what would happen? Pocket lint

[Deirachel]

I believe they are referring to military type challenge coins. If that is the case, there is a tradition (or sorts, the details often vary but the same overall point remains) that one person will "challenge" others from the unit and slap their coin on the table/bar/etc... If anyone is unable to answer the challenge and slap their own coin, then they owe a round of drinks to all others that do successfully answer the challenge.

If outside a particular unit, it tends to have a similar effect of challenging other service members. It is not necessary to "match" per se, but to respond in kind with a coin.

If the challenger is met by a full round of successful responses, then they them-self owe a round to everyone they just challenged (in effect they lost).

And I always have one in my sporran (or jacket pocket in the event that I'm not kilted)...you never know when it will come in handy!

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But to your questions: I am not a fan of pockets and would be unlikely to wear a kilt with pockets. I think hidden pockets would still permit the use of THCD as an overarching umbrella irrespective of construction. However, outright pockets like cargo pockets would be over the line in my opinion.

As to the poll, I try to carry as little as possible in any case, so only the bare necessities (yes, that includes a challenge coin) are usually with me and easily fit into my sporran.

Secondary option: Who has the highest ranking challenge coin wins. Certain offices/ranks have challenge coins which they give away. (PotUS, Secretaries of each military department, or the Sergeant Major of the (Army/Marines)/Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force/Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy/Coast Guard are examples of such.)

[be da veva]

Well, yes, but then you would be posting about a great kilt in the Historical Kilt section just as I would be posting over in the Modern kilt section with my kilts.

Yes, but I was just trying to say that pockets are not to be pushed aside. I went with the oldest form of kilt that we know of and pointed it out that it could have pockets.

Sometimes ''traditional'' means whatever the Original Poster wants it to mean.

BTW, number 4 on my kilt wishlist is one of your kilt with pockets.

[OC Richard]

In spy novels, they refer to "pocket lint"- the accumulation of stuff that separates normal people from people whose past has been obscured or eliminated or doesn't exist.

Wow... I've read that sentence a couple times and I still don't know what it means... but then, I don't read spy novels!

When going from wearing trousers to wearing a traditionally made kilt, do you

I carry the same stuff.

It's a oft-repeated theme on XMarks, people lamenting the kilt lacking pockets or some other attribute of trousers, and a huge industry has been created meeting these perceived needs (Utilikilts et al).

I have never found traditional Highland dress wanting in any way, never thinking "the kilt would be so much better if it were only more similar to trousers" in this way or that.

[Highlander31]

In spy novels, they refer to "pocket lint"- the accumulation of stuff that separates normal people from people whose past has been obscured or eliminated or doesn't exist.

Wow... I've read that sentence a couple times and I still don't know what it means... but then, I don't read spy novels!

“Pocket lint” is part of the trade craft. What you carry says a lot about you. For instance do you carry your cash in a money clip, in your wallet, or just folded in your pocket? Do you keep the bills in order, or are they just put together? If in order, do you put the larger denominations on the outside, or the inside? What do you have in your cell phone? Photos? Texts? Do you carry a pocket knife, if so, what style? What receipts are in your wallet, or pocket? What credit cards do you use? Or do you only pay in cash? Do you wear a ring, other than your wedding band? Is the wedding band plain, or distinctive? All these things are taken into consideration when one develops a legend (cover story.) When you go under, you must become the legend. The smallest mistake will end the operation, and at the very least earn you an interrogation with some very unfriendly people.

Normal people don’t think about any of these things, they just go about life.

When going from wearing trousers to wearing a traditionally made kilt, do you

I carry the same stuff.

I carry the same basic things every day (sometimes I add one or two items for specific things that might be happening that day.)
It all fits in my pockets or sporran with room to spare.

[ForresterModern]

I obviously carry many items in whatever choice of sporran I have made that day, usually things I must have but needn't make use of frequently. For items I need to reach and make use of regularly, if I am jacketed I will make use of those pockets and those of the waistcoat if also so clad. If not jacketed I typically use a medium sized belt pouch that I wear over my left hip on my kilt belt for those frequently needed items like keys, cell phone, a small kilt wallet with limited contents, and change. As I am often also carrying a bag of camera gear extra space may be commandeered in that as well. As a last resort I sometimes carry a medium shoulder bag of either leather or cordura---a bicycle bag or sling pack.

