army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?

Subject: Tech: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,get some fresh air on 'em
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 07:59 AM

does such a garment exist ?

can they be purchased anywhere cheap ?

I know lightweight cotton / synthetic fibre fashion kilts
are available anywhere between £50 - £150

but I want something tough wearing and comfortable and cheaper
[ideally black or army camoflage patterns]
for around the house, or in the garden..

or for outdoors gigs in summer if I can brave up enough to mates & strangers taking the piss !

Subject: RE: Tech: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Sorcha
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 12:03 PM

Search Utilikilts.....but they ain't cheap.

Subject: RE: Tech: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 12:20 PM

Or try finding a pattern, and making it yourself.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Charmion
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 01:46 PM

No, they don't exist.

You can get kilts made of denim and other cotton materials from all kinds of sources, some in paint-by-numbers camo patterns, but they aren't army surplus. If you look at the dress regulations of the the British, Irish and Canadian armies (i.e., those with kilted regiments), you'll find that the standard combat uniform includes bloused trousers tucked into laced boots. A kilt is not a good idea if you are required to crawl on the ground (think scorpions and snakes as well as sticks and stones), climb into and out of armoured fighting vehicles, carry rolls of razor wire, etc.

Combat clothing is highly standardized; all the soldiers wear the same garments so damaged pieces are easily replaced. Walking-out dress, on the other hand, is highly unit-specific, so it includes sashes and fancy buttons, kilts and such wonderful variations as tartan trews ... ! In, say, Cameron of Lochiel (look for the yellow stripe!), on a well-toned military physique, ya gotta see a pair of trews ta believe 'em.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Sorcha
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 01:58 PM

Making a pleated kilt is highly labour intensive...I've done it.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Van
Date: 07 Apr 06 - 02:00 PM

Back in the days of kilted regiments going to battle in kilts - first world war the camoflage was provided by use of a khaki apron worn over the kilt. But do you fancy gardening etc in a WW1 khaki apron?

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 12:40 AM

Do you live in the US? If so, get directions for making a kilt. Then go to a JoAnn Store and buy a plaid cotton fabric, perhaps from the Homespuns in the quilting section. Be sure the lines are woven straight. Wash and dry it to eliminate shrinkage, then make your own.

The fabric may not seem heavy, but by the time you pile all those pleats into a waistband, it will be a sturdy garment.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Boab
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 01:56 AM

SIXTY YEARS AGO I wanted a kilt for roving around the countryside. Luck was with me when a young lady bought a Gordon tartan kilt, then discovered she'd bought a regimental Gordon. I got it for ten Scots pounds. A kilt, a blanket, a cycling cape, a pillow! Not for wet weather hiking---wet, it weighs a ton!!! It,s here in Canada with me still, and was donned again to "address the haggis" at the local Burns supper this year. And it has not noticeably faded; I widnae pairt wi' it!!

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Geordie-Peorgie
Date: 08 Apr 06 - 08:11 AM

Gan On!

Hev a luk on e-bay - there's loads of kilt places advertised and occasionally the' dee a 'one-off' special

Aah got my two kilts (Black Watch & The McDonald) for £25 each

Ye get a choice of 'tartan' and 'camouflage' is one of the options - Alang with black and pvc!!!

Not heavy duty cotton but a lightweight wool/poly mix which is OK

And..... aah'm a 48in waist and it has 'adjustability' to fit if aah purron a birra weight -

Sumtimes the' even have a bid on the full kit (Kilt, sporran, Shirt, stockin's, stockin' flashes, belt & buckle) - the last one went for aboot £40 (the tend te retail at aboot £160 - £200)- Aalways worth a luk!

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 09:12 AM

Another reason you will not find a kilt on a soldier on operations in this day and age: NBCD. Consider the sort of contamination to which a soldier in a kilt is vulnerable. Can you get your bunny suit on over it? No? Then it is no longer a useful bit o' kit.

The people who thought kilts were a suitable dress for Canadian regiments were not the same people buying real estate for training areas -- one only has to look at how common poison ivy is. In Manitoba it typically grows about scrotum-high.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 09:25 AM

Very good points, Andrew.

Setting aside the questions of warfare, I'm sure a kilt would be better garment to wear in intense heat that trousers. Although it would need to be a kilt with less bulk than the Scottish kilt.

