Sporran Closure Question

[KiltedBrewer]

I wore my DIY sporran made from the pattern in So You're Going to Wear the Kilt all day today. I found that it was a real hassle to deal with the lace loop over the button while standing at the register at a store. I was wondering if anyone has any experience using these closures for their sporrans. Do they hold well enough to keep your sporran closed?

Thanks in advance,
David

[Joe Gondek]

I've never had any trouble with mine
a picture of your sporran would help
It could be the construction

[cavscout]

Those clasps work well on some sporrans. Buzz Kidder uses them in his sporrans (which I have two of and like a lot) There are two sporrans in that book as I recall. Since you mention using a thong and toggle type closure I'm expecting you made the Rob Roy style that is more like a soft bag. These magnetic clasps may not work very well on those because the leather is so soft and moves quite a bit and the magnets are not strong enough that they would pull together without being lined up almost on top of each other. However, once the bag is cinched up under the flap and since the flap is molded to a fixed position, perhaps the magnets would be close enough to engage on their own or with minimal fiddling. I'd be concerned that with the bouncing and swinging of the sporran though that it would tend to pull apart easily.

[ForresterModern]

I have a dark dyed primitive fox face mask (no eyes, no taxidermy, just the skinned face) sporran where the face is the flap and the rest of the sporran is a matching dark dyed relatively soft leather. There is just this type of magnetic button clasp that holds the face over the opening of the sporran. As long as I do not overload the sporran the clasp holds fine in all uses so far. The sporran is preety sizable so putting in my stuff doesn't really seriously deform the front of the sporran enough to interfere with the claps's function. I will try to post pictures later if I can remember.

[A Hay]

I just got the Tandy Leather website when I opened the link, but I assume you are talking about magnetic type closures from the comments made by Cavscout.

I have made about 40 pouches and sporrans in the last two years and I use them often. Once they close, they seem to hold securely. The trick is getting the front flap and the face of the sporran lined up and the magnets attached in such a way that they consistently come together with little effort.

The other tricky part is attaching them to the sporran. The attachment to the front of the pouch part of the sporran is not difficult, you just cut a couple of slits and the magnet tabs slide in. There is a "keeper" that slides over the tabs and you bend the tabs inward to hold it securely. I usually cut a circle of soft leather and glue it over the inside of the pouch just to prevent the metal from scratching my hand or anything else in the sporran.

For the underside of the front flap, I cut another circle of leather, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Then cut slits for the tabs, put the keeper on the back side of the leather, bend the tabs over. And then cement the circle of leather to the underside of the front flap. Sounds complicated but it works.

If you put the front flap magnetic catch into the one on the pouch front, then apply leather cement and then carefully fold the front flap down on top, it usually then will repeatedly close at the same location. Have to be sure that the cement on the leather circle is pressed to the upper flap so you get full contact, then put a weight on it for several hours to ensure it dries.

I don't know if this helps, but good luck.

here are a couple of pictures that show a little bit.



Here is another type of clasp, called a turn-lock. It is very secure, but I've had a couple fail over time. It might not suit the style of your sporran also.


Regards,

Tom

[KiltedBrewer]

Thanks to everyone who replied--especially A Hay for the photos and explanation. That is exactly what I was thinking. I'll have to order one of the closures and give it a shot.

David

[turpin]

I've been using the toggle and thong closure daily for 2 years with no problems, nor any reported from my customers

[Tartan Hiker]

I had the same complaints with my first sporran (the thong-over-button closure, that is) and have used magnetic clasps in my newer ones with good success.

[KiltedBrewer]

Turpin,
It's not so much a problem with the closure as that I feel like it takes me too long to cinch the lace around the opening and then loop the other lace around the catch and cinch that one. Mostly it bothers me when I'm in a checkout line. It makes me feel like one of those old ladies who stands there after her transaction is done and fills in her check register, closes and snaps her checkbook, tucks her checkbook into her purse, takes out her wallet, carefully folds the receipt, places it in the correct slot in her wallet, puts her wallet into her purse, and then finally moves out from in front of the checker.

I'm looking for a way to make getting my wallet out of my sporran as easy (or almost as easy) as taking it from the back pocket of my p@nts.

David

[turpin]

Understood. I know what you mean, but prefer the capacity of the Rob Roy style sporran. good luck.

One thing I have though about but not done is to substitute elastic cord for the drawstrings. That way the back would gather automatically and one would only need to loop the thing over the button. Now to find out how the Highlanders made elastic back in the day.