Turpin Sporran and a Kathy Lare Kilt

[Tartan Hiker]

Actually, that rule has indeed been rewritten. It now states that all Lare kilts with a 38" waist and 25" drop be sent to me for hikeworthiness testing.

[KFCarter]

Actually, that rule has indeed been rewritten. It now states that all Lare kilts with a 38" waist and 25" drop be sent to me for hikeworthiness testing.

What about the rumored rule that all 40" waist, 20" Lare kilts have to be sent to Savannah for "pre-conditioning"?

(why should all you "willowy" guys get all the goodies?)

[ChubRock]

I was simply trying not to openly endorse or advertise. Now an honest review of goods and service I can certainly do and I am glad to have the opportunity to share my excitement.

A few months ago I started a thread here about killing my credit cards. Our lives have been more comfortable without them. Taking this step made me really think about my purchases a lot more. I needed to save my change, ala Jock Scot's advice, for any purchases. Instead of buying a quickie sporran and OTR kilt for cheap, I wanted to look deeper into the style and more importantly size I needed or my Man of Substance frame.

After spending way too much time Googling sporrans and kilts and checking vendors here and on other (more inferior) kilt sites, I decided to search the XMTS forum for words like "sporran" " kilt" "happy" "big" "exactly" and of course "member." After those searches, it came clear that there was a choice to be made between two sporran crafstmen whose work I liked and 'needed' and five or six kilt makers whose work was beautiful and traditional.

I'll start with my sporran from XTMS member Turpin:

My need was a for a nice black day-wear sporran. Between Thorfinn Custom Sporrans and Wyvern Leatherworks, I decided that the Thorfinn was a better fit for me and I like the way Big Mikeys looked, hey if Mikey likes it? (old joke for you kiddies out there.) I contacted Turpi and after several emails (I'm surprised he put up with me) we decided on an the black buffalo intermediate custom size. My bill including shipping, insurance and PayPal charges was $142.00. From time of ordering to receiving was about three weeks.

When this beautiful piece showed up I was excited. Yes, you could smell the leather through the bag :-) Upon opening my $146 TCS I realized it was huge and my initial thought was, "crap it's too big." Then I put it on, wow was it a perfect fit! It made me look better in my kilt immediately by giving me a nice Rob Roy look without tassels and a size that made my hips look proportioned with my sporran. You can only image that after a few seconds my sporran was 'lifted' from excitement. The detail of the leather was beautiful and the silver accessories were so nice. The buffalo was soft, yet firm and it hangs perfectly. I recommend this maker for not only his craftsmanship, but his patience and communication.