Horse hair sporrans . . .

[AKScott]

My take is that fur is a bit of bother. Mittens for dog mushing local to me are two layers of beaver fur, hairy on the inside, hairy on the outside, and elbow length. $200 and up.

I do have a few pieces for when the weather is really cold (even by Alaska standards) but they were expensive, and I am gentle with them.

The point, for me, is that when a hair (or hairs) come out, it doesn't grow back. A plain leather cowhide sporran can get beat on over the years and look better. A hair on piece is just going to deteriorate.

I am working with one of our sporran makers for a fur on sporran, it isn't going to be cheap, and I am going to take care of it. It will be evocative of traditional horsehair, it will have a pewter cantle and I will likely only wear it in the evening.

If you got the dough, or horses and a workbench, go for it. I can't afford to replace a sporran that nice as fast as I would wear it out on day wear duty.

I also agree with the concept of "like wearing a PC to the grocery store." How are you going to top that after 6PM?

I really like the economy of full mask sporrans, but one of my daughters has a problem with it, so I can't go there. I have also toyed with the idea of bringing in some of that long curly haired goat hide, Tibetan I think. Relatively less expensive than horsehair or fox fur, evocative of horsehair but easier to drive a car, still some room to step up the game for evening wear. Mongolian sheep? I forget, there was a recent thread about one.

[Duke of Delrio]

Nobody ever accused me of being a slave to fashion, or even much of a prisoner of tradition . . . .but for my two cents, a horsehair sporran is a fine and dandy rig for anyone. I would deny them to none. For myself, I somehow feel that black and white, or all-white horsehair sporrans are "dressier" and if they have metal cantles, I would wear them only for evening.

The ones with a more groomed or "trimmed" appearance and leather cantles have always seemed fine for daywear to me . . . especially if the horsehair is golden contrasted with brown.

Now, if you want to really see something sometime . . . you should see what braided horsehair can look like when it is done by someone who knows how it should be done. Saying that, I am not taking one thing away from the very fine horsehair sporran shown by Artificer's previous post. . .which, frankly, I find breathtaking.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Wow, Artificer, that one is really nice!

[CMcG]

<snip>
Who normally wears a horse-hair sporran, and in which circumstances? To me they're one of the most beautiful accessorries from which a tank can benefit.

My vintage horsehair sporran has a silver plated cantle and I only wear it for black tie formal occasions. The long hair seems to attract more attention than the kilt itself! I think they look awesome in the right circumstances but my lass is less convinced.

As for the leather cantle or brass cantle variety, I believe they are designed to be worn as daywear. They are, however, still very eye-catching... of the people who own them, I wonder how often they get worn?

[Hothir Ethelnor]

I wear mine every day.



A weekly brushing keeps it in pretty good order.

I am a DIY though so I don't have any qualms about upkeep and repair should the hair become a bit sparse.

[rsvpiper]

Here's the one I recently built



based on John Stewart's sporran, as illustrated by Ken MacLeay (F) in the below pic







I wear it to our local St. Andrews meetings and dressier events.

I'll probably wear it to the local games this season as well. I like that some of the older sporrans have all leather cantles as MacLeay illustrated. It really is the multi-function piece, day through dress.

That's top draw kit Scott, very nice

[SlackerDrummer]

Also Military DEU1A for Canadian Highland Units wear Hair Sporrans. Not just restricted to the pipe bands of the unit.

I thought we were discussing people who got to choose what to wear and when to wear it. My bad.

[Thor271]

I thought we were discussing people who got to choose what to wear and when to wear it. My bad.

yeah no worries, I kind of misread your post. Thinking that you had said Military Pipe Bands wear them. Didn't realize at the time that you had meant Pipe Bands in Military uniforms, and not Military Pipe Bands. Sorry for the miscommunication lol.


On another note, I like the look of a Horse Hair sporran and plan on acquiring one myself, I happen to like a regimented look.

[English Bloke]

Greg and Robbie... I take it you're not keen then...

[robbiethepiper]

Greg and Robbie... I take it you're not keen then...

I wear mine when it's appropriate and expected. If you merely want to be eye-catching then clown costumes are cheap to hire. Under-statement is the essence of style. I would not wear a tuxedo to a business meeting nor a coronet/tiara to a barbecue nor work ballet pumps to the local country hop. It's not rocket science, nor is it challenging your human right to dress however you please, no matter how out of place. Less is more........Robbie