"I'll bet if you made a rain skirt you could figure out a snazzy way to attach it to the tarp for a little awning or vestibule..."

Thanks guys... Now you got me thinking. A kilt that would fit me would be about 25 inches long by 54 ish wide. That could easily be turned into a mini tarp. The problem I'm coming up with is how do you attach the kilt without putting buckles under your hip belt?? I got the basic idea and can come up with a way of using only one plasic buckle but it will sit on your hip under your hip belt... not good. OR do the attachments sit above your hip belt? Not owning a kilt, I do not know. Any ideas or help...
TB

I'd make it long enough so the material would go under the hipbelt with enough room for the buckle to clip the hipbelt. In other words, tuck the kilt under the belt and have the attachment over the belt.

Colin Fletcher used to praise the rain klt idea. I think you could make one wide enough to use it as a groundcloth if you wanted to.

I hike in a sport kilt---all velcro, no buckles.
geek

I would probably use velcro. You could sew matching strips to your tarp or tent to make it easy to attach as an awning.

Jim Adams... I looked at the Sports Kilt website and could not find any close up of the attachment. The big reason I want a belt or drawstring is to allow a reduction of size. The sports kilt used pleats wich makes the use as a tarp less appealing. Above the belt seems to make the most sence to me.
Off the topic regarding Jonny Swank and others... How many of us are there living in the Traingle?
TB

There was a thread a few weeks ago about getting a Triangle WB group up sometime. I just sold a pack last week to a WB member in Raleigh.

I'm game...

What about shock cord...you know the thin elastic type cord and use a cord lock that way it would be adjustable still

The velcro on my Sport Kilt is probably 2" wide (I don't have it with me right now) and 15"--18" long so that it fits a wide variety of sizes as you lose weight. It also has elastic on the back about a foot long to add stretch. I questioned Sport Kilt about needing a belt and they said that after extensive research, the velcro was the answer so as to not interfere with the hipbelt. I love hiking in it and it is very comfortable.
geek

"What about shock cord...you know the thin elastic type cord and use a cord lock that way it would be adjustable still"
That was my other idea... It would be a loop of elastic on one end and use the cordlock like a button on the other. However, I like the funtionality of webbing better. The shock cord very well might dig into the skin being so small. Concindering I dont have the material yet, its all in theory right now.
TB

One of my homemade kilts has 1" velcro, all the rest have 2". My favorite is one of the 2" velcro ones, the velcro on it is in MUCH better condition than the rarely worn 1" velcro kilt (I wear the favorite about 9 x what I wear the other one) & I wear a kilt all day, at least 2x a week, sometimes more.

You MAY not need that much for a rain kilt as it should be lighter than my all wool kilts. Then again, if you use 1" velcro, you can always add another piece sometime down the road.

Doctari... Did you add pleats? I'm attempting to avoid pleats so it can be turned into a mini tarp like thing. Which makes velcro much less desireable to use. BTW... I will be using velcro, just not on both ends.
TB

Doctari... Did you add pleats? I'm attempting to avoid pleats so it can be turned into a mini tarp like thing. Which makes velcro much less desireable to use. BTW... I will be using velcro, just not on both ends.
TB

Have not made a rain kilt yet, thats; YET! However, from my experience with a "real kilt", pleats are important for ease of movement. It adds material, but I think in the long run it will add comfort. Just for experementation, I put on a pleat free "skirt" (Just material wrapped around my waist held in place with a belt, down to knee length) the same length as my kilt, was fine just taking a few steps in the house, but as soon as I took a long stride or tried to step up on something (like we do alot while hiking) I felt restricted, AND, it rode up to a nearly embarresing height.

I think, nothing to base this on, that a few pleats in teh back should suffice. I have one kilt (wool) that only has 7 pleats about 2" deep, It works well.

My plan: light weight nylon or well washed tyvec, 1" longer than my hiking kilt (so 18"), velcro or omni tape closure, 8" strip of elastic at waist (in middle of back). I may never make this kilt, have carried rain pants for 10 years, have only worn them as town "while I'm doing laundry" pants.

Kilts rock!
:)

A few notes from someone with experience with wearing skirts - you will need pleats or gathers in the back for extra material or slits on sides and / or back to be able to walk comfortably in a straight skirt. A-line skirts are bit more forgiving, but a wrap-around A-line will hang funny and likely end up being a huge PITA because the material will want to get between your legs as you walk.

A-line skirts??? Not familiar with that term. My idea is to make it nice and long/wide (32 inch waste but 55-60ish material). The front will overlap like normal. The buckle will attach the end of the inside peice to the hip of the overlap peice. Vlecro will attach the other side. By tightening the webbing it should gather enough material to take away the extra material and hopefully make temporary pleats sort of. To make it more comfortable the upper 6? inches will be made of breathable material. A half inch webbing and a half inch of extra material above the webbing should make the webbing comfortable. Of cource this is all theory now and I have no materials yet.
The other idea is to forego the mini-tarp conversion and make a traditional kilt/skirt out of silnylon.
TB

Sound like you are doing an A-line (shaped sort of like athe letter A).

"A-line skirts are bit more forgiving, but a wrap-around A-line will hang funny"
Maybe I need to be asking my wife this instead of a dinosaur I met online but would an a-line skirt with a very small overlap work better? The appeal of the kilt is that: 1 its the trendy thing right now, 2 it would allow it to unrwap and become the minitarp, and 3 would be real easy to put on with boots. thanks for your female imput on this (and the males and non dinos too).
TB

I'd be sure the overlap was on a side if I were doing an A-line, but guys are built a wee-bit different than ladies... perhaps the fellows who have made or worn wrap type kilts without pleats can help.