Before our walk, wearing a kilt was something I’d done only a handful of times at various events. Jeff, on the other hand, had been wearing various utility kilts for a few years or so – thus it made sense for him to hike in a kilt.
However, his Home clan tartan worsted wool kilt would not cut the mustard, nor would any of his drill cotton utility kilts. Wool is not very suitable for the mainly-hot Spanish climate, given its great insulation properties, and neither wool nor drill cotton are particularly quick-drying fabrics.
Looking around, he sourced a lightweight and quick-drying hiking kilt from America. Designed with input from Appalachian Trail hikers, the Recon 2 hiking kilt was his for £70 ($90 USD, plus a friend to bring it over to avoid postage and customs fees 😊). After wearing it while walking around London, he was happy enough it would be fine in Spain.
That left me a choice. I’d already discounted walking in my lederhosen, even though they are hard-wearing, because I wasn’t sure about how easy it would be to keep them clean (it’s a sweaty business, walking the Camino!). This left shorts or also trying to find a hiking kilt.
I’d already purchased some basic shorts from Decathlon and some convertible trousers / shorts from North Face because we couldn’t find a quick-drying hiking kilt in the UK. However, at the last minute, Jeff pulled some search fu out of the bag, and found a suitable utility kilt on Amazon for around £35 – £40. As it was made from a 65% / 35% polycotton blend, it was a lot lighter than drill cotton, a lot more breathable, and definitely quick-drying. It also came with four pockets – perfect for someone like me who wants to pack for every occasion.
And so it was that for the next seven weeks, I was never a day without a kilt. We even got ourselves a nickname, thanks to a Kiwi family we met in Los Arcos: “The kilt guys” 😂. We’d walk past people and they’d say “oh, so you’re the kilt guys we’ve heard about”… and as we know from our Moody Blues fun, the Camino telegraph is very rapid 😀.
Walking in a kilt gave a lot of airflow – definitely beneficial in the hot weather, and also allowed for a lot of freedom of movement – something very much welcomed when traversing up and down some of the steeper terrain. I’m not sure I’d have been as comfortable in shorts as I was in a kilt.
Towards the end of our walk, news came through of an impending heatwave in the UK – although not as much as we’d experienced in Spain – and so now I’m back, continuing to wear a utility kilt is something of a no-brainer. I don’t know how long I’ll keep it up for, but it will certainly feel weird going back to jeans when the hot snap ends.
