Popping straps

[TheSilverSpear]

Being spacy and cheap are not good personality traits for a piper, are they?

I had a lovely popping strap a friend sent me, but I left it somewhere and it was never seen again. So I went to the local shoe repair shop and bought another piece of leather for $10. It didn't seal the chanter all that well. I left it in East Durham, which was fine because it was a useless popping strap anyway. Ever since East Durham, I've been surviving without one, but it would be nice to acquire another one (or perhaps about 10 of them given my tendency to lose them).

So does anyone have any suggestions for where to get one and not pay $10 for it?

[djm]

This has come up so many times in the past. Did you do a Search? Try to find a leather shop that does work by hand. They throw out tons of scraps every week. Don't be surprised if you're grappling with lots of others looking for scrap leather. Another source is to buy a chamois at car care places. I use one to wrap my chanter for storage, and then just throw it over my leg to play. There were lots of other suggestions by others in previous posts.

djm

[tompipes]

Another source is to buy a chamois at car care places. I use one to wrap my chanter for storage, and then just throw it over my leg to play. There were lots of other suggestions by others in previous posts.

I spent $11 on a huge piece of chamois in Wal-Mart. I got 4 or 5 popping straps from it.

Tommy.

[Calum]

Charity shops...womens handbags (huge). They'll pay you to take them off their hands and they generally yield two or four of the little blighters (like you, I lost four of them, and no house moving was involved).

Cheers,
Calum

[vcolby]

I suggest you try Cattle Hide, as it is thick, depressive and heavy (so it does not slip around). I started with a large piece of it, and now have a rather small piece for giving it away (even Joe Kennedy has a piece given to him for the price of a lesson).

Best of luck,

Virgil

[myrddinemrys]

Get ye to a thrift shop and buy one of those geeky leather jackets from the '70s and slice it up. That's all they were good for anyhow. I think someone here mentioned they use them for bags.

[wgority]

If you're in the US and you can get to a Tandy Leather shop, I'd recommend their "Blacksmith Sides". Most of the shops have a remnants bin with leftover bits from in-store workshops and demos. You'd be surprised at the quality of some of the leftover stuff you'll find there. Some of it's even big enough to do bags.

Tandy also has a web-presence <http://www.tandyleather.com> and does catalog ordering for the most part.

Bill

[Joseph E. Smith]

Tandy is also notorious for being waaaaaay overpriced... even the scrap bin. I think hitting up a Slavation Army, Goodwill, or other form of second hand stores is the way to go.

[jqpublick]

I think it would be good if you went right back to the beginning. So here's my suggestion.

Purchase a hand-held crossbow and bolts, sneak out to a cow pasture carrying the crossbow, a small knife and ( this is crucial ) a bucket full of salt water. Put the bucket down where you won't spill it and other cows won't drink it and find a likely cow. Avoid the unlikely cows at all costs. If you're not sure, check to see that it conforms to all current cow-recognition standards, and therefore isn't say a P-57 Mustang. Take your time.

Once you have chosen your cow, take careful aim at something nearby -for example a telephone pole or fencerail, and not part of another cow- close your eyes and fire. I guarantee you are 100% likely to kill the cow with a bolt into the right eye. This is a good thing. Next, go and stand in your bucket of water. Do not fall over. Once you are nestled in the water, loudly proclaim that you are an innocent, passing ship and you have come across some flotsam and are thereby proclaiming Droits of Admiralty. This sad but necessary legal manouver will keep you free and clear from any later legal difficulties with the cow's surviving family members.

You should stay in the bucket and carefully hop to the cow ( clearing the fence is always good for extra points ) and look for the six-inch by two-foot spot that runs down the chest of your selected cow. Take your knife and slice the shape of a good popping strap into the skin, taking care not to cut too deeply. Now grab just outside your cut at one corner with one hand and just inside the corner of your cut with your other hand. ( Your third hand should be holding up the light. ) Pretend you are about to yank a bandage off a hyperactive child with pain-avoidance upgrades and with a brisk snapping motion pull as fast as you can. Hopefully, nothing will have happened. At most, your fingers will have slipped off and you will look ( to the other cows ) as if you were trying to snap your fingers in distain to some invisible, slightly incredulous basketball player. Incredulous for what should be, by now, fairly obvious reasons.

