RKilts braided sporran strap and Sportsman's Guide belt review

**JRB** · 22nd July 07, 03:42 PM

A few weeks ago I ordered a braided leather sporran strap from R Kilts. Robert was a pleasure to do business with. After the first strap got lost in the mail, he promptly sent me another one which made it to my abode safe and sound. What can I say...In my opinion, it's the perfect accessory for casual kilting. The quality is excellent, it looks great and the price is very reasonable. Thanks Robert!

The other item reviewed in this thread is a leather belt from The Sportsman's Guide. I ordered this belt simply because it was the cheapest wide, double prong leather belt I could find. They only had size 44" left but at only $19.97 I couldn't pass it up. When it arrived I cut it down in length and drilled extra holes in order to fit me. Let me tell you folks, you get what you pay for. The belt is very stiff leather dyed only on the face. The buckle is a very poorly cast affair with prongs that are not independant of each other. The worst part is that the buckle is not quite as wide as the belt, forcing me to struggle to work the leather through the buckle. The keeper loop on the belt is sewn down immediately past the buckle rendering it useless for anything other than making it all the more difficult to slide the belt through. Anyhoo, once the sweating and cursing is over and the belt is buckled it doesn't look bad. Still I cannot recommend this product unless you are on a prohibitively tight budget. I'm a cheapskate at heart, so I'm going to continue to wear it until the struggle to buckle it drives me to drop some coin on something of higher quality. On the plus side, after a couple wearings the leather is starting to become more flexible and The Sportsman's Guide delivered it very quickly. I'm sure that they would have gladly offered me a refund had I sent the belt back.

I took this pic yesterday at Glasgowlands Highland Festival in Northampton, MA. I'm wearing the belt and sporran strap with a Buzz Kidder sporran, the quality of which goes without saying. I'm sure the sight of me taking a picture of my crotch looked pretty weird to the other folks at the festival...

**McMurdo** · 22nd July 07, 05:02 PM

If you want an inexpensive belt that looks good, you might want to check out
TandyLeather

Here is a belt and Sporran strap that I made with supplies from them, I have also made a brown set.

**Zardoz** · 22nd July 07, 09:53 PM

I have one of those belts like JRB, got it at a surplus shop for $9 . They are actually soviet surplus. I found it is easier to buckle if you just put the belt through the prong side of the buckle, then over the other side and though the belt loop. I went over the rough inner surfaces of the buckle with the dremel to keep it from chewing on the leather so much.

**Cawdorian** · 23rd July 07, 07:54 AM

The braided leather sporran straps from R-Kilts are fantastic, I have one that I wear with a similar Buzz Kidder Sporran. The look is great.

You are going to enjoy that sporran strap.

**JRB** · 23rd July 07, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by Zardoz

I have one of those belts like JRB, got it at a surplus shop for $9 . They are actually soviet surplus. I found it is easier to buckle if you just put the belt through the prong side of the buckle, then over the other side and though the belt loop. I went over the rough inner surfaces of the buckle with the dremel to keep it from chewing on the leather so much.

The fact that the belt is Soviet surplus somehow makes it cooler to me. I plan on reshaping the buckle a bit to widen the sides so the belt will slide through easier.

**pipebear333** · 24th July 07, 11:23 AM

JRB,

Thanks for pics and review. I've been needing a sporran belt for a long time so I ordered a braided belt this morning. Hurry hurry hurry.

**sarge** · 24th July 07, 12:07 PM

That looked so good I popped over to Buzz Kidder's site and bought a new sporran. I'll probably get R kilt's belt too.

**JRB** · 24th July 07, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by sarge

That looked so good I popped over to Buzz Kidder's site and bought a new sporran. I'll probably get R kilt's belt too.

Yes! I'm glad my review steered a customer to RKilts. Roberts products are awesome. When I finally convince myself that I need a casual non-wool kilt, I'm gefinitely going to go with RKilts.