[Dreadbelly]

What can I say...

I haven't had it long. I should have had it Saturday and I could write more about the test run.

First off, and I noticed this lugging the package around, it is HEAVY. The belt and sporran add to that... But no belt and no sporran, the kilt all by it self is heavier than my Stillwater Blackwatch heavyweight. The first gen SWKHW. 13 ounce acrylic. I held them both in my hands and let my hands do what they do... And the RKilt was considerably heavier. I don't think it will compare to a 16 or 20 ounce tank, but dang. The RKilt is a monster.

The fabric... I let my fingers do the seeing here, because they are better than my eyes for almost everything. The fabric is thicker between thumb and finger than any other kilt I have. It is also a bit coarse... Which is to be expected. I'd be sorely disapointed if I bought a hemp kilt and it was soft and silky. It is also has stiff as a board. I have to chop the apron to get it to settle between my knees when I sit. So stiff that it will hold up a full sporran sitting in my lap. So stiff that when I turned sharply and the pleats slapped against the elevator door, there was an audible "THUMP!" that echoed up the elevator shaft. The leather is just about the best leatherwork I have ever let my fingers feel. It was VERY difficult to put on. The leather straps feel like they must be thicker than two quarters. The roller buckles help. This is not a bad thing... I am used to the softer thinner SWK buckles. Robert included sporran hanger straps because of my substance... And I had my doubts at first if my sporran would hang where I like it. I don't know HOW he did it, but he did it. The sporran hangs "just right." It is not slapping me in painful places when I walk, and rests against the bottom of my stomach, just like my other sporran I have to put on with a strap. Robert also must have been paying attention to my problems, because there is a HUGE amount of expansion in this kilt, which is great. I can go from a size 44 to a size 48 in just a few hours, and then go back down. Some days, IBS is just obnoxious to live with.

The pleats do not pucker up from my bow legged stance! This amazed me. They flare out beautifuly, er, well, they are a little stiff right now, but I know in time they will do what pleats were born to do.

Public reaction, what little there has been so far, has been mostly suprise. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!' was just one of the exclaimations made tonight. "It is SO black!"

Going outside was educational. It is friggin cold outside, and WINDY. Probably because it is so danged stiff, but it didn't budge in the wind. My wife noticed too. My pleats rippled a little bit, but that was it. She was disapointed. She was hoping for more. And the cold? HAH! The hemp was even warmer than the SWKHV that I wear through the winter. The wind around me howled because it knew what lurked beneath the kilt, but could not show the world. I did learn one thing... Hemp is very abrasive. In the wind, with the apron pressed against my legs, the rub was just a little painful on my skin. This will sort it self out in time after it softens.

I think the dog likes it too. She keeps sniffing it, licking it, snotting on it, and when I finally took it off and laid it on the bed, before I could stop her, she jumped on top of it and rolled all over it and then sneezed a whole bunch.

I will write more later, I promise. Need a few days to really wear it around.

[Splash_4]

Thanks for the review Dread. I can not tell you how much I have been looking forward to this particular review!

[Dreadbelly]

Oh, as much as it pains me to do so, I really must include a negative experience here.

When I tore open the bag, the most horrible smell of leather came wafting out and assaulted the room. I mean, really... It was the most heavenly smell of leather you could possibly imagine. Overpowering. I felt my nostrils curl and my knees quiver. THAT WAS A DIRTY TRICK TO MAKE ME LUST AFTER A LEATHER KILT! I'm not stoopid, I'm on to your tricks. After I unrolled my eyeballs from the back of my skull and ripped open the bag a little more, even more of that smell came creeping out. I know what you did... Somehow you pumped wonderful leather kilt smelling air in to the bag before you shipped it.

I'm telling you, that man is canning the air from his workshop and bombing his customers with this addictive substance. You have been warned.

OPEN CAREFULLY IN A WELL VENTILATED ROOM!

[ccga3359]

Originally Posted by Dreadbelly

Oh, as much as it pains me to do so, I really must include a negative experience here.

When I tore open the bag, the most horrible smell of leather came wafting out and assaulted the room. I mean, really... It was the most heavenly smell of leather you could possibly imagine. Overpowering. I felt my nostrils curl and my knees quiver. THAT WAS A DIRTY TRICK TO MAKE ME LUST AFTER A LEATHER KILT! I'm not stoopid, I'm on to your tricks. After I unrolled my eyeballs from the back of my skull and ripped open the bag a little more, even more of that smell came creeping out. I know what you did... Somehow you pumped wonderful leather kilt smelling air in to the bag before you shipped it.

