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Reviews > Clothing > Skirts and Kilts > Macabi Skirt - Men > Thomas Peltier II > Field ReportField Report I have been in the outdoors since I was a toddler. My mother introduced me to backpacking when I was in the backpack. I in good turn joined the Boy Scouts to get away from Mom on the weekend hikes. My first backpack trip with the Boy Scouts was down a dirt road to a park and campsite. That was my last trip with the Boy Scouts. Since then I have been backpacking mostly in the Sierra Nevada. I have been a professional river guide and kayak instructor for the last 11 years; however, I currently work at a family establishment in Bakersfield, California. Working a “Real Job” keeps me away from the outdoors a bit more than I would like. My summers are busy between city work and river guiding. Much of my packing is done on the river in the summer. This has driven me to long winter trips and short summer trips for the last several years. I took up snowshoeing to help get into winter packing. I have found that less is often more in my backpacking and my summer trips I find myself as happy in a pair of Chacos carrying my pocket knife as I do with a heavy pack and big boots.
The Macabi skirt is so comfortable it's hard not to wear it. That's what I said after the first weekend of wearing the Macabi Skirt. I was guiding whitewater river trips on the Kern River for the weekend and felt this would be a good pre-run to my first back country trip with the Macabi skirt. I wore the skirt all over town. I wore the skirt to parties, around the river rafting guide house, to the store and just about everyplace I went. I must admit I was a little bit self conscious some of the time but for the most part I was proud to wear it. After one weekend I was ready to take the Macabi Skirt into the back country. I have worn the Macabi skirt in freezing weather (with tights) all the way up beyond the 100 F (38 C) mark. I have worn it from 900 ft (274 m) to 8,500 ft (2591 m). I have worn it from mountain tops to river gorges, from grocery stores to restaurant. I frequently wear the Macabi around my house and I even have worn it while rafting. The material is very fast drying and makes for a great sunblock for my legs. I quickly forget I'm wearing a skirt and just marvel in the functionality of the garment. (Having worn sarong's for years I have grown accustomed to the "skirt look" around my legs.) What makes the Macabi Skirt so amazing is how versatile it is. When I climb I have taken to snapping the wading snaps on either side. This and clipping the pant clip brings the skirt above my knees, as my mentor Chuck calls it, "Tom's mini skirt". I did quite a bit of bouldering with Chuck the day he said that and the skirt never once got in my way. After the climb I walked through a field of tall shapely bladed grass, I was very happy to release the snaps and let the skirt hang low to cover my legs and protect me from the long sharp blades of grass I was passing through. Latter that day I was back at camp relaxing. At this time the pant clip comes in handy to keep everything out of view. The only negative thing I have found about the Macabi Skirt is that it feels to bind when taking large steps. I must follow this statement by saying that I have never fallen. I have taken some large steps over wet rocks on the river and climbing over fallen trees and never has the catch in the skirt made me fall. I have used the Skirt in every configuration I could think of, including pulling the skirt over my waist to cross a river. The skirt is even great for river crossing. Everybody else in my group had wet shorts, I simply pulled the skirt up around my chest and walked across the river. There are three pockets on the Macabi Skirt. Two large pockets on either side and one smaller security pocket inside the right hip pocket. I love the large pockets. I carry all sorts of things in the pockets. They are very deep and they do not make the skirt sag in funny ways when laden down. I can easily carry two cans of soda pop in each pocket. This is very handy when trying to bring soda pop for several people. I have to tie the draw string or wear a belt to keep the skirt on when heavy objects are in my pockets. What I mean is that the skirt maintains it's shape and does not sage when heavy objects are carried in the pockets. The zip pocket is also very handy for keeping things safely tucked away. It also doubles as a storage sack for the skirt. Simply hold the skirt in your hands near the top of the zip pocket and start stuffing the skirt into the pocket. I found this process to be very easy. When I pull the skirt out of its storage pocket it is very wrinkled. After wearing it for about 15 minutes the wrinkles are always gone. I like that because I don't have to iron and I can tease my girlfriend that my garment is not wrinkled. She thinks I look kind of funny and just roles her eyes, but she loves me so she lets me wear it when she is around. I am getting used to reaching between my legs to grab the pant loop. Because of the design of the skirt you have to reach what feels like quite a ways behind your legs to grab the D-ring.. Once the D-ring is in my hands the adjustable nylon strap is easy to attach. I have worn the Macabi Skirt in the configuration for several miles while hiking and while sitting around the camp fire. I find the latter to be the most usefully. It just helps to keep things from flashing others when lounging about in the wilderness. Other than that I find the pant configuration looks a bit funny and prefer to wear the Macabi as a skirt. When I'm not using the nylon pant strap I clip it to a second D-ring located on the left hip just below the belt line. The strap has never bothered me when stored in this manner. The Suplex material is light and airy. It packs up small in it's own pocket/storage sack. The material does not tend to gather dirt. After several days of wearing the skirt in the wilderness it was still presentable. In fact the skirt is very easy to clean while on the trail. After two days of hiking on very dusty dry horse trails I felt it was time to wash the skirt. I went to the river late in the afternoon, the humidity was low and the temp. was in the high 80's F ( low 30 C), and washed the skirt. I then took a swim and washed myself. By the time I had completed my bathing the skirt was quite dry. Wearing a skirt has another advantage over shorts or pants. Calls of nature are not encumbered by restrictive pant legs around your ankles. The skirt can easily be pulled up high or when it's cold you can even leave the skirt down and cover yourself while doing your business. I find that when I have to pee I just find a nice tree and lift the front panel of the skirt. Nothing to it really. Much simpler than fiddling with a zipper and snaps. Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead. Men wearing skirts is not exactly normal around my parts but I just don't care. I enjoy wearing the skirt, it is an excellent backpacking and travel skirt. versatile and functional, the skirt has meet my every need so far. I will wear the Macabi skirt often over then next four months. I expect that the skirt will hold up just fine and I plan on wearing this garment long after the test period is over. Tom Peltier
Reviews > Clothing > Skirts and Kilts > Macabi Skirt - Men > Thomas Peltier II > Field Report | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||