I have never played a set of border pipes before, just GHB’s… So I ask for you whom have played border pipes. Does it use a hell of a lot of air, would I expect to pump much more than playing uilleann pipes with drones…
I ask because I have Nigel Richards making me a set of A border pipes and , just want to know what to expect… 
Sweet.
I have never played a set either, but have always wanted to.
Enjoy.
Cheers,
Steve
A friend of mine plays both border pipes in A and bellows driven SSPs (A and D chanters). He uses the same bellows for both. I played the SSPs recently and even with all drones going it didn’t take all that much air compared with uilleann chanter and drones. I don’t know if there’s much of a difference with the border pipes. I’ll be seeing him tonight and I’ll try remember to ask him.
Just got few weeks ago borders, well.. one of the main thing for me is the find the rigth playing (ergonomic) position.(differs so much from ghb and up)f
I use same bellows with Bp and Up .Chanter is sensitive, much moore than ssp. Pressure and correct fingering important things, when these are ok
harmonies with drones sounds good, and you can concentrate to playing…
yep! can take sometime…
i just put a order in for a set of fred morrison border pipes in A , and was wondering the same thing.does anybody out there use an oversize bellows?
I use large bellows…
I play bellow-blown SSPs and the only difference I find is that I am more comfortable wearing the SSPs strapped on higher than the UPs typically are.
My SSPs seem to take a little less air to run than my UPs (a Childress half set), and that’s noticeable at the moment, but this can vary with reeds.
I’m currently working on making reeds for my SSPs, but I’m afraid without much real success yet.
My SSps are made by a guy named Anderson in Scotland in the late 90s or early 00s or so – I think he has since disappeared. Nice pipes, though. I use a Shepherd plastic reed in them most times. I have not yet played the D chanter…
Dave Jones
get Nick Whitmers smallpipe reed making book… I think its under $10
I use Northumbrian bellows made for me by Jackson of Cumbria (UK).
These have provided (and still provide) excellent service for playing UP’s full set in concert ‘D’ with wide bore chanter, NSP’s and also a set of Dave Shaw shuttle pipes. I used to own a set of Border pipes; chanter by Jon Swayne (UK) with drones by Colin Ross (UK).
So - to answer your question; The Border pipes (or mine at least) did not use a massive amount of air to keep the notes stable and in tune. Nor indeed any of my other pipes. However, much depends on set up and maintenance.
My bellows are perfectly air tight and I’ve had them about 8 years I think. In addition I am pedantic when it comes to leaks so my bags are also staunch. Reeds too are set to provide optimum tone and volume but not at the expense of inefficient use of air. Again this comes down to regular maintenance. It was pipe maker Brian Howard who showed me the importance of “air tight” bags and bellows (thanks Brian) and the “real” difference this could make to ease of playing and good tuning. Furthermore, I was using a set of Brian’s bellows (his own) with his own full set in ‘D’ during a recent visit to his home and to be perfectly honest the effort required to play the full set i.e. with drones and regs playing was minimal. On close inspection his UP bellows are about the same size as my NSP bellows. So all in all IMHO it comes down to “efficiency”.
Also, it’s not the size of the bellows as such in terms of the clapper boards but the size of the leather cheeks.
I don’t think you will have anything to worry about when you receive your Border set as after all they are designed for bellows.
Hope this helps.
Joseph (the UK one) 
i’ve played border pipes by nigel and ray sloan.
also multiple smallpipes.
the sloan pipes took more air than my D UP chanters, and one would well advised to use uilleann bellows with them, even though ray supplies a smaller smallpipe bellows.
nigels borderpipes use less air and less pressure than ray’s but you still do much better with a uilleann bellows.
most smallpipes take less air then bordepipes, especially those keyed in A or B flat. a smaller bellows is fine. smallpipes are patterned on northumbrian smallpipes- reeds are similar. NSPs take the least air of all probably because the reed is similar to SSP but the chanter is closed between notes.
meir
Hi Seth,
My Hamish Moore border pipes take less air than any SSPs I’ve ever played (and I’ve played Moores, Rutzens, Andersons, Sloans, Heriots, etc.). Can’t say if that will be true for yours, though.
Best, John
I am playing a Garvie set of BPs these days and they use a good deal less air than the D UPs I had–about the same as the B set I had. My two cents.
Spoke to my buddy. He says that his border pipes take approx the same air as his ssp but as uilleannfinlander said the border pipe chanter is more sensitive to pressure changes than the ssp.
All border chanters are pretty sensitive, it is the nature of the beast, though it should be no problem to an uilleann piper.
Neither Garvie (Nigel Richards) or Fred Morrison pipes use significantly more air than a D set. Certainly not playing a high B with drones and regs blazing, anyways.
SSP vary hugely in how much air they take, mostly to do with how they’re set-up.
Cheers,
Calum
Very true - and true for all other types of pipes, too.
Best, John