Kilted backpacking trip

[tundramanq]

RE: Elkommando Comeback - I just Googled on line and checked their press releases at Mountain Hardwear no word of any comeback. At the time they came out with it, hiking kilts were a small nitch market production item and they could'nt sell enough to make a profit on the line. That is what I read once. The Elkommando was their second shot at a hikng kilt. The first was the Mountain Kilt with no pleats.

[Mickey]

Really great shots. Thanks.

Now I'm gonna be scouring the net looking for one of those rigs.

[Jack Daw]

Those are nice pictures and hiking in a kilt looks like the way to go.

[grizzbass]

nice looking kilt. beautiful place

[Matty Ross]

So how does flat, Sea level, Humid, Florida compare to Climbing to 10,000 feet in states like Utah or Colorado?

[Ravelyn]

Last summer when I was backpacking the West Highland Way in Scotland, I happened to camp a couple of times in the same place as a fellow from Aberdeen who was hiking the entire trail dressed in a great kilt (ancient Grant tartan) with a Jacobite style shirt, hose and some sort of legging wraps (don't know what they are called), and his tam o'shanter. He carried his gear in a canvas shoulder bag, which, he assured me was historically correct. He timed his days so he was always at or near a town or pub at night, as the 16th and 17th century drovers would have, so he didn't need to carry pots and cooking gear.

He told me that the kilt worked very well for him. He was able to adjust it as needed for temperature control, and according to him, he was quite comfortable except on the very hottest days (not too many of them in Scotland). He washed it out in streams a few times when it was warm enough. But, let's face it, we all smelled pretty bad after a few days on the trail.

He was definitely the most interesting person I met. And there were quite a few.

[Iain Robb]

So how does flat, Sea level, Humid, Florida compare to Climbing to 10,000 feet in states like Utah or Colorado?

I've backpacked in California, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and it's different in each place.

Most people would be surprised at the different types of habitats in Florida, often created by very minor changes in elevation. On this hike I went through at least four completely different types of habitat: palmetto scrub, pine barren, oak hammock and swamp. You don't often see that kind of diversity on a single hike in the mountains.

There's also often some very fine wildlife viewing, especially of migratory birds. This trip I saw an enormous (for Florida) deer, wood storks, a red-tail hawk, numerous black and turkey vultures, a bald eagle, far too many wild hogs and one very annoying armadillo.

The vistas are completely different, as you might expect. In the palmetto scrub especially, you can see for miles, but there's not much in those miles.

It may not be as strenuous as hiking mountains ... but then again, the water hazards, miry or sandy soil, and more uphill and downhill than you may expect can surprise you with their difficulty level. I came across one other backpacker on this trip who told me he was making ten miles a day on the Appalachian Trail so he expected to be able to pull 16 miles a day in Florida, and found it was far too much for him. I would agree. The difference in difficulty is not that great; eight miles is a good day for me in most mountains, and ten miles in Florida.

Back to kilts ... I have worn my Sportkilt backpacking quite a bit, and I have to say the Elkommando is better suited to it.

[creagdhubh]

Superb photos, very beautiful!

Cheers,

[Iain Robb]

Gee, since y'all like the photos so much, here's Deer Prairie Slough, a low-lying swampy area:



And here's the entrance to the Oak Grove camping area, in an oak hammock:



And here's where the trail runs along the outside of palmetto scrub:

[tundramanq]

I just sent this, nudge nudge, e-mail to Mountain Hardwear:

I am seeing a demand for the Elkommando kilt swelling on the X Marks the Scot site. I amassed 11 of them when I heard they were going away in small and medium. I then realized these just don't wear out and put the extras up for grabs the site. They were all gone in 4 days. A few as replacemnts, but most to people who had seen them hiking and wanted one. The posts and e-mails raving about their new hiking kilts, gives me the impression that there is a better market for them now than 3 years ago.

Hope it helps them decide to bring it back. I really think demand will be ten fold better now for them.

Sorry about the errors - the font they have on their site was too small to see for these old eyes for proofing.