Quality Sporrans for less money

**kiltedsawyer** · 10th December 21, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

Yes indeed, in fact a while back they posted these, which were very much what I had in mind.

They acquired a vintage fur stole which provided enough fur for some sporrans, including this Hunting style

In most, but not all, I see the the "studded star" design in what resembles a targe on hunting sprorrans. Is there some significance to this? I prefer the designs I have seen on other hunting sporrans, USAK's Rothesay sporran has a celtic knot for example, but even this seems somewhat mundane. I realize that if I want something more unique it will mean upping my budget to something bespoke, but I am pining for more options, more creativity, more individuality. Has anyone seen hunting sporrans with other designs here?
Cheers,

David

**Me cousin Jack** · 10th December 21, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by OC Richard

Yes indeed, in fact a while back they posted these, which were very much what I had in mind.

They acquired a vintage fur stole which provided enough fur for some sporrans, including this Hunting style

At first glance I didn’t care for this sporran, but it’s growing on me, looks like a fury bear paw.

**Brian Rose** · 11th December 21, 10:45 AM

I stopped an estate sale and picked up 4 ladies fur hats for $40. It was the second day of the sale so there was little demand. She had a very small so non are useful for anyone I know. I'm not fully sure what kind of fur they are but I believe them to fox and mink. Shortly after I bought them, I reconnected with an old friend. He's taken up leather work in retirement. Belts, holsters and bags. Then again his daughter says he loves custom work. More research is in order.

**Miller6582** · 11th December 21, 01:48 PM

Nice brown day sporran for anyone in the market for one.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284564940...AAAOSwp59htMUF

**Miller6582** · 11th December 21, 02:12 PM

Originally Posted by JPS

They went quickly, and not surprisingly so. Good money for a durable, nearly-all-purpose sporran with a bit of honest wear.

I like that AZSF. Does this style have a bit more room than your standard round day sporran, or is that just my imagination? It looks more oblong than round.

I actually bought this listing and to answer your question, no I didn't see any appreciable difference in storage capacity between that and my previous WE Scott leather sporran. I think it just appears larger due to the top flap being sewn down separately rather than being rolled over then top as continuation of the back panel.

IMG_8066.jpg IMG_8064.jpg IMG_7515 copy.jpg IMG_7517 copy.jpg

**OC Richard** · 12th December 21, 06:20 AM

Originally Posted by Me cousin Jack

At first glance I didn’t care for this sporran, but it’s growing on me, looks like a fury bear paw.

Yes the sewn-down pointy things might not be the best look for a sporran like that, they get a bit lost in all the fur.

I would prefer it done with ordinary matching brown leather tassels, something like this but with three tassels

Or perhaps this style of tassels

**OC Richard** · 14th December 21, 07:20 AM

Back to Ebay things, here's an odds & sods listing which includes two sporrans which look Scottish-made, perhaps by W E Scott & Son Edinburgh.

I've messaged the seller about markings on the back.

There's an Evening Dress sporran in grey pony (with the EW1 cantle) and a nice plain brown leather Day sporran.

Also a Scottish-made, probably Mackie, Balmoral in size 60 or 7 1/2.

And a wide 2.5 inch piper's belt (#102 pattern) the buckle stamped Made In GB.

The seller mentions "leggings" and I wonder if the object at the top of the first photo is the toe of some Bottle Green hose.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/29463365339...UAAOSw2uFhuAfe

**Tomo** · 17th December 21, 02:17 PM

A couple of leather sporrans from the same seller on ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284571399...wAAOSwiWJhu4eH

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284571388...UAAOSwaI9hu4V7

**kilted2000** · 17th December 21, 02:27 PM

When looking on eBay for sporrans, what do you look for? How do you know you are looking at a quality sporran instead of something cheaply made?

**Miller6582** · 18th December 21, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by kilted2000

When looking on eBay for sporrans, what do you look for? How do you know you are looking at a quality sporran instead of something cheaply made?

I find that most of the sporrans listed on eBay (UK) are cheaply made imports, the sellers all have names like House/Heritage of Scotland and are usually based in London. Filtering the search results to show only preowned/used sporrans will screen out most of the cheap imports, I did this on ebay.com today and filtering the 600 sporran results left me with just 30 to look through.

A good indication you are looking at a quality vintage sporran is the gold oval 'made in Scotland stamp', I have an example a few posts back in this thread (not all makers stamped made in Scotland, my WE Scott day sporran came with a sticker).

If you are looking at new sporrans with a buy it now price, the price will be an indicator too, you're unlikely to find a good quality new sporran for £50/$50.

A number of sporran cantle designs have been copied from Scottish made sporrans, you can usually see that the finish on the cantle is less defined and a rougher finish.

I would suggest looking through this thread and looking at OC Richard's many fine catalogue pages and photos of the actual sporrans. You'll soon develop an eye and be able to separate the gems from the lemons.