Sporrans SHOULD be able to hold?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

In my sporran I have my wallet, two keys-- to the motor car and the house-- a coin purse, half a dozen or so banknotes, and a half-soverign which rolls around loose down in the bottom of the sporran. Anything else should be carried by a ghillie, or left in one's motor car.

My day wear sporran was made for me in Scortland about 35 years ago-- it's deer skin, and has a brass "frogs mouth" cantle that opens wide providing ease of access to the few items I carry.

[Andrew Breecher]

I always carry the following in my sporran: Moleskine notebook, pen, tri-fold wallet, cell phone, keys attached to a Swiss Army Knife. I never have trouble finding things, since the notebook and wallet stand upright, and everything else ends up in the bottom in some form. I pretty much only use my Freelander sporran, and have no trouble at all managing to open and close it with the loop/horn button closure with one hand. I don't even think about it anymore, and it's quite a fast process.



Andrew.

[Tommie]

Well I allways carry:
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree!

[Amoskeag]

When I wear trousers I look like Batman's utility belt. Leatherman, mini-mag and phone on the belt. Wallet and handkecheif in back pockets. chance purse,zippo (don't smoke) and clip knife in front pockets, pen ad PDA in my shirt pocket. If I fell over the side I'd sink like a stone! Now put me in a kilt and the rules must change. Knife in hose, no-brainer; phone on sporran strap, wallet, zippo, mini-mag and change purse in sporran. I also wear a vest most of the time just for pockets. I can't help it I'm a dweeb!
Bob

[Canuck]

This is what works for me.

There is a pocket inside that holds a PDA cell phone and camera
bank card holder money clip.
other side is a dog clip and d ring
room for flask, glasses and much more.
It measures 8"x8" and has a 3.5" wide gusset
The front is box pleated so it can expand
Fastens two ways. Snap as well as a loop. Easy to close with one hand

[SFCRick]

wallet, phone, keys, cigar, cutter, lighter& flask of single Malt

[Tartan Hiker]

I used a magnetic closure on the sporran I just made. I countersunk the thick magnet into the leather so that it is flush with the surface, and that makes it quite easy to line up and fasten without having to look down and fiddle around with it. I'm really liking it. Very easy to open and close, and much easier to manage than any of the flap-closing sporrans I have.

[davedove]

I keep mine down to the minimum as often as I can:

Wallet
change Purse
Keys
Maybe a pen

Often I will put in my camera, since you never know when a young lassie would like a picture.

NO CELL PHONE - I don't need to be interrupted every 15 minutes for casual chatter. I leave it in the car where I might need it.

[James MacMillan]

We had a thread ..here.. about the stuff in the sporran. I wear the kilt every day and choose the black or brown leather or Black nylon SWK nightstalker because of the ease of use. I can find most things one-handed and quickly. In the top zipper flap, I carry a zippo and a swiss army executive knife. In the front compartment I carry folding money and change purse. In the main compartment I carry wallet, keys, notebook, pen, sporran knife, tic-tacs, or candy, cell phone, and ciggs.

I also own an unknown maker old sporran that has also has a single compartment inside and a Buzz Kidder for day wear. But I find that I use the SWK’s the most. They serve for daily wear and I only switch out of them when I want to look a little more dressy.

For evening wear I have metal canteled dress sporrans that hold damn near nothing. I have one being made right now, and I have a skunk skin for another cantled one. Thankfully the jacket and vest have pockets also.

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[thescot]

In my trousers, I carry a wallet (thin in front pocket), keys (way to many and the heaviest and most bulky things I have), a coin purse, nail clippers, lip balm, and a little utility tool that is very small. In the back pocket is a handkerchief. All that fits into a sporran pretty well, and I find that the less complicated the closure, the better. The cell phone clips to my belt.

For longer treks, like a hike, I wear a vest/jacket/shirt-with-lots-of-pockets to help out as Riverkilt suggested. (In fact, that vest thing is always a good idea.) If it's an all day outing, I'll probably take a back pack since anything more in the sporran tends to weight it down too much, and then you might have the reverse of the hip wallet phenomenon, i.e., moving the center of gravity too far forward. A backpack prevents that.

The most serviceable sporran I have is an elk hide Rob Roy style since it opens quite large for my hand to go in. The Bone and draw string fastener looks good, but (Riverkilt again) it's a little bothersome to mess with. the problem with it is that when I really fill it up, as for a long day's outing, it gets heaving and swings a lot when I walk.

For most outings, I find myself wearing a simple military style (surplus) sporran with a little metal stud that just pokes through a hole in the flap. It's a bit small, but it works, doesn't bang against me when I walk, and is pretty discreet.

Everything is a trade-off, so you just have to decide what you really want, what you really need, and what you like.