clunk, clunk, clunk

[Uncle Ricky]

Wearing the kilt at the navel is not comfortable for me. I made mine shorter so that I could wear it lower while still having the bottom just above the kneecap. In otherwords, I eliminated the rise. It's comfortable, and still looks good (I think).

Cheers

[Alan H]

The waistband of the kilt is about 2 inches below my navel.

The you're wearing your kilt too low! The waist of the kilt should be AT your navel -- so the waistband can actually rise above the navel a bit (usually 2 inches). This means your kilt is probably 4 inches lower than it should be.

Hamish is right -- Americans do tend to wear the kilt too long and the sporran too low. The longest the kilt should be is to the middle of your kneecap.

There has been a trend in Scotland recently for wearing the kilt a bit longer than usual, but I don't think it looks very good and I doubt that it will catch on or linger as the fashion.

Well, after that I was curious. I've got on my philbag, so I just stood up and adjusted the kilt to where it seemd "right". The top of the waistband is spot on me belly-button! The sporran is still a nifty plate right over my jewels, tho. I even punched a couple more holes in the sporran strap so I could cinch it up tighter.

[Thistle Stop]

The waistband of the kilt is about 2 inches below my navel.

The you're wearing your kilt too low! The waist of the kilt should be AT your navel -- so the waistband can actually rise above the navel a bit (usually 2 inches). This means your kilt is probably 4 inches lower than it should be.

Hamish is right -- Americans do tend to wear the kilt too long and the sporran too low. The longest the kilt should be is to the middle of your kneecap.

There has been a trend in Scotland recently for wearing the kilt a bit longer than usual, but I don't think it looks very good and I doubt that it will catch on or linger as the fashion.

Well, after that I was curious. I've got on my philbag, so I just stood up and adjusted the kilt to where it seemd "right". The top of the waistband is spot on me belly-button! The sporran is still a nifty plate right over my jewels, tho. I even punched a couple more holes in the sporran strap so I could cinch it up tighter.

How big is the sporran? On most guys, there's room for at least most of the sporran to rest above the 'jewels' if it's in the right place. I just measured my Alan -- it's 8" from bellybutton to 'there' and most of his sporrans are 7" or 8" high. So if you drop it an inch or two down, by the time you get a kilt in between, there should not be a whole sporran bouncing off the magic wand -- little direct contact, really, as it will sit out a little bit due to the stiffness of the doubled kilt aprons. On longwaisted men, though, it could sit lower, and for that problem I'd advise wearing the kilt (and sporran) a bit higher. If one is just short all over and the sporran is proportionately too big, opt for a smaller sporran, even an older-boy's sporran (about 6" high).

[kiltedpride]

OK I bought an inexpesnive, three tassel day sporran. I like it except for one thing. The sporran body is fairly stiff and hard and when I walk the tassels thud into the body of the thing. In fact they do it twice with every step. By the end of the day on Tuesday I was ready to rip the blinkin' thing off.

Some guys also wear ball weights and then you get a clunk, clunk, clang clang! The skill is to get the tuning right.

[bubba]

Take a dab of silicon sealer and stick the buggers down.

[An t-Ileach]

...I’m still trying to figure out what purpose tassels serve. Some sporrans come with five or more. In the older examples I’ve seen they have a purpose, like closing the bag of the sporran...

I think that the tassles were the draw strings from the little pouch bags that were used to separate coins from oat cakes or whatever, and were left hanging outside for ease of access. Presumably the wearer knew which draw strings were which, so he wouldn't offer a part eaten biscuit instead of a coin.

I don't know why there's developed this fad for bloody great leather knots on the end of the decorative tassles - probably it has derived from the Sporran, Highland Units, Number 2, Day. If my theory is correct, then small knots, of bits of bone, etc would be more appropriate - and longer thinner tassles... and less noise.

[Bob C]

I like the sound. It's like having my own drummer, wherever I go.

[Verlyn]

I agree, Bob, although it did take me a while to find the drummer keeping time to my walking pace. :grin: