View Full Version : Rain kilt diy??
saltysack
10-31-2014, 23:09
Anyone made a rain kilt.....sounds better than a skirt[emoji3]. Never liked rain pants for hiking down south as I sweat too much even in winter...looked at the kilts but can't bring myself to pay $40-60....thinking about using a Tyvek ground cloth I have sitting around...may try the adhesive Velcro strips at waist....dual purpose as a dry clean place to sit under the awning of my lhg solong6...input or thoughts?
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MuddyWaters
10-31-2014, 23:46
Take a pair of driducks pants, cut legs off above knee, cut up inside legs to crotch, duct tape into skirt, I mean kilt.
Works with tyvek pants too.
squeezebox
11-01-2014, 00:22
Maybe find a comfortable skirt at a thrift stove to use as a pattern
Riocielo
11-01-2014, 08:02
MuddyWaters, thanks for the idea! I have a pair of rain pants I hate to wear, but could probably tolerate a skirt.
Sandy of PA
11-01-2014, 21:47
I made mine out of Cuben from Z-packs. Got 2 yards, 1 oz. wt. and made it 25 inches long to double as a ground sheet under my wide thermarest in the shelters. Drawcord at the top, velcro to close. Used the leftovers to make stuffsacks.
Anyone made a rain kilt.....sounds better than a skirt[emoji3]. Never liked rain pants for hiking down south as I sweat too much even in winter...looked at the kilts but can't bring myself to pay $40-60....thinking about using a Tyvek ground cloth I have sitting around...may try the adhesive Velcro strips at waist....dual purpose as a dry clean place to sit under the awning of my lhg solong6...input or thoughts?
Tapatalk is really annoying
I made one from some DWR fabric I bought from thru hiker fabric. Two yards was plenty. I looked up how to make kilts online. I used 2" pleats. I got picked on for having it until a downpour. It wads up really small...
A large garbage bag (55 gallon for my stride). A shock cord duct taped at the top if need be.
Slo-go'en
11-02-2014, 11:30
A large garbage bag (55 gallon for my stride). A shock cord duct taped at the top if need be.
I'd want something a little more durable then a garbage bag. Hit a poorly maintained, overgrown section of trail and that bag will be shredded in no time, leaving bits of plastic along the trial.
I have a sil nylon skirt which is pretty much useless. Bleeds through too fast. I've thought about making one out of Tyvek, Cuben would be good too.
I made one out of Tyvek last year for my Long Trail thru hike; worked well and I'm still using it. I'll look for the pattern and other info I have about it and send you more info tomorrow. Traveling now but wanted to respond.
Just Bill
11-02-2014, 21:26
I'd want something a little more durable then a garbage bag. Hit a poorly maintained, overgrown section of trail and that bag will be shredded in no time, leaving bits of plastic along the trial.
I have a sil nylon skirt which is pretty much useless. Bleeds through too fast. I've thought about making one out of Tyvek, Cuben would be good too.
A good 1.9 oz (before coating) does a bit better job IMO. Just the right 1.1 can work, but it's tough.
Cuben is best.
Just Bill
11-02-2014, 21:32
Anyone made a rain kilt.....sounds better than a skirt[emoji3]. Never liked rain pants for hiking down south as I sweat too much even in winter...looked at the kilts but can't bring myself to pay $40-60....thinking about using a Tyvek ground cloth I have sitting around...may try the adhesive Velcro strips at waist....dual purpose as a dry clean place to sit under the awning of my lhg solong6...input or thoughts?
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To me they boil down to construction-
Skirt- basic lampshade shape.
Kilt- a tube that is pleated on the top- poor choice for rain IMO. Waste of fabric too if you care about weight.
Sounds more like you want a wrap- basically the same thing that you do with a bath towel.
In fact- a bathtowel makes a great pattern, find one around the house you like, wrap it on like you got out of the shower and you're good.
From there- You can look at Joe's rain wrap at Zpacks- he uses Velcro.
Judy at Lightheart has a very nice wrap style rain piece too.
If the wrap is big enough you can get away with just cinching at the waist (like a towel) with some Velcro.
If the wrap is really small- you need a pretty decent vertical piece to keep it closed (a bit like Zpacks)
Tyvek is a good place to start, cheap, and you have dual uses for it...
Somewhere on here there is a thread and a pic with a rain skirt I made for Rocketsocks.
saltysack
11-02-2014, 22:08
To me they boil down to construction-
Skirt- basic lampshade shape.
Kilt- a tube that is pleated on the top- poor choice for rain IMO. Waste of fabric too if you care about weight.
Sounds more like you want a wrap- basically the same thing that you do with a bath towel.
In fact- a bathtowel makes a great pattern, find one around the house you like, wrap it on like you got out of the shower and you're good.
From there- You can look at Joe's rain wrap at Zpacks- he uses Velcro.
Judy at Lightheart has a very nice wrap style rain piece too.
If the wrap is big enough you can get away with just cinching at the waist (like a towel) with some Velcro.
If the wrap is really small- you need a pretty decent vertical piece to keep it closed (a bit like Zpacks)
Tyvek is a good place to start, cheap, and you have dual uses for it...
Somewhere on here there is a thread and a pic with a rain skirt I made for Rocketsocks.
Thx....skirt it is....kilt sounded more manly[emoji1]
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saltysack
11-02-2014, 22:08
I made one out of Tyvek last year for my Long Trail thru hike; worked well and I'm still using it. I'll look for the pattern and other info I have about it and send you more info tomorrow. Traveling now but wanted to respond.
Thx any info would be appreciated...
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Slo-go'en
11-02-2014, 22:28
I'm thinking suspenders to hold it up. It wouldn't take much of a strap and could be attached with snaps. I had trouble with the pack belt making the skirt slide down off my butt which was annoying. It would be even worse with slippery Tyvek.
rocketsocks
11-02-2014, 23:55
To me they boil down to construction-
Skirt- basic lampshade shape.
Kilt- a tube that is pleated on the top- poor choice for rain IMO. Waste of fabric too if you care about weight.
Sounds more like you want a wrap- basically the same thing that you do with a bath towel.
In fact- a bathtowel makes a great pattern, find one around the house you like, wrap it on like you got out of the shower and you're good.
From there- You can look at Joe's rain wrap at Zpacks- he uses Velcro.
Judy at Lightheart has a very nice wrap style rain piece too.
If the wrap is big enough you can get away with just cinching at the waist (like a towel) with some Velcro.
If the wrap is really small- you need a pretty decent vertical piece to keep it closed (a bit like Zpacks)
Tyvek is a good place to start, cheap, and you have dual uses for it...
Somewhere on here there is a thread and a pic with a rain skirt I made for Rocketsocks.
Here it is. Love this thang.
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php/104948-Colins-Kilt
Just Bill
11-03-2014, 11:17
I'm thinking suspenders to hold it up. It wouldn't take much of a strap and could be attached with snaps. I had trouble with the pack belt making the skirt slide down off my butt which was annoying. It would be even worse with slippery Tyvek.
A small piece of shock cord and a mitten hook at each hip would allow you to clip it to the return strap (where your shoulder strap meets the pack body).
FWIW- I don't have much trouble with falling down, but the skirts do tend to spin on me.
rocketsocks
11-03-2014, 12:20
I haven't notice the spin, though I am gonna shorten this about 2"-3" the pack slippage I've had a little bit, but I gots no Asa anyhoo, so then there's that.