Full mask sporran: Yea or Nay?

**OC Richard** · 7th August 10, 04:42 AM

Originally Posted by Canuck of NI

some FM sporrans are very nice- but not one I have ever seen for current sale however; I think the art has been lost.

I'm afraid that I can't agree with this, because L&M Highland Outfitters in Nova Scotia make badger sporrans of the highest quality, and in fact make military Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders badger sporrans which are identical in design and craftsmanship to the sporrans the regiment has worn since the 1790s.

I used to own an L&M A&SH badger sporran and I had a chance to compare it in person to a 19th century original and they were quite identical save for the type of badger: the original had the Scottish badger with the black & white face while the L&M had the North American badger with the brown & tan face.

**kid icarus** · 7th August 10, 04:59 AM

i unequivocally despise the things, and every time i see someone wearing one i think to myself a) that is hideous b) why the heck? c) what a d-bag and instantly group them with the people at highland games who carry swords, have their faces painted and spend time in the woods pretending merlin, arthur and wallace. i have never seen one that does not look like crap taxidermy and i'm sure i have seen some "nice" ones at the games.

i know it is judgmental, but meh.....

**artificer** · 7th August 10, 06:05 AM

Originally Posted by kid icarus

i unequivocally despise the things, and every time i see someone wearing one i think to myself a) that is hideous b) why the heck? c) what a d-bag and instantly group them with the people at highland games who carry swords, have their faces painted and spend time in the woods pretending merlin, arthur and wallace. i have never seen one that does not look like crap taxidermy and i'm sure i have seen some "nice" ones at the games.

i know it is judgmental, but meh.....

And you don't think your reaction is a little OTT?

I cannot see how wearing a piece of traditional Highland garb, no matter how off-putting you personally find it, groups the wearer into the "ren-faire" camp. It's already been said that most DIY ones are NOT of the first order, and even those who like them feel that to pull it off properly a full mask SHOULD be excellently made.

You don't like them, we get that. There's no need for name calling.

**longhuntr74** · 7th August 10, 07:51 AM

...that hasn't already been said. I voted makes no difference, but that said, I really didn't like the choices given...there wasn't one for "I don't dislike them, but probably wouldn't ever choose one myself". Like many have talked about, some look bloody awful and some are truly works of art. I think the only one I'd ever wear is a full badger along the lines of A&SH...I love those. But to have a simple fur pouch with a face...probably never. I'd rather see the fur pouch with leather or chrome or brass cantle...skip the face!

As a side note on women and full mask sporrans...put my wife in the category of disliking them. She is not opposed to me wearing a fur sporran, but her rule is that it can't have a face...yet another woman put off by a man with something that looks like roadkill or a snarling wild beast emerging from their crotch.

**Mark E.** · 8th August 10, 04:52 PM

I think the only one I'd ever wear is a full badger along the lines of A&SH...I love those. But to have a simple fur pouch with a face...probably never. I'd rather see the fur pouch with leather or chrome or brass cantle...skip the face!

There you go. "Fashionable", they say. "Functional", they say. Got to pick one or the other and make a stand. On my side, to have a larger sporran was to have one of lighter leather. The leather I found had fur on it...and a face at one end.

As a side note on women and full mask sporrans...put my wife in the category of disliking them. She is not opposed to me wearing a fur sporran, but her rule is that it can't have a face...yet another woman put off by a man with something that looks like roadkill or a snarling wild beast emerging from their crotch.[/QUOTE]

I have had a few comments on mine...not usually from the lassies. On one account, an inebriated wench did find herself pushed to comment, whilst I was sitting at my leisure with several of my countrymen, and it was "now THAT's the BIGGEST, FURRIEST I have ever SEEN"...those within hearing distance (and she had lung power) got very quiet all of a sudden, and I got quite a ribbing thereafter.

**Mike_Oettle** · 9th August 10, 05:14 AM

Mark E wrote: “. . . I got quite a ribbing thereafter.”

Hardly surprising after the drunken lady’s loud remark!
My sympathies.
Regards,
Mike

**JSFMACLJR** · 9th August 10, 05:24 AM

Originally Posted by kid icarus

i unequivocally despise the things, and every time i see someone wearing one i think to myself a) that is hideous b) why the heck? c) what a d-bag and instantly group them with the people at highland games who carry swords, have their faces painted and spend time in the woods pretending merlin, arthur and wallace. i have never seen one that does not look like crap taxidermy and i'm sure i have seen some "nice" ones at the games.

i know it is judgmental, but meh.....

Yes, that's awfully judgmental, actually. I wear one, and I don't appreciate being called a "d-bag". I think your rhetoric is a bit too much.

**MacBean** · 9th August 10, 07:32 AM

As a child in England, I had a fascination with animals, museums, dead animals. I was given a FM tiger rug, and offered the bull elephant in the foyer of the Swedish Natural History Museum, either of which would have made impressive sporrans (teeth or tusks!). I gave those and other stuffed beasts away when I turned vegetarian 40 years ago. Now all I have is a boa constrictor pelt from the Amazon, which might make a most impressive FM, though you'd have to get the length just right; perhaps mixing it with a hair sporran that came just below the hem of the kilt would be majestic.

Aesthetically, some look OK but most don't. I think the more highly tuned the regalia, the more they fit in fine. On standard day wear they look out of place. I prefer my animals live and wild; there isn't much wild left these days.

**jrmiller** · 9th August 10, 07:48 AM

I understand that this is an art form and I get it from that perspective. Just doesn't seem "right" to me to go out and catch a critter for the sole purpose of skinning it and making it into a pouch. It's not that I love raccoons and such, I would prefer they all go "somewhere" else on the planet. It's just the idea that they are deliberately caught, killed and made into something which could easily be made from another material or fabric.

**Mark E.** · 9th August 10, 08:25 AM

Originally Posted by Mike_Oettle

Mark E wrote: “. . . I got quite a ribbing thereafter.”

Hardly surprising after the drunken lady’s loud remark!
My sympathies.
Regards,
Mike

Ach, no, they were all trying to buy it! If you want an honest review, be in the beer or the VIP tent after hours-all of the insta Scots are gone with the sun, kiddies are away, wandering wives are wandering, and all of the PR filters are gone...Have had a few gals even want to pay ME for the honor of a lap dance, believe it or not. Quite fond of petting the sporran some of them are.

Mark