Sporran strap wear

[Rick]

I have read in several postings about the increased wear to the kilt by sporran chains vs. leather belts. As a scientist, I have been trying to hypothesize what might be the mechanism for the increased wear from the chain. Could it be that individual fibers become lodged between links, whereby they are torn from the fabric? Any thoughts on this?

Rick

[awoodfellow]

rick

my education in friction is .. if the rod bearing don't get no oil, the rod bearing is gonna break.

my understanding is the sporran strap is free around the hips. obviously, with hip movement there is a tendancy for a 'to-n-fro' movement of the strap with hip movement. with a steel linked chain strap, no doubt, the wear upon fabric will be aggressive. even a leather strap will have an affect on a wool or thinner fabric.

it's not " if " ..... it's " when "

'brose

[F16WarBird]

The chain will fray the material over time.

[Ranald]

Has anyone thought of using clear heat shrink tubing which is used to cover electrical wiring, and can be got from most electrical supply companies.
At least you would stil be able to wear your chains with the decrease in kilt wear.
cheers.

[Scotus]

A very interesting question! I'm not expert, but in my opinion, a chain would not be worse on a kilt than leather. Looking at my sporan chain, I see that the links are joined on the inside of the chain. The links on mine are twisted in such a way that at no time could the joint on the link of my sporan chain come in contact with the wool. I would think the rough side of a leather sporan strap would be worse on a wool kilt.

Thus, I like the chain for the sporan better and see no reason why it would be any worse, since no part of the link joint touches the wool.

[Big Paul]

The chain has a smaller surface area than the strap, so it applies the weight in a smaller area creating more or faster wear... Plus I would think that with the increased contact area of a strap that there would be a little less to and fro movement that would affect wear as well..

Just the rambling of an engineer..

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Good point, Paul.

I have a MacGregor kilt that is about 80+ years old (No, I'm not a MacGregor by any stretch of the imagination, and yes, I wear the kilt despite that fact!)

Anyway, it is a very heavy and well woven cloth. And all I can tell you about the previous owner is that he must have been in a pipe band or some other unit that had him marching a lot, and he wore a heavy sporran with a chain strap. Because there is obvious and visible wear in the cloth on either hip, right where a chain strap would lie.

So, those that are wondering, yes, even on the highest quality wool, a chain strap will create wear in the cloth if worn for a long enough period of time.

I'll bring out my chain strap if I'm going somewhere formal. Otherwise, I wear a leather strap.

Aye,
Matt

[Big Paul]

I concur with your hypothesis. You just stated it more eloquently than I did..8)

[Jerry]

I have read in several postings about the increased wear to the kilt by sporran chains vs. leather belts. As a scientist, I have been trying to hypothesize what might be the mechanism for the increased wear from the chain. Could it be that individual fibers become lodged between links, whereby they are torn from the fabric? Any thoughts on this?

Rick

Perhaps that is a good hypothesis. The coefficient of friction should be higher for the leather strap than for the metal chain link. In addition, there should be more surface area in contact with the kilt when using a strap instead of a chain. Therefore, the strap should cause more damage. Since it doesn't, there must be other factors such as the one you suggested, or the "more motion theory suggested below.

Here is my hypothesis:
We must look at how each individual link acts. Only a portion of each link contacts the kilt, whereas the entire surface area of the strap is in contact.
Even though the coefficient of friction is lower, it is because the chain is harder and the area of contact is smaller that causes the wear. If two weights are equal, but one is applied over a much wider area, the one applied to a small area creates the greatest force, more pounds per square inch. As an example, let's say that a 150 pound man steps on your foot with the heel of his ghillies. Sure it's going to hurt, but your foot will survive. Now lets assume that a nice, well dressed lady does the same. For a female, she is slightly heavy and weighs the same the man, 150 pounds. The difference is that she is wearing 4 inch spike heels. Your poor foot wouldn't stand a chance. The force applied to your poor foot would likely be about 150 pounds per square inch. With the ghillies, it would be approximately 35 pounds per square inch. Same weight, but since force is weight divided by area, The spike heel does greater damage.

[chasem]

Perhaps that is a good hypothesis. The coefficient of friction should be higher for the leather strap than for the metal chain link. In addition, there should be more surface area in contact with the kilt when using a strap instead of a chain. Therefore, the strap should cause more damage. Since it doesn't, there must be other factors such as the one you suggested, or the "more motion theory suggested below.

Here is my hypothesis:
We must look at how each individual link acts. Only a portion of each link contacts the kilt, whereas the entire surface area of the strap is in contact.
Even though the coefficient of friction is lower, it is because the chain is harder and the area of contact is smaller that causes the wear. If two weights are equal, but one is applied over a much wider area, the one applied to a small area creates the greatest force, more pounds per square inch. As an example, let's say that a 150 pound man steps on your foot with the heel of his ghillies. Sure it's going to hurt, but your foot will survive. Now lets assume that a nice, well dressed lady does the same. For a female, she is slightly heavy and weighs the same the man, 150 pounds. The difference is that she is wearing 4 inch spike heels. Your poor foot wouldn't stand a chance. The force applied to your poor foot would likely be about 150 pounds per square inch. With the ghillies, it would be approximately 35 pounds per square inch. Same weight, but since force is weight divided by area, The spike heel does greater damage.

In actuality, a woman wearing spike heels actually puts more pressure on the ground where the heels make contact, than an elephant puts on the ground where one foot contacts.