Quality Sporrans for less money

[SF Jeff]

Ha! At 1:20 notice the Pipe Sergeant has to adjust his chanter and strike in the pipes again. I'm assuming he had to take his chanter out of the pipes to adjust the reed right before they played, and put his chanter back in rotated wrongly. It happens!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKE-AAAIQdU

I'm sure he noticed it right away, but interesting how he waits until the end of the first part to adjust it. Maybe because there’s a little “down time” at the 8th bar? Didn’t seem to phase him one bit - he jumps right back in as if nothing happened.

Also, the piper to his right loses his blow pipe but gets it back no problem. Probably no grommets or hose clamps on his bag.

How about the bearskin variety. Surely THEY must be pretty heavy…

I know this is an apples and oranges comparison, but a friend of mine has a full bearskin rug. Black bear from Nor Cal that was about 300 lbs (136 kg) on the hoof. That rug is very heavy. I know it's the full hide plus the skull, modeling clay, paws, claws, artificial eyes and teeth, felt backing, etc. but still... it's heavy. I think if even a fraction of a hide is used for a hat it would weigh a lot, much more than 1.5 lbs which was mentioned earlier.

I tried on a feather bonnet one time and it weighed nothing. Like OCR said it's just a headband, chin strap, lightweight wire cage and the feathers.

[OC Richard]

Also, the piper to his right loses his blow pipe but gets it back no problem. Probably no grommets or hose clamps on his bag.

Good eye! I missed that.

True about grommets and hose clamps. I went through that for a year (our Pipe Major insisted on Gore-Tex bags with kitty litter, tons of hoses, zippers, and grommets) and I hated it.

After inventing all that unnecessary impedimenta, in the typical Bagpipe World thing of people coming up with solutions in search of problems, they invented hideous ball-joint blowpipes to keep your blowpipe straight (which problem never existed with properly tied-in traditional bags) and "drone valves" to allow you to strike in your pipes (which problem also never existed with traditional bags).

While people like me soldier on with plain sheep bags and have none of those issues.

I tried on a feather bonnet one time and it weighed nothing.

Oddly enough, up into the 1970s most bands wore them in competition, top Grade One bands like Edinburgh Police, Glasgow Police, etc. When I started (in the 1970s) most bands still wore them for gigs but had gone with simpler outfits for competition.

Here we are in the early 1980s playing at a golf course wearing far too much kit.

[OC Richard]

A seal Evening sporran (here in the USA) and a black "day" sporran $75 for both.

The "day" sporran is by WE Scott.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14738397329...102140.m167418

[SF Jeff]

Good eye! I missed that.

True about grommets and hose clamps. I went through that for a year (our Pipe Major insisted on Gore-Tex bags with kitty litter, tons of hoses, zippers, and grommets) and I hated it.

After inventing all that unnecessary impedimenta, in the typical Bagpipe World thing of people coming up with solutions in search of problems, they invented hideous ball-joint blowpipes to keep your blowpipe straight (which problem never existed with properly tied-in traditional bags) and "drone valves" to allow you to strike in your pipes (which problem also never existed with traditional bags).

While people like me soldier on with plain sheep bags and have none of those issues.

A moose valve and hybrid bag is my MCS. Everything downstream of the moose valve is dry as a bone. Not even a hint of moisture on the drone reeds, ever, and I'm a wet blower. But if I played on a daily basis I would try a non-grommeted hide bag.

But back to sporrans...

[OC Richard]

Deceptive AI image!

Luckily the seller posted a photo with a ruler where you can see the sporran is only 5.5 inches long, obviously a child (or possibly youth) size.

But the AI image has upscaled it to be the correct size for an adult man.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/27811598182...102140.m167418

[OC Richard]

Nice L&M Highland Outfitters (Nova Scotia, Canada) sporran here in the USA $25 Buy It Now.

Black leather, black fur, "semi dress".

https://www.ebay.com/itm/12795004160...Bk9SR4zTmKbjZw

[OC Richard]

WE Scott plain black "day" sporran, one of the early ones, probably mid-1970s to around 1980.

£25

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37731607323...Bk9SR-ji4JzmZw

They don't show the back on this one (the style called EW4) but they don't have to. The shaped of the "bells" gives it away as Pakistani.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/36652046677...Bk9SR-ji4JzmZw

This one has a Pakistani vibe too

https://www.ebay.com/itm/31853863880...Bk9SR-ji4JzmZw

[OC Richard]

One thing I should address are the tons of horrible Pakistani imitations of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders sergeants/officers badger sporrans.

Here's one. The "head" is pieced together from black and white rabbit skins, and the body seems to be rabbit too.

Also the hardware is wrong. These Pakistani things seem to always have ordinary semicircular cantles, whereas the actual ASH sporrans have a unique gently curved brass cantle which, by the way, doesn't open. Rather the cantle is more or less a fixed clasp holding the various parts together- to get inside the sporran you lift up the head.

And the actual ASH badger sporrans had unique cones, serrated edge and upside-down thistles.



cf. four real ASH badger sporrans. Far right is by L&M using a North American badger.

Second right is probably from a Volunteer Battalion due to the silver hardware.

[Canadian Vet]

Those Badger sporran inspire me to want to make a sporran out of our top predator.

Hmmmm.
Polar Bear ...

[geomick]

Those Badger sporran inspire me to want to make a sporran out of our top predator.

Hmmmm.
Polar Bear ...

full mask Polar Bear would be impressive