First my apologies to Hamish and other traditionalist as I will use the term tank throughout this e-mail it is easier to type than traditional eight yard kilt.

I have the material in my closet for my US Bic kilt in my closet and no money to get it made, so I certainly know the desire to get a tank. I have gone through all the thoughts that you have mentioned for many of the same reasons, will I wear it and et all. I have gone about my kilts in much the same way you did, I have one stillwater economy that I sewed the pleats down and added a Buffalo Sabres patch to, and wear it on all game nights, I have three USA Casual Kilts hand made and works of art. I have a SWK standard that I wear for my pipe band gigs, and I have a 5 yard wool xmarks kilt made by Rocky again a work of art, not a tank, but as close as I have right now. Do I wear my Xmarks kilt out when I drink and such yes, am I really comfortable doing so, not really. I wear it to church on Sundays and going out if it is really cold, but if I am going to be sitting for a long period of time, it gets wrinkled and out of shape not exactly the garmet I would wear out for a long happy hour. My other kilts fit that bill perfectly though. I love the way the way my USA Kilts fit me they were made for me, I am six foot four so my SWK are a little short, but the weight is great on them.

If you came up to me on the street with the same dilema I would recommend a USA Semi Traditional ($220), Canadian Casual Kilts also sell PV tradtional kilts as I recall check them out or depending on how it would fit you a SWK standard ($89), wear them for a while treat them as you would a tank and see how often you would wear them, but also know that whichever one you choose that if something does happen to the kilt it can be washed, just make sure that you realize if it were a tank that it would be more difficult.

With a semi-traditional you will have a hand made work of art wrapped around you that is designed to fit you and only you, that is a wonderful feeling, with a SWK if you just use it as a test case for getting a real tank down the line, you will not spend as much to test the tank theory. I mean no offense to SWK here, but it will not fit as well as the USA Kilt, but it is not meant to, have the fits like it was made for you feel, of course the cost is much lower as well.

When I went through this the recommendation was to get the tank and you wonīt regret it and I am sure I wonīt, I just wanted to throw in another option. If you are looking for the craftmanship an not necessarily a tartan donīt forget RKilts and Freedom kilts, they are after all the tank of contemporary kilts.

Thanks for reading this far I hope it all made sense and was not too far off topic. The Sabres did play tonight so I have had a few, I did drink less beer than the Sabres scored goals though (9-1)