[OC Richard]

“Pocket lint” is part of the trade craft... When you go under, you must become the legend.

Normal people don’t think about any of these things...

Wow... I must be 'normal' then! I've never thought of the 'legend' aspect of the stuff I carry.

I suppose it could be called 'sporran lint' but sporrans don't really have lint, do they?

My sporran is big enough to carry exactly the same stuff as I do when wearing pants. One thing has transferred from kiltwearing to pantswearing: using one of those little oval rubber thingies with the slit in it for coins. I started wearing it with a sporran because I didn't like digging around the bottom of the sporran for loose change; then I realized that I didn't like digging around in the bottom of my pockets either!

And there's one thing I carry in the sporran I don't carry in pants: foam earplugs.

[OC Richard]

If not jacketed I typically use a medium sized belt pouch that I wear over my left hip on my kilt belt for those frequently needed items like keys, cell phone, a small kilt wallet with limited contents, and change.

I carry that stuff in my sporran. At a piping gig my sporran will have my ordinary wallet, car keys, cell phone, and rubber coin thingie. At a Highland Games I'll add my small digital camera, either in the sporran (getting crowded now) or in a waistcoat pocket.

I almost never wear a dirk belt.

[rmccool]

I agree with Jock Scot... kilts that appear to be traditional in design and materials can be worn with "traditional" dress, even if said kilts happen to have concealed pockets. As with any mode of dress, the big thing is appearance; what happens beneath the apron stays beneath the apron.

How one handles "pocket lint" while kilted is likely to hinge upon a variety of factors. As a resident of the American South, I find wearing a jacket outdoors for more than a few minutes in summer to be all but unbearable, so utilizing jacket or waistcoat pockets is an option that I rarely have available. I also typically carry a great deal of "stuff" - car keys/remotes (2 sets, since I switch between two vehicles fairly often), house key on a key ring that holds a folded CPR mask, work keys (quite a few), lip balm, small vial for medication, nail clippers, pocket knife, change, wallet, pocket comb, handkerchief, cell phone, and one or more devices that I can't discuss due to forum rules. The size of this collection is one of the reasons that I prefer 5.11 tactical pants for casual wear - they are designed with lots of pockets and allow me to distribute the load evenly. I wear 5.11 TDKs on casual occasions for the same reason.

When wearing a traditional kilt, there's just no way to manage everything (unless I wanted to wear a sporran stuffed like a burglar's bag o' loot, which I prefer to avoid). I typically pare down the keys to those essential to the occasion, carry only essential ID, a credit card or two, and cash in a small plastic card case, and carry them in my sporran. I leave most of the other stuff in a car or put it in my laptop bag, etc. It's a bit inconvenient, but I have to do the same thing when wearing a business suit, so it's not anything that's unique to the kilt.

I will confess that unless the occasion is formal, I'll carry my cell phone clipped to either a belt or to the waist of my kilt, rather than in a sporran or pocket. I receive quite a few telephone calls during a typical day, and digging for a phone in a sporran or pocket is bothersome. For formal events, the phone gets silenced and dropping into a jacket pocket.

[MacLowlife]

My favorite exposition of pocket lint is probably the two books about Operation Mincemeat, where some dedicated gents made frequent visits to nightclubs to accumulate sufficient bar tabs and the like. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mincemeat I think there may even have been an engagement ring purchased. I am afrraid sporans follow the large container rule: the greater the capacity, the greater the amount of junk in the bottom. I tend to go with the "pared down" approach when I am really dressed up. Otherwise, I use shirt and jacket pockets for as much as possible.

[Highlander31]

......I am afraid sporrans follow the large container rule: the greater the capacity, the greater the amount of junk in the bottom......

It appears Cyril Parkinson's law, can also be used to describe the relationship between sporran capacity and the number of items carried. For those not familiar with his work, the law states; "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".