What's the story on the huge hairy sporrans

[OC Richard]

Oh about my sporran, it's made originally as one huge pocket.

Strangely, the loop for the sporran belt was on the back side of the front panel, rather than on the backside of the back panel.

I tried wearing it the way it came and I didn't like it at all. It wasn't easy to get at the contents of the sporran, and it felt like the sporran body was always being shoved back against my belly.

So I had a couple leather tabs for the sporran belt sewn onto the back of the back panel and now it's a wonderful and comfortable sporran.

Which raises the question: exactly how are the modern MOD horsehair sporrans made? I've seen a couple on Ebay and as I recall the loop(s) for the sporran belt are in the normal place, on the back of the back panel of the sporran body.

[Tim Little]

Ah, I might as well weigh in with my 0.02 here....

I've always thought that hair sporrans were pretty cool, and it's nice to see the Victorian-era fashion of "hair for dayware" making a comeback. That said, I'm not sure they're really my style -- I seem to gravitate more to the style of the '30s-'50s. No value judgement here; it's just what seems to work best for me.

I'd did give a passing thought to "well, maybe I could make it work as part of an evening ensemble..." and but it seems to my eye that hair sporrans work much, much better with with any of sundry doublets than with a coatee such as the Prince Charlie (to which I'm personally inclined).

That said, I recently found myself playing around with L&M's "Build-a-Sporran" app and came up with a couple of designs that I like. However, at nearly $400 a pop, it's not anything that's going to happen anytime soon.

I actually have to give a tip of the hat to Cygnus for pointing me in that direction. Some time ago he started a thread (since closed) asking about a black-on-black sporran -- something that appeals to my eye as well.

I think I was first struck by that unusual combination when I came across some pictures of the pipers at the Halifax Citadel -- although that's actually black-on-gray than black-on-black:





The London Scottish and Liverpool Scottish regiments also seem to have sported quite handsome black-on-gray hair sporrans:

[Tim Little]

A couple of "sketches" I was playing around with:


Black-on-black


Black-on-grey

[creagdhubh]

Very nice. Yes, L&M's sporran maker is pretty neat. My old bespoke horsehair sporran was made by L&M. It has since been sold, and will soon be replaced by a bespoke, Kate Macpherson sporran molach in goat hair.

Cheers,

[madmacs]

Which raises the question: exactly how are the modern MOD horsehair sporrans made? I've seen a couple on Ebay and as I recall the loop(s) for the sporran belt are in the normal place, on the back of the back panel of the sporran body.

mine (unissued mod surplus with full pocket) is the same, the d-rings are on the back of the front panel inside the sporran... My guess would be that it holds the front in position, with any sag then being back into the body... Which since it's a dress uniform item would make it look smarter...

It probably also reduces the amount that it gets used to store things too...

[longhuntr74]

mine (unissued mod surplus with full pocket) is the same, the d-rings are on the back of the front panel inside the sporran... My guess would be that it holds the front in position, with any sag then being back into the body... Which since it's a dress uniform item would make it look smarter...

It probably also reduces the amount that it gets used to store things too...

Well...if the RRoS is anything like the US Army, it's likely that you aren't allowed to carry anything in the pocket. When we used to wear the old woodland camo Battle Dress Uniform...it became the unwritten standard that they were expected to be heavily starched and pressed to cardboard stiffness...and God forbid if you even thought of putting anything into either of the leg cargo pockets or the 4 pockets on the front of the blouse!! Much like the "water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink"...except it was "pockets pockets everywhere, but no place to carry anything."

[Tim Little]

The London Scottish... seem to have sported quite handsome black-on-gray hair sporrans

And, in fact, Bugpiper has a couple for sale right now -- for a pretty penny -- on eBay:

Officer's:







And piper's:

[Tim Little]

Another fine example of black-on-gray (or gray-brown) -- a piper's sporran from the A&S Highlanders:



And the pipers of the RSDG (hat-tip to OC Richard for previously posting this one):

[Tim Little]

This is stunning!