AN American firm has sold out of its “combat kilt” in desert camouflage complete with pouches for ammo.
The Tactical Duty kilt costs £53 and even features rings for attaching a sporran.
The company – 5.11 Tactical, based in Costa Mesa, California – first created the garment as an April Fool’s joke.
But demand from US servicemen – many of whom have posted pictures of themselves wearing kilts in combat zones – has been huge.
The kilt has pouches that can carry up to two assault rifle magazines as well as numerous other pockets.
It comes in a variety colours including black, khaki, green and MultiCam.
The specification states: “Kilt design affords maximum flexibility and breathability, boxer briefs available separate, but are not required.”
The company has even produced a video showing men shooting and blowing things up while wearing the kilt.
The amazing popularity of the kilt is thought to be due in part to the number of US soldiers of Scots and Irish descent.
There is even a website which features scores of pictures of American soldiers in combat zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan proudly showing off their kilts.
Sport Kilt website owner James Ansite confirmed: “There are a lot of soldiers that wear kilts on their downtime.”
Scottish soldiers last wore kilts in combat during the First World War.
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defence said: “Khaki kilts were used in the First World War.
“However, now on operations personnel wear their standard issue MTP uniform.
“Kilts are a ceremonial form of dress only. They are not used on operations and there are no plans to change this.”
But a spokesman for the US Department of Defense suggested they had a less centralised policy.
He said: “Uniform policy is a separate service issue. There are different uniforms and different rules governing the use them.
“I have never seen kilts as official uniform – it totally depends on the commanding officer. There isn’t a department wide policy.
“The idea is that you’re deployed and different commanding officers have different rules and they alone set the rules.