I'm telling you, that man is canning the air from his workshop and bombing his customers with this addictive substance. You have been warned.

OPEN CAREFULLY IN A WELL VENTILATED ROOM!

Stop it Dread all I'm doing now is searching hemp kilts. Aside from Robert (whom, when I'm man enough to wear hemp, I will buy from) who else produces hemp kilts? In my searching it appears only RKilts.

[Dreadbelly]

Originally Posted by ccga3359

Stop it Dread all I'm doing now is searching hemp kilts. Aside from Robert (whom, when I'm man enough to wear hemp, I will buy from) who else produces hemp kilts? In my searching it appears only RKilts.

Nobody else that I know of. Well, there was one shoddy outfit called The Hilt or something, buncha rip off artists, there was posts about it here on XMarks.

Buy the hemp kilt. Just do it. Nothing else like it. Really. Hemp is the future of kilts. Pretty soon with the new dye processes and the ability to spin hemp in new ways, you will probably be seeing tartan kilts made out of hemp. Hemp tweeds. I am eyeballing a roll of fabric right now that is TWENTY ounce hemp herringbone fabric that would make a kilt to die for. I've studied hemp, I've delved deep in to many aspects of it. I am facinated by it. Fixated on it beyond all other things.

Why wait? Buy the future now. Robert is offering a lovely glimpse of what is to come for the future of all clothing. The thread that Robert sewed the kilt with and the leather will probably wear out long before the hemp fabric does, unless of course it was sewn with hemp thread...

It really is unique... Once it softens up, I bet nothing else will drape like it, hang like it, or ripple in the wind like it. Much like wool, hemp is entirely unique is how it behaves. If you are going to have a kilt, more importantly, if you are going to have a GOOD kilt, you know, something that you really sink some money in to to have something special then you should invest in hemp or wool. Me, I dribble my drinks. I live in a freakishly hot tropical climate. I abuse my clothing. I don't iron. What I wear must endure my abuse. And I had the choice between a wool tank and a hemp tank... And I chose hemp this time. Wool can't be thrown in a washer and washed... And I can't be bothered to drag out a bucket and handwash something. I finally bought something that is almost as tough as I am. It will take all of the abuse that only I could dish out at it. It will very likely survive prolonged contact with my acidic skin. It will survive the occasional barfing, bloody noses, and my accident prone lifestyle. It will survive and gain character from me flopping out and sitting down haphazardly with out fully smoothing down each and every pleat. It will survive me wiping my messy hands on my hips after I am elbow deep in bread dough or whatever I may encounter in the kitchen. Me dribbing corn bread batter down the front of my apron will be no cause for alarm.

In short, the hemp kilt will survive any and all contact with my life, how I live it, and how life effects me. I have found a life long companion that I know will endure all I have to offer and not give out on me.

I'd advise that you do the same.

[turpin]

I have no knowledge of the actual product here, but they seem dedicated to spreading the gospel of hemp.

[ccga3359]

Originally Posted by turpin

I have no knowledge of the actual product here, but they seem dedicated to spreading the gospel of hemp.

I saw that page for ess than a minute, it's good that they don't call it a kilt eh? I have not yet seen hemp fabric here in Canada but i know some farmer are now growing it. From my brief research it appears it is still not legal to grow industrial hemp in the States. Any problems shipping it in Dread / anybody?

[Dreadbelly]

DO NOT BUY THE HILT! Search XMarks, as stated in above post. RIP OFF ARTISTS!

And no, no problems other than actually getting it from my drug addled mail man.

[Riverkilt]

RUN! Cousin Gordon, RUN!

Them's the folks that the old posts were about...you can order, but you'd be optimistic to expect a product to show up for your money.

Good luck trying to get a refund from over there....

And dang Dread, your hemp kilt review is almost as intoxicating as Robert's leather smell tricks that zombied me into a saffron leather RKilt...which I enjoy very much thank you....

Ron

[ccga3359]

Then let's get more kilt makers working with hemp. A little competition will get them prices down...
...Thousand of hemped kilties marching on Washington to force the legalization of the growing of industrial hemp...