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Field Report: Macabi Adventure
Travel Skirt
Name: Karin Claus
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Height: 5’ 6” (167 cm)
Weight: 120 lb (54 kg)
Email Address:
KarinClaus@yahoo.com
Region: Evergreen, CO USA
Date: June 22, 2004
Backpacking Background:
I live and play in the Colorado Rockies. I have section hiked the
entire Colorado Trail. I through-hiked the Appalachian Trail in ‘02. I
am at mile 1,000 currently on the Pacific Crest Trail. I hiked the
Appalachian Trail solo, but am hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with my
husband. I have been slowly and carefully updating my gear to lighter
weight equipment. I have been backpacking for the past twenty years. I
have climbed 38 of Colorado’s highest peaks. I enjoy getting out in the
woods almost every weekend.
Product Information:
Manufactured by: Macabi Skirt
Manufactured date: 2004
Manufacturer URL:
http://www.macabiskirt.com
Listed Weight: none
Weight as Delivered: 9 ounces (255 grams)
Color: Charcoal
Size: Small
Waist: 26 in (66 cm) (relaxed) which expands to 38 in (97 cm) (to fit
over the hips when putting on)
Length: 35 in (89 cm)
Width at hem: 76 in (193 cm)
Suggested Retail: $76.95 US
Product Description:
The skirt that I received was size small, regular length. The skirt
comes in XS, S, M, L and XL in regular length. It also can be ordered
in size S-XL in long length (38 in long [97 cm]). They also have it in
a short length (31 in to 32 in [79 cm to 81 cm]) in size S, M, L.
My skirt is a charcoal color. The skirt is available in Charcoal, Bark,
Caribbean and Claret. There
are currently two other colors Spruce Blue and Stone, which are being
discontinued.
The skirt has two deep hand pockets. The right pocket also has a
zippered inner pocket. Inside this pocket there is a loop that keys can
be clipped onto. There are four 3 in (7 cm) pleats on the front of the
skirt. There is a plastic “D” ring sewed to the bottom of the left
waistband. There is a matching plastic “D” ring inside the skirt on the
middle of the back panel, sewed 1½ in (4 cm) up from the hem.
There is one metal snap at the
corner of both pockets. There are matching snaps on the inside of the
skirt on the side seam, sewed 2 in (5 cm) up from the hem.
The fabric is Dupont Supplex® nylon. Included with the skirt was a
hangtag describing the fabric. According to the hangtag the fabric is
“windproof and breathable. Cottony soft, yet strong. Water resistant,
quick drying. Stain and fade resistant. Lightweight, packable.” The
entire skirt is made from this fabric. The bottom 3 in (7 cm) of the
inside of the pockets is a mesh. Since the skirt says it is 100% nylon
, I assume the mesh is made from the same fabric.
Now on to the fun stuff! The skirt, when worn in the configuration it
arrived in, is a long skirt , and looks very presentable. This skirt
looks a lot better than most of the clothes that I normally wear to
work.
The next configuration is changing the skirt into pants. I did not
quite understand this concept when I looked at the information on the
web site. Now that I have the skirt in front of me (actually, I’m
wearing it) I understand how the PantClip® works. The PantClip®
is an adjustable strap with plastic clips on both ends. The plastic
clips clip onto the “D” rings. The skirt, when made into pants, is more
like “I Dream of Jeannie” pants. It does not really have separate legs.
You take the PantClip® and clip one end to the front waistband, and
the other end to the “D” ring on the inside back hem. It’s not really
pants, but it is a very clever idea. The strap adjusts from about 12 in
(30 cm) to 18 in (45 cm).
The next configuration is a
short skirt. The length is about 14 in (35 cm) in this configuration.
Both sides snap up. Then using the PantClip®, the front and back
can be clipped up. One side of the PantClip® is clipped to the
middle of the front waistband of the skirt, and the other to the middle
of the back waistband of the skirt. The PantClip® clips to loops
that are 8 in (20 cm) from the hem of the skirt on the inside of skirt.
It looks like there are also variations on this theme. The
PantClip® can be clipped through the middle of the back of the
waistband, and the front clip could be run through a belt loop and
clipped directly to the loop on the skirt. This makes a skirt that is
about 18 in (45 cm) in length.
I think there are a few more permutations. For example, you could use
the PantClip® attached to the “D” ring, and snap the skirt up with
the wading snaps. Macabi calls these snaps “wading snaps,” because they
snap the skirt into a shorter skirt.
The web site says the fabric
is rated UPF 25. I am surprised that the printed literature that comes
with the skirt does not say anything about sun protection. The web site
also says that the skirt is odor resistant.
