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Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:33 am
by weeladdie18
One of the issues with Kilt Walking is that the Kilt should be worn to the top of the Knee Cap to prevent the pleated hem at the rear rubbing
on the back of the wearers calves.....I have several cheap £25 Gold Kilts made in Pakistan...I am a wee laddie and the standard 24 inch waist
to hem measurement is four inches too long for me ......A cheap kilt with eight yards of cloth....bit light weight but O.K for summer

This Kilt has a hip strap on the right hip so raise the Kilt so Hip strap hold Kilt tight at wearers waist. ....Hem now at correct traditional height.
Great for walking in the wind out on the cliffs....The weight of the pleats keeps the hem down and stops the garment blowing up in the wind.

On the way back I adjusted the Kilt so the hem was four inches below the top of the Knee Cap ...the garment was not comfortable .

I see the lassies are wearing middle of the Knee Cap Hiking Skirts this year .....worn with bare legs and big Hiking Boots....very smart....
The sort of garment I could easily wear..... for standing up and cliff walking....

Please note I would wear this garment for comfort as a "man in a skirt " and not as a " man who wishes to appear as a female "......... weeladdie

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:30 am
by Kirbstone
4" below the kneecap sounds like a real cliffhanger! :cry:
I have lots of kilts and fortunately the standard 24 incher hits my kneecap just right.

Tom

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 3:45 am
by Caultron
weeladdie18 wrote:One of the issues with Kilt Walking is that the Kilt should be worn to the top of the Knee Cap to prevent the pleated hem at the rear rubbing on the back of the wearers calves...
I hike about 750 miles a year on rocky mountain trails, almost always in a Tactical 5.11 utility' kilt, else some other utility kilt or skirt.

I'm 5' 11" and the kilts are 24" and I've never had a problem with chaffing.

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:05 am
by r.m.anderson
When thinking about kilts - that hem length can be anywhere you want to be.
Those Pakistani kilts folks are more than willing to make the length to your specs.
Orthodox kilt makers not so much - it screws up the geometry of the tartan design.
It is best to have the hem length custom made at the moment of the original construction.
Normally a different kind of sewing machine is used to prevent the hem from unraveling.
The machine is called a serger an upscale sewing machine that trims the edge of the
hem cutting it to the length required and at the same time finishing the hem edge to
prevent unraveling.
A better tailor shop or dry cleaner service that does alterations will do this to existing
garments.
If not done right when you venture out to toss the caber and have a lose end by the
time you have done your first tossing exercise you may not have a thread left to compete
with not that that is going to matter who is going to mess with someone tossing a pole
about in an unraveling tartan.

So what is with this cliff walking hanging on by a thread ? LOL !

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 12:26 pm
by Gusto10
I did order Pakistani kilt, itw as to small, the sizing was labelled incorrect. Got a new one. Length in front OK, but on the rear a bit short.

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:08 pm
by Pleats
Gusto10 wrote:I did order Pakistani kilt, itw as to small, the sizing was labelled incorrect. Got a new one. Length in front OK, but on the rear a bit short.
I suspect the reason it is higher in the back is you are wearing the kilt like you would pants. A traditional kilt is worn at high waist. Wearing at low waist the kilt tends to slope down from the rear going forward. Same as a pair of jeans. More prominent if you have a belly. Take a look in a mirror when standing sideways. You will see the slope. A high waist kilt tends to be straight just because of the geometry of the body. Some kilt manufacture take into account this slope effect if the kilt is made to order. While I have modified some of my low waist kilts to fix the problem at the hem the correct way to do it is at the top of the kilt when it is made.

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:49 pm
by r.m.anderson
Gusto10 wrote:I did order Pakistani kilt, itw as to small, the sizing was labelled incorrect. Got a new one. Length in front OK, but on the rear a bit short.
If anything the back should be longer than the front for ease in movement but still requiring the
swoosh of hand(s) to smooth the pleated kilt (skirt) before sitting on it.
Consolation that they did not make it asymmetrical off kilter when viewed from the front ! LOL !

Sometimes those -stani cubits are not the same measurement as the rest of the known world.
When they first started copying (making kilt knock-offs) these folks had a great deal of trouble
working in the third dimension. They could only visualize taking the garment and laying in over
the frame of an outline and cut two sides and sew it together completely forgetting that someone
had to fit inside this with less than limited room. After many trips back to the drawing board they
seem to have got their kilt making in order allowing the fitting to wrap around the wearer instead
of trying to pull it on. And they are using better quality components belts buckles the stitching
more secure where there are stress points.

