Help! What type of fabric is good for hot weather?

**MacWage** · 23rd March 07, 03:10 PM

A 13 oz worsted wool (NOT SAXONY/FUZZY!!!!!) is actually an ideal kilt for summer.

Some WILL NOT believe me, but even a 16 oz one that is about 4 or 5 yards of material (like one of Matt's box pleats) is GREAT in summer. A 5 yard WORSTED "modern"/"casual" one should work great too.

By the nature of worsting wool, it makes it breath well in summer to stay cool (MUCH cooler than jeans, which breath HORRIBLE) in summer and warm in winter (also much better than jeans).

Dreadbelly could explain the whole reason why, if you want him to.

Other than worsted wool, I'd say PV or a cotton blend, though I don't own or haven't worn one in summer myself (I have some PV material to make a couple box pleats out of, but havn't started either yet).

**RockyR** · 23rd March 07, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by Nick

Not that it doesn't have its advantages (like price), but it won't hold up as well.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you there... while Worsted Wool is always the BEST choice for kilts (swing, drape, hand, feel, thickness, etc), I wouldn't agree that it doesn't hold up as well... I have more pulls in my heavy worsted wool kilts (mostly from my sporran clip catching on the apron or me being clumsy and bumping into something sharp) than I do on my PV kilts. I abuse my PV and they hold up as well as my wool.

**Riverkilt** · 23rd March 07, 09:35 PM

Ayin,

Olde local geezer up here. Page is usually only five degrees F cooler than Phoenix. And I did 30 years in Phoenix before moving up here and still visit regular.

The answer - without a doubt - is polyviscose. I have 11 of USA Kilts casuals and four USA Kilts semi-traditionals with two more somewhere in Rocky's que. I've worn them for two summers now with no problems. They hold the pleats well. I use a Black and Decker Gizmo hand steamer (any big box store) for touch ups at the end of the day, but they also hang out well overnight or in a bathroom while you shower.

If you're doing grub work the SportKilts are lightweight too but the poly cotton doesn't hold as well (my opinion) if you spend the extra to get pleats instead of gathers.

Maybe I'm used to the heat because I can and do also wear my wool kilts and Utilikilts...even my leather RKilt and UK in the summer heat. I'm talking over 100 F folks.

Only change I'm making is I've come to love the USA Kilts semi-traditional kilt a lot more. Nothing wrong with the casual. Just that the semi-trad looks even more like a hand sewn and I've come to prefer not wearing a belt with my kilt and the semi-trad has the straps. I think not wearing a belt helps keep things cooler in the summer heat.

Course, with all the refrigeration in Phoenix, if you're gonna be mostly inside you might need something warmer.

Ron

**RCallan** · 24th March 07, 02:08 PM

Well down here it's not the heat but the humidity that will get you.

Wool is OK ... but the PV is just a sweat box to me.

I just stick with a Cotton/Poly blend....unless of course it rains....

To bad someone hasn't made a kilt out of GORE-TEX yet! Now that would be something!

**Riverkilt** · 24th March 07, 02:22 PM

Hmmm, that's curious.

Viscose is the English word for what we call Rayon. Hawaiians have made aloha shirts out of rayon since it was invented.

I must be missing something. It gets dam humid up here in dam hot dam country (Glen Canyon Dam that is) and the PV kilts work well for me.

But, I've been to Florida and know it can be as oppressively humid as Ohio in the summer when the only relief is sitting in a walk-in cooler of some sort.

Ron

**MacWage** · 24th March 07, 02:38 PM

Quick note:
Remember to look at the location of the person and read the responses in light of where they usually are and the heat/humidity that are used to.
Alaska hot is VERY different than South Carolina/Georgia/Florida hot, which is different than Buffalo, New York. Hot in Denver, CO is a dry heat, which "feels" cooler to me (than Carolinas/Georgia), but dehydrates me faster. Scotland "hot" is cooler than it is here today/now (mid 80s F).

Point? Heat/humidy are relative (if you excuse the bad pun).

Back to topic now.
PV has a HUGE following, as does worsted wool.
I THINK of Phoenix, Arizona as hot, dry, which may or may not be true.
Here (South Carolina) is hot (upper 90s F) and usually very high humidity (feels MUCH hotter than temp actually says).

Does the PV breath well with the synthetic material and PV coating?
(Rocky, I am seeking "experiencial" thoughts from those in areas that are upper 90s to 100s F most of summer, rather than the chart- which is VERY interesting, by the way -> no offense intended).
I know worsted does (amazingly cooler than most would expect).

**Riverkilt** · 24th March 07, 02:48 PM

Aye MacWage,

But Phoenix, AZ also has from one to four months of incredibly hot AND humid weather when the monsoons roll in anywhere from June through Sept.

Lived in Portland Oregon for far too many years....lots of rain for sure, like living in a cloud sometimes...but there were also hot dry summer months where temps sometimes climbed over 100 degrees.

A person needs a LOT of kilts to cope with different weather conditions wherever they live.

Need more kilts....gotta have more kilts...might get hot...might get cold...might get wet...might snow...might be humid...might get dark out....need more kilts...gotta have more kilts...can never have enough kilts...might be an eclipse...

Ron

**Dreadbelly** · 24th March 07, 02:46 PM

HEMP!!!

Nuff said.

And here in the Carolinas, we have Real Feel temps. Calculations of heat, humidity, reflected sunlight off the skycrapers, and heat radiated from the roads. Along the downtown area, we regularly hit about 120 or higher.

PV does a wonderful job in these conditions though, if PV is all you can afford.

**MacHummel** · 26th March 07, 02:11 PM

I'm a huge fan of PV I haven't had any problems in the heat or in the winter so far I wear mostly 8yrds kilts, also the denim isn't to bad or the poly/cottons I make .

**Ayin McFye** · 27th March 07, 11:56 AM

Thank you everyone for all of your input on the preferred hot weather kilt. I think i'm definitely going to try the Poly-Viscose fabric for my next tartan. It seems to be the favored among most of you out there. Plus most of you stated that it's really easy to clean as well which is nice. As RiverKilt stated we've got some nasty monsoons that roll through here in starting in a few months, and it gets pretty wet here in the desert. I'll let everyone know once i purchase the PV to let you know how it works out, but i think it's going to be fine. Most of the time spent out of my house during the summer months here is usually spent inside anyways, because i'm not a big fan of pub crawling with 118 degree heat outside. Cheers to all of you and thank you for all the input.