So what is everyone's favorite strop length? Talking about usable length, i.e. between the bolsters. Myself, I like a very long strop, 30" or so. I am okay with anything like 21" or more but shorter strops kinda cramp my style. OTOH I can see going with a shorty for travel.
I don’t care for long strops or long hones. I feel that you lose control of the razor at the end of very long strokes. There’s a well-known character on B&B that I disagree with on many things (he does sell things on Etsy), but I do agree with him that you have better control with a short hone. Maybe that’s why the Japanese barber hone is 136mm long. I’ve also noted that if you use a short hone, you use lighter pressure. Maybe the same for short strokes on a strop? That said, Alfredo uses the 660mm Kanoyama 90000, which is ~26” long, he has long arms. If you can control the razor at the ends of the stroke, there’s probably no disadvantage to either a long hone or a long strop. Note: I am not ready to cut my Kanoyamas in half.
Funny topic: Before I made my Beginner Bench Strops I measured quite a few Vintage strops to get an idea of what they used for a "Usable Length" ie: between the Hardware & Handle or "Usable Surface" It seemed that most came out at right about 16" That seemed to be a pretty standard length so I went with it. I just double checked my goto troops and 18" is the longest I have of "Usable surface" it feels pretty comfortable and I do have long arms when buying Jackets and Shirts I tell you what I don't like I do not like 3" wide hanging stops, I have always felt they were a bad idea and very few of them don't curl at the edges JMHO
My strop has an 18 inch length of usable surface and that works fine for me. The hardware adds a few more inches to the overall length.
I love my 30” and would get every strop that size if available. Prefer 2.5” width but 3” is OK. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
