Piper's sporran

[Snowbear]

I am looking for a sporran to use when I do solo piping at events. Since I hold an officer grade I did look at some military styles, with the standard piper sporran in mind. After a month or so with searching around the internet I found several places to buy from that offers pipers sporrans for £100 and up. It seems that ex army sporrans can be found pretty cheap on ebay, but what can you advice me to look for?

I also saw a nice sporran at "thescotlandkiltcompany". I usually cross the streen when going past them, but a sporran like that for £88 is unusual. I have my concerns that it's pakistani, but I really don't know.

Anyone who can help me find a good sporran for solo piping with full No.1 setup?

[OC Richard]

The ex-MOD Highland regiments Other Ranks' horsehair sporrans are on Ebay all the time and are very nice. They're one big huge pocket, plenty of room for everything!

I have an Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders one, the famous "swinging six" sporran, black with six short white tassels.

[Snowbear]

I do like those military ones, but it is hard to find MOD-sporrans with a metal cantle. I just think that metal cantle looks better and more appropriate for a piper to wear (correct me if I'm wrong).

The "swinging six" is a really nice way of wearing a sporran. with 6, or even 5 short tassels the sporran suddenly does'nt look like any otherr sporran.

[Jack Daw]

I have two horsehair sporrans for formal pseudo-military piping. But, when I pipe for competitions or informal piping (piper shirt, glengarry), I tend to wear the standard, leather day sporran. One of my horsehair sporrans has a small pouch, so I wear a black pouch that slides onto my kilt belt.

[slohairt]

I sell horsehair sporrans made by L&M and they start at $320 CAD and up. All styles are available as either a 'flat' model or with a fully functional cantle and pouch. I also offer a 10% discount to XMarks members. Here's the link.

[Snowbear]

Lots of good inputs here. And now something I have been thinking of:

What kind of horse hair sporran would you recommend? I can't promise I will do as you say, but I would love to hear some good arguments. Name a sporran, and why you would love to see it on a piper. (there are so many to choose from)

[EagleJCS]

As a civilian piper, I don't (and probably will never) wear a horse hair sporran. As Steve (Jack Daw) alluded, that is a military look, so to call a horse hair sporran a 'piper's sporran' is a misnomer.

The pipe band I play with just got some of the 'hybrid' sporrans a couple of years ago - mostly black leather with rivets and a metal cantle. Before that, it was plain black leather with a flap.

When I play privately (i.e. not representing the band) I wear my full mask badger.

So, I guess which type of sporran you choose will depend on the rest of your outfit and how you want to present yourself. Best of luck in your decision.

[Snowbear]

I will probably be playing in the full no.1 outfit.


As a pipeband player I just play with argyle jacket and leather sporran, but for private performances I would like to do something different. Here in Norway people are not used to see kilts, so they have no idea that there is a difference between civilian and regimental pleated kilts (or anything else). Most cases when I have done solo piping some people actually expects a full no.1, since that's how they think a piper should be. And I personally really like the look of the real regimental piper uniform. And if someone starts argue that it's military, I can always give them a hint that I still am an officer.

[longhuntr74]

No offense to John, but I disagree that horsehair = military. As a recent thread about a sporran for a wedding spurred discussion on the same issue...if you look at photos, lithographs, and drawings of kilted individuals from the late 1700s thru the early 1900s, you will see that the preponderance of kilted men wore hair sporrans of either horsehair or goathair. I know I bragged about it on another thread, but my beloved just purchased me a goathair sporran from NorCalPiper (Skye Highland Outfitters). The sporran is not a copy of a military sporran, but still has a decorative cantle and goathair gives a very vintage look. They also produce horsehair sporrans with leather flaps and in several non-military configurations that I would recommend if you like hair sporrans. His prices and quality are great (based on my online shopping and reviews I've read) and he was tremendously helpful to my wife when she was making the purchase (her knowing little to nothing about kilts, he was very eager to answer her questions and provide advice). Highly recommend that you check out Skye!

[EagleJCS]

No offense to John, but I disagree that horsehair = military. As a recent thread about a sporran for a wedding spurred discussion on the same issue...if you look at photos, lithographs, and drawings of kilted individuals from the late 1700s thru the early 1900s, you will see that the preponderance of kilted men wore hair sporrans of either horsehair or goathair.

No offense taken. I was actually trying to comment more on the (mis-?)use of the term "piper's sporran" in describing the horsehair sporran. The horsehair sporran with or without tassles - especially the kilt-length sporrans - is considered a military-style sporran, at least in the pipe band circles I'm familiar with (Midwest US), and is worn with what is often described as "#1 dress", which is a British military descriptor of the uniform those sporrans are most often worn with. Most civilian (non-military, non-public-service) pipe bands in this area don't wear them because of that impression.

I would venture to guess that many of the men pictured in the various media were either active or retired military, or imitating the look, as has been described as the custom in the late 1800's through the turn of the 20th century. Granted, the goathair sporran is civilian, but it looks vastly different from the horsehair sporran.

Before we derail this thread further, let's agree to disagree on this one, OK?