Vintage sporran exhibition

[Troglodyte]

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There is an opening in the rear cantle plate near the ratchet knob, that was most likely the location of the new-missing release knob. That the slot is vertical suggests the release mechanism was a slide action.

[bookish]

I haven't seen anything very scholarly, accurate, or complete about sporran history on YouTube, so I'm planning on making a video soon.

Please do!

[OC Richard]

The antique sporrans get around this in different ways, and the mechanisms I have seen involve a second external knob on the back of the cantle, that rotates on a ratchet to line-up a slot on an internal wheel that allows the hooked bar to slide out and so open the cantle - something in the way that a combination padlock works. Sometimes the second knob was a sprung slide action.

In practical terms, opening one of these sporrans is a two-handed operation that requires the sporran to be held stationary - which it is when hanging on a strap or belt.

Thanks for the insights!

Personally I want to be able to open my sporran without fuss. I'll pass on those contraptions.

I don't know if these goofy time-consuming ways to get a sporran open were cooked up in the USA, or Pakistan, or even Scotland?

But no thanks to one and all of them. To me Highland Dress is clothing, not costume. I open my sporrans in one efficent motion.

My view is that the mechanisms were there more as an inconvenience for a potential pick-pocket (or pick-sporran if you like)

or, as Roald Dahl, put it, "fingersmith" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hi..._(short_story)

[bookish]

I say (tongue in cheek), "yes," to row two, center.

[JPS]

Thanks for the insights!

Personally I want to be able to open my sporran without fuss. I'll pass on those contraptions.

I don't know if these goofy time-consuming ways to get a sporran open were cooked up in the USA, or Pakistan, or even Scotland?

But no thanks to one and all of them. To me Highland Dress is clothing, not costume. I open my sporrans in one efficent motion.

My favorite daywear sporran has no fastener at all. The top of the flap is curved where it meets the back panel, which is effective at keeping it closed. I can reach in and take out anything I need with just one hand.