I’ve never played with a popping strap. (Maybe I’m a masochist.) And I have occasional trouble with certain notes.
I just want to ask the quick question, how much of a difference does it make with the popping strap present?
Depends on what you’re wearing, your reed, and your technique. The effect can be huge, or minor. Only one way to find out…
On a pair of Jeans or Courdroy trousers a Popping strap can make a lot of difference . If you use a hugely powerfull reed that over drives the chanter, and takes no prisoners, then you can wave your chanter in the air with impunity and no popping strap will be needed but if you are the more subtle type who wishes to hear the difference between closed and open notes, who wants to lift the chanter for added emphasis and thus utilise all the dynamic abilities that your chanter has… then go for a good popping strap.
Having a leaky end hole is usually not as drastic a problem as a leaky key pad or poorly covered fingerhole but it can turn your tight triplets to mush and effect the tuning of some notes.
Choosing a good type of leather for this is important too… not just any old recycled handbag will do. The leather needs to be supple but not too thin . Thin or ‘cardboard’ stiff leather will crinkle around the end of your stick and not perform its duty well… ie it will leak!
I always use a popping strap, both to play my pipes and when tuning new chanters and reeds.
I put the ‘hairy’ side down … as it slips about less.
Get one and use it!
Geoff.
Its a great question, with an infinite range of answers, so as the man says - try one and see the difference.
I notice “something” tonally different between no strap (almost invariably with Levis denim on) and strap - kind of hard
to describe.
As a cheap solution, try a piece of chamois left over from car washing, suitably soft and supple - but dry of course.
M
Other than making the chanter airtight, a popping strap can reflect the sound of bottom D and certain off-the-knee notes.
a popping strap can reflect the sound of bottom D and certain off-the-knee notes.
It’ll reflect notes with the chanter down too.
As other have said, a tight seal at the bottom of the chanter is important to get a good sound from the chanter.
Having the hairy side down keeps the popping strap from moving around.
Hairy side up will give a very slightly different sound from the chanter because some sound frequencies are absorbed that would be reflected by the shiny side. It’s a tiny difference but present nonetheless.
The chamois works fine and I used one for years till I realised it was porous. But you can get a large chamois cheaply and you’ll find a section of it that isn’t porous.
A clothing alterations shop or a leather suppliers like Tandy will have scraps of garment leather that’ll be cheap or even free.
Tommy
Ah, yes I play on jeans. They crinkle and wrinkle quite abit.
Though it can play fine, I often have trouble with the E note, and get “mushy” Triplets.
So I will look into getting a chanter strap.
Just remember to unhook it before you go to the loo.
ROF…definitely a must-have for aspiring “heavy metal” pipers…
I always use one for all the reasons listed above. Plus, the strap provides a bit of friction, which helps reduce the potential for hand fatigue. The times when I have misplaced the strap I feel like the chanter is going to fly off into space.
Mine is a fairly thick piece of black leather, about 11"x11". Smooth side up. And it is a very smooth piece at that.
Smooth leather is important, knobbly leather like the ones on ebay are probably not ideal.
RORY
I think Kellehertrad has straps for sale.
Sage advice. Also true for wireless mics.
Some things are better learnt the hard way 
My all time favorite naked gun scene,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruCsYGL3QlY
RORY
You can get a decent popping strap from Michael’s or another similar arts & crafts store that sells different types of leather squares and strips. I am currently using a suede popping strap that is “hairy” on both sides.
I usually just go down to the local leather shop and dig through the scraps bin. It’s cheap and and you can buy a variety of leathers to experiment with. I’ve also found that using a plain old scrap of leather approximately 1’ squared works best for me without being strapped to the leg but rather held in place by resting the stock over a portion of it. I had a buffalo skin strap for years that was perfect, it was left behind in a pub in Seattle 
The silver lining if you forget and/or miss, would be seasoned leather!
But anyways, I don’t think it helps that I sit/kneel directly on the floor while I’m playing. 
Still, I will be getting a strap soon, I will also keep my eyes peeled for scrap leather.
You could try your local charity shop for a cheap leather coat or jacket. You should get a few popping straps off even a small jacket.
Mark