A great kilt is a giant wool blanket used by Scottish highlanders as a utility garment. Great kilts were used to carry objects, stay warm, stay dry, build a shelter or sleep in. Much later came the more ceremonial kilts seen today but the great kilt was a practical garment. Think of a great kilt as a male saree made of wool.
I've decided to see if going camping in a great kilt is for me, and if it is, what a modern version might be. But, the "proper" wool tartan cloth is expensive and I might not even like kilt wearing.
I found this mossy-oak like camo polar fleece for relatively cheap. I have six metres long by one and a half metres wide (6m x 1.5m). The belt is a leather police duty belt from a military surplus store. The belt isn't a proper kilt belt, but I can also use this belt with a Santa costume at the next Christmas party.
The undershirt is an Eclipse cool shirt in British DPM camo and the rain hat is in some variant of US woodland camo. Yes ladies, I wore underwear and shorts. After several tries, I'm getting faster and neater at donning the plaid.
I have slept in the kilt while in a tent. It took some tarp toggles to hold the makeshift bag together. At 6 metres I can have one layer underneath and two layers overhead. And, at 1.5m wide I have plenty of room to move about, or scrunch up to trap more warm air. I can form multiple layers for a footbox too. Using a diagonal blanket wrap might get more layers around me at the cost of additional tightness and claustrophobia risk.
I don't particularly like the polar fleece fabric, but it was reasonably priced for a test garment. I'm considering a custom textile design if I decide to do the real thing, but more on that later, maybe.
I know tartan purists will probably hate what I'm doing, but the Scottish ancestors were a practical people and the low-culture doesn't survive unless it adapts. This is after all only a test. We'll see where this goes.
Until next time.
