Need help understanding how to choose a strop

I look on the web and see strops running anywhere from $12.00 to about $400.00. And, I also have read many posts about why a specific leather is better than another leather.

What I don't understand is how much of a difference does the strop itself make, as opposed the the person using the strop?

With an average stroper (stropee?) will a very good strop make any difference compared to a good, but cheap strop?

Will the average user be able to really tell any difference?

 

The leather of a $12 strop may be questionable. Strops 3" wide are more expensive than the same thing 2 1/2" wide. My favorite is a strop I reconditioned that is perhaps 100 years old, which set me back $20.
A safe bet is the Illinois strops which are in the $40 price range. Post this over in the straight section, and you may get a lot more feedback

 

Hey Adam. @Drygulch , a little help here?

 

Let me finish dinner, and I will give some pointers. Short version, technique matters, and so does having a decent strop to work with.

 

I travel with one of Adam's strops. It is the strop I learned with and I think it's a great strop at a very reasonable price.
The view from where I'm sitting right now.

Here's a link.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/399773067/25-inch-wide-latigo-beginer-or-travel
Good luck.

 

There are a ton of different options for strops.

• Leather: dragging the blade across the leather will realign the very fine edge on a straight, and should be done with every shave. Type of leather isn't as important as quality of leather. All vegetable tanned leather, whether equine or bovine will do the same job.
• Surface: Surface has to be even and consistent. If there are ridges, they will cause the edge to not get aligned. Some divots in an strop can be OK, as long as they are below the grain surface.
• Draw: Personal preference thing. Draw is the amount of resistance when you strop. Full grain horse is fast, and has almost no draw. Latigo is slow, and has quite a bit of draw. Bridle is in between, and many makers have other leathers with different feels. It all works, its just a YMMV thing.
• Width: Anything from 2-3 inches. Smaller strops require you to use an x pattern, that comes in handy when you are learning to hone. 3 inch strops let you focus on just going up and down the strop.
• Second element: The cloth part of the strop. This is used to clean and prep the blade before it goes on the leather. Linen is traditional, but expensive. Cotton webbing, polypropylene webbing and denim are all sometimes used. Like the Draw, its a YMMV thing.
• Hardware: Cheap pot metal hardware will wear out. Good quality brass or copper hardware costs more.
• Handles: Some strops have handles, and some don't. Ones with handles will probably cost more.
• Hand made or factory made: Handmade costs more, factory made may not be as high of quality. Handmade will typicly also source better quality leather and hardware.
  
  Get a decent quality one that doesn't cost a fortune. There is a chance you will cut it up when you are learning to strop, and it won't make you as upset. Some people start with the more expensive one, thinking that they will be too scared to screw it up. Some of them are successful with that. I haven't cut a strop with a razor yet. A 3 inch wide one is easier to learn on than a 2 inch one. You are building muscle memory, so you want something that works decently, so your muscle memory can transfer. You also want enough quality that you don't get a stiff piece of cardboard type leather, and instead have something you enjoy using. Technique is important, so start slow. One option is to try and find a used or vintage one to start, then go to a nicer one later.

 

I started with a cheap strop as a starter. I paid $16 and got it off of Amazon. It did the job okay, but was of a low quality which didn't give me the optimal edge and it was only a 2 inch wide strop. That strop could have been rat skin for all I know. It also didn't have a cloth side. I took chunks out of strop during the first few months.

After a year of SR shaving, I bought one of Adam's drygulch strops and couldn't be happier. Real quality horsehide leather and a nice linen side. It's a big step up and improved the edge of my razors.

If you're not sure if SR shaving is for you, go with a cheap strop as a starter. If you like it, then upgrade quickly to a quality strop.

 

Adam is our in house leather expert, all I can add is:

I have several strops from inexpensive to $$$. As long as the leather is good the final result is the same despite the price. It becomes just subjective and personal, the feel of the draw and the look as you spend more money.

I nicked up my first strop so I recommend not spending to big $ on the first one.

I do recommend cloth or webbing as the second element and use it after your shave to dry and clean the edge of the blade.

 

As a newbie, I will throw in another outlook to this:

When you start stropping and reading about stropping, posts on the matter can turn what really is a simple concept into a dozen questions: am I doing it right? That doesn't seem as sharp as it should, did I roll the edge? Am I pulling in it too hard? Is it hitting on the edges and not the middle? Is that the right sound? Even though a dude with a normal amount of confidence and intelligence can mostly figure he's on the right track, you never know if you don't have anything to compare to.

I have a cheap hanger, with a nylon second, and it actually does fine, but I recently (a couple of weeks ago) purchased a modular paddle strop from Straight Razor Designs. There are a ton of thoughts on using a paddle for your every day stropping, but this strop does a bunch of things. One, it idiot proofs it. If you can lay a blade flat on the leather, and drag it backwards, you can do this properly. Two, it comes with three different stropping mediums: a hard wool pad, roughed scrub leather and premium leather. It comes with two wool pads which can be used for applying different pastes or sprays, or simply for a fabric option. All of these pads attach to the paddle with magnetic backing, and can be swapped out as quickly as you can pick them up and put them down. If a guy were to nick his leather, the pads are all replaceable. It really is an all around blade maintenance center.

The cost of this strop is right around $90, so there are cheaper options out there, but it is three inch, which always adds to the price, and it comes with a bottle of .5 diamond spray which would cost $23 bought separately. You are also,getting four different surfaces in three different mediums with which to work with. Value is always subjective, but I am really happy with this purchase. A hanger FEELS better to me; more natural, and quicker. I would like to get a nice one, but I think this route is definitely worth looking at.

 

From Whipped Dog I do have 2 "Poor man strops" (one was trashed while I learned to strop) and a "Rich Man Strop", which I use daily. I was mostly interested in knowing if there was a noticeable difference in strops for the average person.

That was exactly the type of answer I was looking for.

Thanks folks.

 

Sorry about that. I didn't realize you already had strops.
What the other guys said

 

Not a SR guy, but it sounds like a winner to me!

 

Paddle strips are a good choice too. They are quick to learn on. I have the modular system from Rasurpur and use it for different pastes.

 

I've been looking at paddles myself for a first, and did see the Straight Razor Designs one. it looked interesting.

 

Experienced users will often recommend a paddle strop to newcomers to SRs. The use of a paddle strop eliminates one variable (movement of the strop), so the beginner can more easily focus on the stroke & feel of the blade on the leather.

 

That was my logic for going that route. One less thing I have to worry about.

 

It did exactly that for me. If nothing else, it was confirmation that I wasn't doing it wrong with my hanger. The modular components are just the gravy.

 

Do the magnets hold securely?

 

Yeah. They are a magnetic sheet cut to fit the full size of the paddle and the pads . You can move them, like to straighten it if you didn't get it lined up perfectly, but I have never had one move on me.