These are my go to strops. I have a lot of them, since even with years of experience, I nick them now and then. Tony is a very nice guy to deal with. As I say, they are my favorite strops. I recommend getting the three inch width ones. Avoid the "vegan" one.
My recommend width would be 3”. Then you don’t have to learn to strop in an “X” pattern to cover the entire width of your blade. That simplifies the motion and hopefully decreases the chance of a nick or a cut. I’ll have to be honest though; I didn’t and don’t own a three incher
The 827 is a Russian Leather, rough textured, and a slow draw. The 127 is smooth, and a fast draw. It's a matter of preference. @gssixgun (our resident Straight Razor Guru), suggested the 827, when I was starting out. It has performed great, on all my razors, and I have acquired a few.
Not bragging, but I still have the first and only strop I've ever used - one extremely small nick, barely noticeable. Two inches wide. I strop in an X pattern. I started slow, took my time, paid attention to what I was doing. Did I mention only one small nick?
Thanks appreciate that...all stuff I had no clue about but that’s why didn’t want to just rush out and buy one I’d rather learn first what I should be taking into consideration
Suppose some people just take to it like a duck on water, I for one certainly won’t be going at it hell for leather...no pun intended... with my new strop !
Well there’s that, and the fact that he hasn’t let the edge actually touch the strop since he nicked it that one time. Fool me once......
So this might sound weird but I did this early on to get a feel for what strop width meant... Fold 3 newspaper sections in a 2”, 2.5”, & 3” widths at about 18-24” in length. Keep it decently thick to mimic a little like leather. Then strop a razor if you have one or a butter knife for the feel. Might help with the decision. Tom.
Thanks il give that a go with one of my Feather AC’s...Think they are slightly smaller than the straight but it’s worth a go to get a feel of what width I’m gonna be working with
Torlof @ Scruppleworks makes amazing strops and can do both high end and starter strops. Alastair @ Westholm is amazing, but he’s currently watch and shoot on Facebook for the time being. Kanayama is also very very nice.