No, what you really do wipe a corner clear of blood and note the whitish layer right underneath the hair. Grip a bit of the hair at the corner and pull up, then slip the knife lightly under that white layer. Cut in a widening arc, holding tension on the skin layer until you've got a wet, slimy popping strap in one hand. Yodelling at this point is considered polite. Now for the bolt. Make sure you're deep into the brain, then whip that grey matter into a froth. Churn like a mad person. 'Cause you gotta figure by now everyone else sees you slipping nicely into that role. Use the bolt as a scoop and get as much brain matter as you can out of there. Try not to get too much blood involved.

Now leave quickly, but take your bucket with you, as well as your new popping strap and your knife. Cows should not be left with sharp implements. That's why we took away their horns. On your way home, stop at each coffee shop you can either see or know of and buy coffee. Drink it as fast as you can and (this is really important) don't go to the potty. Urine is your internal friend. It keeps you warm, it helps you with your homework. Snuggle up to it.

Once home, place the popping strap and cow's brains in the bucket, finish the coffee, dance that happy desperate dance every human being in the universe knows intimately and pee into the bucket. Fill 'er up. Every drop.

It is important now to leave the bucket absolutely untouched for at least a week. Lids are right out. Like a good wine, the popping strap has to breathe. If anyone complains, accuse them of an almost fatal ignorance of aromatherapy. Once the 'at least' part of the week has passed, take it outside and -having removed the popping strap- hurl the contents of the bucket at anyone who's not paying sufficient attention. Serves them right. Now briefly wash the popping strap in cold running water. Next, nail it to the sunniest side of your house, stretching it as much as you can.

Wait two weeks. Wait right there. Don't move, or someone will steal it. It's true. Probably some passing piper who knows about things to know about. Once the thing's good and dry begin to pound the crap out of it with a deadblow hammer. You could just stomp on it if you'd prefer. Remember, though, to take it down off the wall first. Spend an hour or two doing this. To entertain your neighbours further, scream and shout a lot. Extended atonal howls are good for this kind of thing. You might have spent some of that waiting-for-the-strap-to-dry period practicing specific noises.

Once the thing is good and soft go inside, slap that beauty on your thigh and play away. I can guarantee you'll never lose it, either. It can be used in emergencies as a signal flare or a hand-held recording device, depending on circumstance.

Mark

P.S. I will argue earnestly and fervently that this is an on-topic post.


edited to add the P.S.

[Uilliam]

Never has so much been written by so many about so little.

Slán Agat
Uilliam

[The Sporting Pitchfork]

Purchase a hand-held crossbow and bolts, sneak out to a cow pasture carrying the crossbow, a small knife and ( this is crucial ) a bucket full of salt water. Put the bucket down where you won't spill it and other cows won't drink it and find a likely cow. Avoid the unlikely cows at all costs. If you're not sure, check to see that it conforms to all current cow-recognition standards, and therefore isn't say a P-57 Mustang. Take your time.

After initally being bowled over by the white hot glow of your inspired scholarship in the field of leather procuring, I must sadly report that your post contains a serious error.

It's a P-51 Mustang, you amadán!!! If we can't trust you to get this right, how can we trust you to provide us with accurate information on the most effective means of curing cow flesh with French roast-flavored uric acid? I'm sorry, but that very slight lapse in scholarship blows your otherwise impressively structured treatise on the scope & sequence of popping strap construction right out the window. Sorry...

Never has so much been written by so many about so little.

Whoa...Chill out, Winston, my man...If we can't talk shight about popping straps, what do you expect us to do? Practice?!

I say we save the bolt & crossbow for a Carlos Nunez concert...

[Joseph E. Smith]

Never has so much been written by so many about so little.

Slán Agat
Uilliam

[No E]

...
I say we save the bolt & crossbow for a Carlos Nunez concert...

I like the cut of your jib, Pitchfork.

No E

[benwalker]

popping straps........ for BIG GIRLS!

[misterpatrick]

My wife is an interior designer and so has lots of sample books around. So if you are every looking to color coordinate, stop by a design shop and see if they can give you a leather sample from a leather book. Mine has been going strong for several years now.