Visitor in the USA.

**Jock Scot** · 14th March 09, 01:18 PM

I am thinking far ahead here. I have been invited to the USA for a wedding and to a clan gathering where, I suppose formal attire will be worn at the dinner. I will not say where in the USA all this is to take place, to avoid panic, disruption and mayhem to the local population, in any particular part of your country.

My questions are these. My dress sporran is made out of seal skin, will I cause an upset as a guest by wearing seal skin in your country? Will officialdom(customs) take exception at the airport to seal skin? Lastly, how do I persuade one of my sons to return MY dress sporran? Thanks in advance.

**McMurdo** · 14th March 09, 01:27 PM

I'd say leave the Sealskin Sporran at home, best not to temp fate.

**Twa_Corbies** · 14th March 09, 01:39 PM

I doubt that most Americans who saw your sporran would have any idea as to what sort of fur was on it, as sealskin is illegal to import into the U.S., so customs might have a problem with it. Other furs such as mink, otter, badger, wildcat, etc. are all perfectly legal here. Rather than risking having your sporran confiscated, you might do well to either rent or purchase one for wear in the U.S. We have a number of firms here that rent Highland attire, and it shouldn't be too much of a problem to do that, though you might pick up a rather cheap one off of ebay that is made with rabbit fur, which will get you by, even though it may not be as nice as the one you normally wear.

**Bugbear** · 14th March 09, 01:50 PM

Hope you enjoy your visit to the U.S., Jock.

**Rob Wright** · 14th March 09, 01:53 PM

Jock, I bet some members would gladly loan you a dress sporran for your visit.

Rob

**svc40bt** · 14th March 09, 01:57 PM

Hopefully our resident customs expert, Wompet, will chime in on this one.

**Fougasse** · 14th March 09, 02:28 PM

I may be wrong, and stand to be corrected by those more knowledgeable, but I believe the restriction on sealskin import relates to trade goods rather than personal goods. I certainly never thought twice about packing my sealskin sporran when moving from Japan to USA.

**McMurdo** · 14th March 09, 02:35 PM

A little while ago at one of our kilt nights we brought several different fur sporrans, Gary (Wompet) was there and was easily able to identify my Sealskin sporran, Gary works at the US Canada border on the US side, he was saying they would confiscate the Sealskin Sporran if I were to cross over with it. I therefore also have a Bovine one for going to the states with. As for once in the country it would most likely be fine, however as I've already said getting it through customs will be a problem, unless you can prove that the sporran is a certain vintage, and I'm not sure how old it has to be to be able to get a pass, I think it must be at least older than the Marine Mammals Protection Act, that was enacted on October 21, 1972.
As to how to get it back from your son, I'm not too sure how you are going to do that.

**Jock Scot** · 14th March 09, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by McMurdo

A little while ago at one of our kilt nights we brought several different fur sporrans, Gary (Wompet) was there and was easily able to identify my Sealskin sporran, Gary works at the US Canada border on the US side, he was saying they would confiscate the Sealskin Sporran if I were to cross over with it. I therefore also have a Bovine one for going to the states with. As for once in the country it would most likely be fine, however as I've already said getting it through customs will be a problem, unless you can prove that the sporran is a certain vintage, and I'm not sure how old it has to be to be able to get a pass, I think it must be at least older than the Marine Mammals Protection Act, that was enacted on October 21, 1972.
As to how to get it back from your son, I'm not too sure how you are going to do that.

Thank you everyone for the advice given. McMurdo you have hit the problem right on the button. My sporran has silver as part of it construction and has hall marks, I think, dating to 1897 and was made by Hamilton and Inches, so I think you can see why I would not want some jumped up, jobs worth, official (sorry Wompet, not you!!!) getting things wrong. Or me! Now then, I can see an opportunity here to be in the market for a new sporran! Now there really is a thought!

**Fougasse** · 14th March 09, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by McMurdo

A little while ago at one of our kilt nights we brought several different fur sporrans, Gary (Wompet) was there and was easily able to identify my Sealskin sporran, Gary works at the US Canada border on the US side, he was saying they would confiscate the Sealskin Sporran if I were to cross over with it. I therefore also have a Bovine one for going to the states with. As for once in the country it would most likely be fine, however as I've already said getting it through customs will be a problem, unless you can prove that the sporran is a certain vintage, and I'm not sure how old it has to be to be able to get a pass, I think it must be at least older than the Marine Mammals Protection Act, that was enacted on October 21, 1972.
As to how to get it back from your son, I'm not too sure how you are going to do that.

As anticipated, I stand corrected!