Where I live it gets into the 90's and even over 100 in the summer, and switching from slacks (or shorts) to a dress is a real relief.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: jeffp
Date: 13 Apr 06 - 09:36 AM

http://www.amerikilt.com/
and http://www.utilikilts.com/
are possibilities.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: CET
Date: 22 May 06 - 05:23 PM

I've seen Utilikilts and in my opinion, Robert Pel of R Kilts, Stratford, Ontario makes a better product - made of denim with pockets, but much closer to the traditional kilt in the way it is cut. I have two - olive drab and black.

Edmund

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: NH Dave
Date: 23 May 06 - 01:26 AM

They weren't a practical item of wear during the first war, Arthur, what with the trench warfare and the mud. I have heard that the bottoms of the kilts became caked with the mud, and started great sores around the legs of the wearers. Still the Hihland Regiments hand to be ORDERED into trousers.

Dave

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: The Walrus
Date: 23 May 06 - 02:48 AM

GUEST,leeneia,

Setting aside the questions of warfare, I'm sure a kilt would be better garment to wear in intense heat that trousers. Although it would need to be a kilt with less bulk than the Scottish kilt.

Not necessarily so. During the South African (2nd Boer) War, considerable numbers of Highlanders were temporarily crippled in action by sunburn on the backs of knees and legs after lying out in the sun under fire.


NH Dave,

They weren't a practical item of wear during the first war, Arthur, what with the trench warfare and the mud.

Indeed, but the final nail in the coffin was the introduction of blister agents in the arsenal of toxic gases.

With the introduction of "universal" Battle Dress in 1937, kilts were dropped, much to the chagrin of Highland units who petitioned to keep them - until they saw the planned "Drawers, anti-gas" which would be required wear with the kilt in the war zone.
This ban on the kilt did not stop Regimental Colonels 'smuggling' many kilts to various theatres of operations for ceremonial wear (see the footage of parades by the 8th Army in the Middle East).

The kilt was returned for walking-out/parade dress after WW2 (1949 regulations?).

Walrus

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Gedpipes
Date: 23 May 06 - 04:49 AM

Apparently Flameco Ted has a leather kilt

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: skipy
Date: 23 May 06 - 05:57 AM

The RBR Combat Kilt was designed for special personal armor requirements.

Providing additional ballistic protection to vehicle turret gunners and other applications, the RBR SF Combat Kilt can easily be attached to the bottom of the gunners vest or to the turret itself giving the additional protection from the bottom of the vest to the knees of the operator.

The Kilt can also be disassembled quickly and used for cover in the event that the vehicle becomes inoperable, and by unfastening the sides the gunner gains foot mobility. The kilt is also designed with a webbing system so that pockets and gear can be easily attached. Handles and webbing tie-downs have been installed on the body side giving the RBR SF Combat Kilt extreme versatility in combat situations.

The SF Combat Kilt is rated at level IIIA ballistic protection (The same armor system as the vest itself) and will defeat a wide range of small arms fire as well as fragmentation from exploding munitions. The RBR SF Combat Kilt can also be used for interior vehicle protection, and is designed with a 10" x 12" pocket on the front to accommodate a rifle protective hard armor plate.

THE RBR Flex IIIA 35 system is the latest development in Tactical Armor. This SYSTEM is designed to give the operator the highest area of coverage without reducing mobility.

Additionally, by not using a Snap Modular Grid system the vest is inherently lighter and the possibility of a steel snap becoming a secondary projectile is eliminated.

The pocket attachment system is Velcro Backed Nylon Webbing compatible with the standard BlackHawk Tactical System, US Military A.L.I.C.E and MOLLE as well as a wide variety of other pockets available throughout the industry for mission adaptable pocket configurations.

Over 100 different pocket designs and configurations are available through RBR Tactical Armor.

The Flex 35 armor system is a ballistic material package that is only available through RBR Tactical Armor, Inc. It is a "shield type" product that maintains the flexibility of a cloth armor system.

Arial density 1.2 lbs. per square foot at level IIIA.
Skipy

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Kaleea
Date: 23 May 06 - 03:57 PM

Gee, I wonder when a Scot will be an astronaut in an astrokilt?

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Dead Horse
Date: 23 May 06 - 04:29 PM

Its the armour plated sporran that counts.
Protects ya bawbees from hostile action, ye ken?.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Peace
Date: 23 May 06 - 08:27 PM

Bawbees? I thought they was London cops.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Sorcha
Date: 24 May 06 - 06:22 PM

Interesting info here. Thanks!

