Piping Sporran

[tulloch]

I was fortunate to be at the Worlds. I am really glad it was so widely available to see and hear. Looking at some of the people in our band I have to say that support personnel should carry the maintenance stuff. A nice sporran that could hold your keys and maybe a cell phone looks stuffed if it is stuffed. Hemp, tape, a knife, spare reeds, containers therefore, corks - it all adds up fast. Keep it trim.

[OC Richard]

Interesting that you should bring this up, because I too watched The Worlds live streaming and took note of the sporrans worn. I find pipe band dress interesting and I pay attention to what the "big boys" are wearing in Grade One.

Thing is, pipe band dress tends to be fairly uniform the world over. A certain "look" becomes standard with the leading G1 bands and most of the lower-level bands around the world follow suit. Perhaps the notion is "if we can't sound like them, at least we can look like them!"

Anyhow most pipe bands the world over wear the same design of sporran. No, really. Of the 17 different G1 bands I saw on Saturday and Sunday (I wasn't able to see everyone) 10 were wearing the same style, so ubiquitous among pipe bands that I call it simply "the pipe band sporran". It's not uncommon to see a contest where every single band is wearing it. Here it is



As you can see it's the old traditional "Hunting sporran" but done up in black (rather than the traditional pigskin) and with a chrome cantle off of a fur Evening Dress sporran stuck on top.

I think bands like these because they give a bit of "bling" while having no bits that can fall off and get lost (like tassels).

Here's the traditional Hunting sporran it's based on (lovely but you'll probably never see a band wearing these)



(Both of the above examples made by L&M Highland Outfitters, Nova Scotia, one of the few makers still offering the traditional line of sporrans, made to the highest standard.)

At the Worlds the second-most popular sporran (four bands of the 17 I saw) was an ordinary grey sealskin Evening Dress sporran.

Here's one of the world's top pipe bands, SFU, wearing the "pipe band sporran" as I call it



Here is Yours Truly and sixty of his mates wearing them at the same venue



Here's Shotts wearing their grey sealskin Evening Dress sporrans

[OC Richard]

Oh, about those typical Pipe Band sporrans, beware of ones that look like this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IPC-Black-Le...item3f1b9ff2ca

They're made in Pakistan. You can spot them easily due to the three huge chrome domes on the cantle. The leather is poorly stitched and begins falling apart after some wear, and the back has some rough edges that can damage your kilts. Penny wise and pound foolish!

Here you can see that Higgins offers this style for $35 and for $170. I don't see where they say where either is made, but the cheap one is obviously made in Pakistan or India. If the $170 is by L&M it's a very good price.

http://jhiggins.net/sf_catproductlis...SD0GEQEF373WL8

Here is what many Scottish pipe bands wear, sporrans from Gaelic Themes. They say these sporrans are made in Glasgow

http://www.gaelicthemes.net/index.ph...ail?Itemid=119

[KiltFitz]

Maybe not what you are after but there might be the odd pipe band interested in this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3009527311...84.m1423.l2649

[Piobair]

I've gone through this process with a couple of bands. I really like Higgins - been doing business with them for about 25 years and have always been satisfied. Jon Maffett at The Pipers Hut/Peel Police is also great to work with and will likely have some insight on outfitting a band.

I'm not crazy about fur sporrans or semi-dress, metal-cantled hunting sporrans. Decent ones are pricey and Pakistani versions fall apart pretty quickly. I will say that one local juvi band uses Pakistani hunting sporrans to good effect, but thats probably more luck than the result of great design. A basic three tasseled leather bag works well, and even tassel-less would look good.

One suggestion - find out who the quartermasters are for local bands. They might be willing to tell you where they get their kit, and occasionally you'll run into someone who is looking to unload a bunch of sporrans if there's been a recent uniform upgrade. Bands occasionaly (rarely) advertise uniform/equipment sales on Dunsire, but reaching out will usually produce positive results. Also - If your band uses an instructor, see if they have any leads. Good luck!