The best part of the Pakistani kilts is the price - the worst the shipping & handling which at times
is more than the price of the kilt although that S & H is outstanding 2-3 day air freight signed
delivery (DHL). I have had some miscues on size and they don't want the kilt sent back to them
as the customs fees kills their business so they usually just request to give it to charity hopefully
it might someday wind up in Skirtsdad's glad rags for another repurpose event - LOL !
The quality of the fabrics being used is getting better instead of using canvas and wool from the
Indo-China wars of years past. Those poor acrylics are losing their fur to make a kilt. It has to
really hurt taking that tartan off ready made.

If you plan on purchasing a -stani kilt it would be best to check the customer satisfaction (ebay
feedback) to make sure you are dealing with a merchant who can deliver that custom made kilt
that fits you like a glove and communicates in a mutual understandable language - No Cubits Please !

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 12:24 pm
by Big and Bashful
When I was measured for my first kilt at a Glasgow Kiltmonger, I was told (and measured) so that when worn the hem of the kilt should just brush the floor when kneeling, which is about mid-knee height. Alternately if you want it slightly shorter the top of the knee is acceptable. I went for mid knee. This was for a traditional kilt for formal wear.
Other bits I have picked up while chatting to kiltmongers: Box pleats tend to be preferred for the military, the kilt ends up stiffer and doesn't swing as well as normal pleats though.
Erm, belt loops are not normally part of a kilt, I had to ask to get them added to my latest kilt, they are worthwhile if you are portly going on globular, like me!
Oh yes, my kilt doesn't get much use, the wool is the heavier grade, so it hangs and swings better, and because I am a monster, it is a twelve yard kilt and weighs several tons! If it ever got wet I would probably sink through the earth's crust!

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 3:55 pm
by skirtyscot
12 yards! Do you do special leg exercises to have the strength to stand up in it?

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 8:24 pm
by Big and Bashful
The shop recommended 12 yards for my 44 inch waist, it is damned heavy though, the full outfit in my kilt carrier is really heavy, when I hook it onto a door it sometimes bruises the wood, not really lightweight summer wear!

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 12:05 am
by r.m.anderson
Big and Bashful wrote:The shop recommended 12 yards for my 44 inch waist, it is damned heavy though, the full outfit in my kilt carrier is really heavy, when I hook it onto a door it sometimes bruises the wood, not really lightweight summer wear!
12 yards - wow - that is enough to make those box pleats double box pleats and then watch the back field in motion what a swoosh s-w-o-o-s-h ---
The coppers blew the whistle on me way too much of a distraction - and no phone required and not even driving !

Photos of the Robertson Tartan Double Box Pleat LINK:

http://www.kiltsrock.com/forum/topic/11 ... -chrystel/

While this is an old post/link the illustration is an outstanding example of the double box pleat !
Another double box pleat presentation on YouTube LINK:

Wanna see them pleats move ?

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=_UBdtMjfteo

Really impressive - as for the weight of all them pleats that is why a kilt is sometimes called a "tank".

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 6:11 am
by Kilted_John
12 yards? Back when I got my kilts, I was measured for 9 yards with the same waist size. o_O

Must move very nicely, although, it'd also be extremely warm for anything above 15 deg C/59 deg F. Had a 9 yard MacKenzie in 18 oz wool, and that beast was too warm once the temperature got past that level.

-J

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 11:15 pm
by Kirbstone
Ah, but you guys forget that said B&B once towed the Square-rigger ship SS Royalist single-handed through the Crinan Canal in Scotland....Kilted, of course!

Tom

Re: Cliff walking experiment

Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2018 9:03 pm
by Big and Bashful
Ah! Royalist, there's a thing, many great memories! We did go down the western flight of locks of the Caledonian canal on Royalist, brilliant experience! I am told she could have passed through the crinan canal, but only if they removed the davits from the stern as she is a bit on the long side for the locks, don't know if she ever did go through the Crinan, but file the ends off and she could have!
I have towed a yacht with a broken engine through at least half of the Crinan, so I know what the furry half of a horse drawn narrowboat combination feels like!