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: darkriver
Date: 25 May 06 - 02:13 AM

Is it necessary that the item be kilts?

Would a sleeveless, pullover, knee- or ankle-length garment be better from the standpoint of coolness and simplicity of manufacture? Or even a long rectangular fabric, with a kind of football-shaped neck hole in the center, and buttons/snaps along the side from a bit above waist height on down? (You could snap or button or un- as your own personal comfort permits.)

Just woolgathering here....

doug

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,hairy arsed manly Scotsman
Date: 25 May 06 - 09:02 AM

hi darkriver..

that would be a dress !!!! aaaaaaaarrrgghh !!!!!!


kilt = manly

skirt = girly



I don't think we're quite ready for military combat grade transvetite fetish costume..



hhhmmmm..though.. maybe........????

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,Skipy
Date: 25 May 06 - 09:07 AM

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,Skipy
Date: 25 May 06 - 09:07 AM

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,Skipy
Date: 25 May 06 - 09:08 AM

Got over excited then,
I don't think we're quite ready for military combat grade transvetite fetish costume!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111
I am.
Skipy

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,Boy McGeorge
Date: 25 May 06 - 09:15 AM

Butch guys in skirts

whats sarong with that ?

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,Skirts for Men
Date: 25 May 06 - 09:27 AM

QUOTE: "Freedom! Liberation! Equality! Sensibleness!

Campaign to abolish gender clothing-apartheid!

The rule that said that men should not wear skirts has got to be one of the daftest around, (see Misconceptions), made even more absurd now that its equivalent rule that women should not wear trousers has been quite sensibly abolished.

Obviously, rules telling you what you can't wear are bizarre oppression. Make that gender-discriminatory and you're talking serious gender apartheid....[etc].."




http://www.zyra.org.uk/sk4men.htm

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: GUEST,John Wilson
Date: 16 Jun 10 - 02:47 AM

I have try it before and found some website that is being providing army surplus tough cotton combat kilts.
http://www.armysurplus365.co.uk/

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Charmion
Date: 16 Jun 10 - 08:36 AM

The fact that it's sold by a company with "army surplus" in the name is no guarantee that it was ever issued to or used by real soldiers.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: EBarnacle
Date: 16 Jun 10 - 12:41 PM

Hams, you have obviously never heard of the lavalavas, worn by the Maoris, another rather fierce culture.

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: romanyman
Date: 16 Jun 10 - 01:40 PM

for good service, good quality 16oz 8yd poly kilts ya gotta go to www.theweescottishshop.co.uk

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 16 Jun 10 - 09:38 PM

At the University of Minnesota, in 1950 or so, I was a Roman Soldier in a University Theater production of Antony and Cleopatra, and as such I wore what you'd call kilts, I suppose.

It was comfortable, I'll say.

The feature of the situation that I found disconcerting was, with exposed legs and the front section of the audience being lower than the actors on stage, all the kilted "Romans" had to have their legs made up. And the costume people didn't want fresh, wet pancake makeup to get on the kilts, so the makeup crew--all girls, as I recall--came around to the men's dressing room, and all the guys were in their dark-dyed skivvies for the makeup gals to paint our legs with wet (and sort of cold) sponges. After the pancake makeup dried, we could finish dressing.

This was--ahh--interesting, especially the first time, with a fear that a "natural reaction" might take place and be highly embarrassing. After the first time/performance, we knew that it wouldn't take place, I'm pleased to report.   Whewwww!

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: army surplus tough cotton combat kilts?
From: Penny S.
Date: 17 Jun 10 - 04:21 AM

Not true about women wearing trousers. I'm going on visits to Orthodox monasteries which don't ban women, but I must wear a skirt. I'm going to try to see if a dress over trousers, like shalwar kameez, gets past the idiots*. Modest dress, leaving it to the wearer, that I think can be asked for. Banning a perfectly acceptable female dress is pushing it. (When I was at college we were not allowed to wear trousers to lectures or into town. We were not allowed to show our knees crossing the road (to the beach). When I started teaching, I was not allowed to wear trousers, until the Head realised that some of the miniskirts were not modest and permitted trouser suits. Extraordinary.)

Having gardened in shorts, I would think a kilt has a number of drawbacks, mostly enumerated above. Having gardened in skirts, the obvious snag is it catching on plants and damaging them - a kilt has much more opportunity for that.

*My feelings are expressed by the Aunt in the Towers of Trebizond. I men are disturbed by a woman in trousers, they must learn better.


Penny