Sporran belts

[ASinclair]

My sporran strap, incidentally, was a narrow leather belt from the Ladies' Wear dept at Walmart (size xxl) for $13.00 If it gets ruined, I'll not be upset.

Very clever, Padre. I'll have to look into that, myself. ith:

[Macman]

I prefer chain for formal wear, and haven't had any problems with snagging. Black leather looks good too, though, as you can see from the pictures.

[Nathan]

I too prefer a chain with formalwear, but mine is high quality and has never disturbed my kilt. For daywear I vote strap all the way. That having been said, as you can see by the photos, nobody is going to look at you sideways if you choose the strap for formalwear. If it's in good repair it can be just right.

Some people like to wear particularly ornate sporran chains for evening wear with embossed silver links etc... but they don't seem to be popular on this forum. I don't feel the need to run out and spend money on something like that but if I got one as a gift, I'd probably wear it.

[JonathanB]

The problem is finding a leather strap. I''ve got mine from Scotsweb. Being totally confident about my masculinity, I have no hang-ups about looking through the Ladies' Accessories department of any store, but so far all the black belts I have seen have been too shiny or decorated with sequins.

[OC Richard]

ornate sporran chains for evening wear with embossed silver links etc... but they don't seem to be popular on this forum.

Those seem to mainly be a pipe band and solo piper thing. All of a sudden, a few years ago, several of the Grade One bands were wearing those fat ornate sporran chains. It perhaps was started by Ian Grant of Edinburgh who offers ornate sporrans with custom logos, with matching chains. A number of top bands wear Ian Grant sporrans

http://www.iangrantofedinburgh.com/index.php

If I can borrow Barb T's photo of an Ian Grant matching set, in this case with the US Air Force logo. I've seen Ian Grant sets for the US Army and Marine Corps, and the LA Scots have a set of custom sporrans with matching chains too. A full Ian Grant set has cufflinks, sgian dubh, kilt pin, waistbelt buckle, sporran, and chain strap.

[Nathan]

I've seen ones with thistle motifs at Burns sports and Clan events as well. At the last Clan Donald Canada AGM I believe one gent's chain was sterling silver and quite ornate.

[denmcdough]

I no longer wear a chain, sporran strap.....had two bad experiences.

To be honest, wear what you like. I do feel, though, that wearing a leather sporran strap is appropriate for any occasion. I have one of decent quality for day use, but have a very high quality one for those dressier occasions.

A word of caution: be careful of a chain, as it might snag your kilt. Or, if it's of cheap quality, it might flake and you'll have all that chrome on your nice kilt.

Just sayin'

[BCAC]

I use both. Strap for daywear and chain for eveningwear.

One thing to be noted when you are looking for things like a ladies belt to do duty as a sporran strap is to make sure that the edges are rounded/finished/burnished. They are not on some cheap belts and this "square" edge can do as much damage to your kilt as a badly made chain. Just a thought.

[MacCathmhaoil]

If you're searching through the lady's wear section, best to avoid belts with vinyl or synthetic leather backing. The vinyl will crack and the sharp edges can cut as bad or worse than the cheap chain. Try and find solid leather strap type belts with rounded or softened edges as opposed to laminated or composite belts.

[OC Richard]

be careful of a chain, as it might snag your kilt.

I myself have never encountered, in nearly 40 years of kilt-wearing, a Scottish-made chain that wasn't smooth as glass on the underside, by design so as not to damage the kilt.

I've seen a number of Pakistani and Indian chains that had burrs on them.

Ditto the leather portion: Scottish-made ones are smooth on the underside (the vintage ones were stitched) while I've seen Indian and Pakistani straps that had rivets that had sharp edges exposed on the underside.