Sporran all the time

[Owl of Oban]

I agree with most folks, a trad kilt should have a sporran in front of it, unless you are drumming or tossing the caber....i.e.- Highland gaming. Working kilts with pockets are a different matter.

Outside of purely aesthetic reasons, where else would you put your car keys?

[Ranald]

Good question, when I'm at home I do not wear a sporran but have to have one on when leaving the house, after all it's supposed to be a pocket.
When I'm doing dirty work like maintanance on the car I leave off the sporran and put on a pig skin appron, keeps the kilt clean and protected.
Some of the historians on this board will tell you the highland regiments used to work without sporran.Nuff said.

[Graham]

I wear one 99.9% of the time. I have a plain, simple one for work (a black and a brown), a couple of nicer sporrans for going out (RKilts and Freelander) and a formal one.

I like to wear my work sporran so that it slides on the strap (never a chain), then I can slide it to the side for working or running from women

[Shay]

I think a sporran looks more masculine than a plain kilt, if only because it proclaims without a doubt that, "This is a kilt, fer sure!"

Aside from that, now Eddie Murphy is singing in my head, "My... guy... wants... to... sporran all the time, sporran all the time, sporran all the ti-ime!"

[Blu (Ontario)]

I think a sporran looks more masculine than a plain kilt...

Not really... A sporran adds a nice look of scottish tradition, not masculinity. Do women pipers wearing a sporran look masculine?... not in my experience. Masculinity (and femininity for that matter) comes from the demeanor of the person.

...if only because it proclaims without a doubt that, "This is a kilt, fer sure!"

I don't know.... I've had the "nice skirt" comment just as often while wearing a sporran as without. Wearing one may be a bit of a confidence booster for those that feel they need it, but I really don't think a sporran proclaims anything.

[Shay]

Okay- it's just my opinion. I don't mean a kilt on it's own looks unmasculine. I'm just saying a woman probably wouldn't wear something hairy hanging over her (insert polite word here) and actually yes, I do think female pipers in sporrans look a little masculine, but I understand it's a uniform. The uniform was not designed for women.

That's why I said 'more' masculine. If you wear a PC kilt coat, it's formal, but it's more formal if it has buttons on the sleeves and cuffs, right?

And actually, I as thinking more along the lines of "This is a kilt" as opposed to a pair of shorts or something- if you see a guy in a kilt from a distance, you can't always tell if he's wearing shorts or not, but a guy in a sporran is 99.9% sure of being a kiltwearer.

[GlassMan]

Okay- it's just my opinion. I don't mean a kilt on it's own looks unmasculine. I'm just saying a woman probably wouldn't wear something hairy hanging over her (insert polite word here) and actually yes, I do think female pipers in sporrans look a little masculine, but I understand it's a uniform. The uniform was not designed for women.

That's why I said 'more' masculine. If you wear a PC kilt coat, it's formal, but it's more formal if it has buttons on the sleeves and cuffs, right?

And actually, I as thinking more along the lines of "This is a kilt" as opposed to a pair of shorts or something- if you see a guy in a kilt from a distance, you can't always tell if he's wearing shorts or not, but a guy in a sporran is 99.9% sure of being a kiltwearer.

On occasions when I'll be away or when I'm heading down to my local tobacconist for a relaxing visit I do carry a small bag with me. It's my pipe bag and it holds 7 tobacco pipes quite nicely. It has room for tobacco and other things, but I carry those in my sporran. I have been told that it looks like a purpose, but I don't care. The convenience of knowing I have as many pipes as I need when I want them is more important to me. And besides, where I go with it, everyone else has one just like it!

And one other good reason for a Sporran came up during a recent visit from a very young nephew. For some unknown reason he wheeled around and tried to slam his fist into my crotch while I was seated. He had earlier done this to his father and was probably expecting the same red-faced comical gasping from me. Instead he thumped my sporran and got nothing but a talking to from his mother.