Traditional Kilts are safer!

[James MacMillan]

Last night I had an occasion to visit a pretty rough area. I went bar-hopping in Tijuana. I have done this many times, and I am not a novice. If you speak the language, keep your eyes open, and don’t get drunk, it’s a fun evening! Tijuana can live up to all the stories (with the exception of the urban myth about the donkey.)

Over more than 43 years of visits, this was the first time that I have ever had any problems, and hind-sight makes the event more comical than anything else.

When visiting areas like this, I always prepare myself for the worst. I utilize what we Marines call a Navy wallet – namely a sock tucked into the waistband that holds the important stuff – Wallet, ID, Passport, money. In the sporran, I only carry a photocopy of the passport (good enough as the original in most cases) a little money, lighter and ciggs.

Several of us were standing outside of one bar, discussing which place to visit next, and I felt a tug at my sporran belt. I grabbed for the sporran, and easily had it in my hand before it hit the ground. My buddies started yelling, and I turned to see a thief running away with my severed sporran belt in his hand. This guy must have been experienced, and had obviously used this method on women with purses, but it didn’t work with my sporran. I called my buddies back from their chase, and held up my sporran. No loss! I begged a length of twine from a shop keeper, and was back in bar-hopping mode is minutes.

As the evening wore on, I became less irritated and more amused at the sporran belt thief. I’m also glad I use a solid belt that is looped through the back of the sporran, and not one that has clips. This shows that, had the belt been clipped to the sporran, the thief could have been successful. So, all I lost was an old belt, which I can easily replace. In fact, I have a couple of good ones on order from Steve at Oconee right now. And Jerry at SWK has a couple of very usable sporran belts also.

The lesson for the night – Act like a Boy Scout and “Be Prepared” and Traditional Kilted attire is much safer that pants!

[Mael Coluim]

Glad to hear no harm was done and you were able to return to your merry making with a good attitude. Lesson learned; Be Prepared.

[McMurdo]

Good to hear that nothing serious was lost.

[Bugbear]

Great story. I don't know anything about kilts.

[Zardoz]

"Tijuana can live up to all the stories (with the exception of the urban myth about the donkey.)"

That's not a myth in Nuevo Laredo.

[Yaish]

Maybe a sporran chain would have served better in this instance?

Usually if I'm in an area like that I go with the UK's. You could probably cut the pocket off, but not easily. Not much chance of getting a hand in the pocket past the snaps without notice either.

Glad you didn't lose anything and gained a story to boot.

[TheKiltedWonder]

well, I'm glad to see you carried on with the merry making none the worse for wear. That'll teach him to aim for the kilted

[Alaskan Kilted Guy]

Thanks for sharing! Great lesson to be learned.

[Galician]

Usually if I'm in an area like that I go with the UK's. You could probably cut the pocket off, but not easily. Not much chance of getting a hand in the pocket past the snaps without notice either.

Except for the Survival model, perhaps? That one has snap-on pockets. Guess which model I have.

[Kilted_Campbell]

Excellent point about not having the belt clipped to the sporran. I will take this under consideration as I am not to please with my current belt with chains and was thinking about a new one. It also seems that a leather belt would be more sturdy except it apears your assalant used a knife. But with my chain belt all one would need to do is give it a good tug and it would be off.

Than for the story...