here.

[Kiltedmusiclover]

I like the looks of that kilt.

[arrogcow]

I'm fairly sure these are Buzz kidder kilts (Same colors, same stantard size, even the little description paragraph is almost the same) in which case buy then from Buzz's site they are cheaper http://www.buzzkidder.citymax.com/page/page/510432.htm . Buzz's kilts are sold by several kilt companies around the country.

Adam

[highlandtide]

I have a lot of problems with Scottish Lion. I talked to them on the phone once and the lady was being rude so I asked to speak to the manager and she said she was the owner. I wouldn't deal with them.

I would also bet a t-bone steak (or a veggie haggis) that those are Buzz Kidder kilts.

[Mychael Sporrano]

I have a lot of problems with Scottish Lion. I talked to them on the phone once and the lady was being rude so I asked to speak to the manager and she said she was the owner. I wouldn't deal with them.

I would also bet a t-bone steak (or a veggie haggis) that those are Buzz Kidder kilts.

Interesting... My first foray into the world of retail Highland gear was with the Scottish Lion. They have a nice color catalogue complete with a relatively comprehensive Tartan Finder. It really caught my eye and was very helpful to a beginner. After doing my research and figuring out what I needed or desired, I really wanted to throw some business their way. However, correspondence via email was not especially good. Some emails were not answered, and a few answers that I received seemed somehow terse to me. I even called a few times with questions, with mixed results there with the person on the other end sometimes friendly, but not always very knowledgeable. I also recall a reluctance to go out of their way to accomodate anything custom.

More recently, I have noticed that their prices are typically higher than those from other sources for the same merchandise [or at least what looks to me as being the same merchandise], sometimes substantially so. Since I have been shopping for a black sporran, these examples come to mind:

http://www.scottishlion.com/etknotspor.html [$350]
http://www.scottishquality.com/catal...=41&anchor=323 [$173]

http://www.scottishlion.com/braspinlocan.html [$199]
http://www.scottishquality.com/catal...ID=41&offset=6 [$111]

http://www.scottishlion.com/pouchsporran.html [$250]
http://bytheswordinc.com/acatalog/Wi..._Scotland.html [$68]

There have been other examples of this, so I am wary about ordering things other than hose and belts, really. YMMV

Mychael

[Riverkilt]

Me too guys. I like the Scottish Lion catalog, but not their service.

I first dealt with them a few years ago ordering Scottish heritage books for my nephews for Christmas..ordered in plenty of time, but the books finally drifted in next spring...lost all the impact...they sort of dribbled.

My calls to follow up were met with attitude, sort of an indignance that I would have expected better service...

They put out a LOT of catalogs...I get them regularly and in pairs...have called, but they seem unable or uninterested in just sending me one.

But over all, I still remember that attitude and choose to read their catalog while riding my "white horse" but don't order from them anymore.

Saw they sell our kilt book, but don't know if they stock it...was going to order, then remembered my half year shipping delay for my nephew's books and decided to scout around for a better source.

My guess is their target market is not the hard core Scot.

[macwilkin]

The Scottish Tartans Museum in Franklin, NC sells Buzz Kidder Canvas kilts:

http://www.scottishtartans.org/

I try to support the museum by purchasing items from their gift shop -- it's a worthy cause, since there are only two tartans museums in the world!

I've had the same problem with Scottish Lion that others have. I use their catalogs as a "reference" and then find the items that I want with other firms. :mrgreen:

Cheers,

T.

[David in Maryland]

Yes the canvas kilt is nice, but has anyone seen the nice tartan miniskirts they offer? http://store.yahoo.com/scottishlion/tami.html

I will have to buy one for the wife. She has been wanting something in tartan.

[gmcdavid]

I have a forest green Buzz Kidder canvas kilt. I am happy with it--looks good and is very solidly made. It was my first modern kilt. I did not want something that departed too far from the traditional design. The Scottish Tartans Museum (http://www.scottishtartans.org/, go to the gift shop) has a nice rationale for the canvas kilt, with more historical background than Buzz Kidder provides.

A couple notes. I ordered it direct from Buzz Kidder. It took several weeks to arrive. Buzz Kidder is not good about answering e-mail, but a telephone call got a quick answer about the status of my order.

Some people and businesses are like that; they are just not e-mail conscious in the way we are. They may be quite nice and very businesslike in other ways, including non-email customer service.

Scottish Tartans Museum: I have not dealt with them yet, but the curator (Matthew Newsome)is active on a couple e-mail lists I belong to, so my guess is he would answer promptly unless he is off on vacation.

Scottish Lion: I used to get their catalogue regularly. Great fun to look at, especially the gallery of tartans. However, I too noticed that the prices seemed higher than at some other sources. No recollection about customer service.

Glenn

[macwilkin]

Scottish Tartans Museum: I have not dealt with them yet, but the curator (Matthew Newsome)is active on a couple e-mail lists I belong to, so my guess is he would answer promptly unless he is off on vacation.

Matt is very good at replying to e-mails; we correspond on occasion.

Cheers,

T.