Field Report:
I have worn this skirt almost continuously for the last 60 days. The
clothing I wear while hiking is extremely important. I do not carry a
lot of extra clothes. I need to be completely happy with something, for
it to still be in my backpack after 1,000 miles (1600 km). I have been
through-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), and am now at mile 1000
(1600 km). The PCT has been hard on all my gear, and the skirt has been
no exception. I have worn the skirt from the hot desert, into the high
snow of the Sierras. The skirt has held up well, and is still enjoyable
to wear.
When I first put the skirt on the elastic was tight to start (which
kept the skirt nice and snug), but then loosened up. I originally
didn’t know why the skirt had an elastic band, and drawstring. After
wearing the skirt, I now see that the drawstring holds the skirt on.
In general, I leave the skirt long for hiking through the brush. I snap
it short for hiking when it is hot. These are the two configurations
that I usually use. I do not use the pants mode.
Sweat:
I wore the skirt without underwear, in the desert for better
ventilation. I had chafing problems without underwear. But, I did enjoy
the better air circulation. I only tried this for two days. The skirt
is very comfortable to wear in hot weather. Generally, I have been
wearing the skirt with my underwear inside out. This keeps the side
seams of the underwear from chafing on my skin.
The skirt got very stiff after consecutive days of sweating through it.
When I stop for a break, and take off the pack, the skirt does dry very
quickly.
Snaps:
In the desert, I started having troubles with the snaps. When going
through cactus and thorny brush, I quickly drop the skirt from a short
skirt to a long skirt. This saves my legs from getting scratched up.
However, I believe prolonged contact with sand in the desert, caused
the snaps to get dirty. When the snaps were dirty, I had a very hard
time getting them to snap and unsnap. After the skirt had been washed,
I didn’t have such a hard time with the snaps. I still have to struggle
to snap the snaps.
Encounter with a fire hydrant:
On May 10, 2004 I ripped the skirt. I was walking out to
a McDonald’s. Yes, as far as I know, this is the only McDonald’s that
has a sign for it on the trail. There was a very strong wind. The skirt
caught on a fire hydrant, and the fabric holding the snap ripped. This
is the only fire hydrant that I have encountered on the trail.
I got in contact with Macabi (about both of these Problems: hard to
snap, and fire hydrant problem), and they replaced the skirt for me. I
believe also, that I am snap-challenged, and there really was nothing
wrong with the snaps on the first skirt. My replacement skirt is a
gorgeous blue color.
Wind:
I have been in extremely strong gusts of winds. There was so much wind,
that at times it was very difficult to stay upright on the trail. I
have not had any problems with the skirt in strong gusts of wind.
Snagging:
I got a small run in the new blue skirt while I was jumping over a
barbed wire fence. After washing the skirt, the run is no longer
visible.
Pant-Clip:
There have been a few times where I have almost lost the Pant-Clip. I
will generally make the skirt long when sitting down, and sometimes I
have forgotten to reclip the clip to the skirt.
Pockets:
I generally keep my current map zipped into the security pocket. When
it is extremely windy, I take my sunhat off, and put it into the larger
pocket.
Washing:
I have never washed the skirt according to the directions. The
directions say to wash in cold water. It always just gets thrown in to
whatever is being washed. I have not encountered any problems by doing
this.
Temperature/Weather:
The temperatures have ranged from about 20 degrees F (-6 C) to 105
degrees F (40 C).
Fords:
I have forded creeks that have been thigh-high with strong currents.
The skirt did not seem to cause any extra drag while fording. For some
of the fords, I would wrap my skirt up high and tuck it into the
waistband. The skirt dries quickly after getting wet.
Mosquitoes:
I applied DEET to my legs when wearing the skirt short. However, I had
a bad reaction to the DEET, and will not continue wearing the skirt
short while in bad mosquito areas.
Cactus:
While walking through the desert, I invariably would walk into cactus
bushes. The cactus did “sting” me through the skirt. After leaving the
desert, and washing the skirt a few times, I finally got all the cactus
stickers out of the skirt.
Odor:
My socks have had such a horrible smell, I couldn’t tell if the skirt
got to smelling bad.
Sun Protection:
I did not get sunburned in the desert wearing the skirt. The skirt does
have UV protection.
Future Test Plan:
I plan on continuing to wear this skirt for the next four months or so
on the PCT. So far the skirt has worked out very well, I will see if
this continues to be the case for the next four months.
Summary:
I look forward to continue using this skirt daily while hiking the
Pacific Crest Trail.
Likes: The skirt is comfortable and easy to clean. I am enjoying
the perky blue color.
Dislikes: I have troubles with the snaps. Thank you for the
opportunity to test this skirt, and stay tuned for the final report.
Read more reviews of Macabi Skirt gear
Read more gear reviews by Karin Claus
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