Sporran Problem

[wcclark]

Ill tidings!

In the course of less than a day, my sporran has broken. I took some pictures with my camera; it looks like the rivet broke on the one strap. What should I do, Rocky?

[TheOfficialBren]

I'm not Rocky but you might try CAREFULLY stitching or punching another hole and re-bradding it. You can buy a punch and brads fairly inexpensively.

[1oldsarge]

A black shoestring threaded under the leather and tied to the D rings will hold it until a proper repair. If there is a Tandy Leather near you, they can set another rivet very quickly. Or a cobbler should have the repair parts.

[RockyR]

Since the sporran was only a few days old, I'd much rather just give him a new one and either send it back to the manufacturer in Scotland or repair it here. He shouldn't have to go through all that for a faulty product. Just drop me a line at the shop and we'll arrange to swap it out. 610.948.4110.

Done and dusted.

[MNlad]

***

If you have a Tandy Leather nearby, just bring in the sporran and you'll probably find nearly identical brads and a setting punch and base (sold together). It's a relatively cheap fix.

[OC Richard]

Interesting... I've been wearing sporrans, dozens of them, from many different Scottish makers, for nearly 40 years and I don't recall seeing one that was made like that. Why the strap going through the slot? I can't see, from the photos, how the sporran is constructed.

In the old days, sporrans usually had two belt loops stitched on the back panel, or else a piece of leather stitched on the back which had sort of a tunnel that the strap went through. In other words, they were designed for a simple belt, and if you used a chain strap you used a little adapter thing, a short strap with a D ring at each end:

[domnhall.rowlan]

Customer service as it should be done. Well done RockyR. Lets me know where I can buy my next goodies, (when I can afford to buy goodies that is)

[QUOTE=RockyR ]Since the sporran was only a few days old, I'd much rather just give him a new one and either send it back to the manufacturer in Scotland or repair it here. He shouldn't have to go through all that for a faulty product.

[A Hay]

Well said Rocky. The customer should not suffer from a defective product.

From what I can see, the strap construction could be a maker's attempt to save some money, or time (which equals money). It looks like the strap is constructed with D rings at each end and then the D rings are poked through the slots cut into the back of the sporran. This would save the expense of applying another piece of leather to the back of the sporran to hold the D ring strap or that a belt could be run through. Not necessarily traditional, but servicable. Not a mark of quality IMHO.

But there are many levels of quality and price, and the purchaser should have options to choose. The OP has done a service to our members by bringing this issue to our attention so that if someone sees this type of sporran, they might use this info as a factor in their purchase decision. Rocky, as a vendor, could use it as a way of influencing the maker to improve the quality of his process for making this component.

Tom

[RockyR]

SNIP.... From what I can see, the strap construction could be a maker's attempt to save some money, or time (which equals money). It looks like the strap is constructed with D rings at each end and then the D rings are poked through the slots cut into the back of the sporran. This would save the expense of applying another piece of leather to the back of the sporran to hold the D ring strap or that a belt could be run through. Not necessarily traditional, but servicable. Not a mark of quality IMHO.

That's exactly correct. It's a slightly quicker way for our sporran maker (who is in Scotland) to put the D's on the back. His other sporrans have leather 'pass throughs' as on the back of OC Richard's pics, but for the Economy Day, Rob Roy (brown and black) and Celtic Knot (brown and black) sporrans we carry, he opted for the quicker riveting to keep costs down. This same 'boo boo' could have happened on any of his sporrans as he uses the same rivets for the D's on the higher end sporrans (they're just not attached TO the sporran but are run through the leather "pass through" sewn on the back).

As I said earlier, I'm happy to replace the defective one. It's literally the first time in 6 years of using this sporran maker I've ever seen one of his rivets fail, so I'm not concerned about the design or quality consistency. As "fastidious" as I am (or as my wife calls me "Anal Retentive") about quality and consistency, that's saying something.

[TheOfficialBren]

Rocky, as a potential customer, this is just one more reason why I am attracted to your company. You have ethics. Good on ya, mate!