Which STROP? Help please.

It seems the answer for a newbie like myself is the filly from rup razor, but I also like the look of the Artisan line from thewellshavedgentleman.com as you can get a practice strop for an extra $8. Now the question is:
-2" or 3", is there any difference beside personal taste, is one easier to use aside from eliminating x stropping?
-latigo or horsehide, whats the difference?
-wool, linen, or web fabric? i don't know where to begin?
-d-rings or handles, is one easier to work with or just for looks?
- and then the pastes, what does a guy need?

this is a cry for help, I'm trying to help my wife do her christmas shopping here so any/multiple opinions would help.

Thanks everyone,

jt

If you plan on getting the practice strop and using that for a while, then I think a TM strop is a great way to go. Performance wise, I have never heard anything to suggest an edge to 2" over 3" or vice versa. Lots of guys (myself included) have/like 2.5" strops.

Horsehide is smoother with less draw than Latigo, if I'm not mistaken. Again, that is a matter of personal preference.

I have hard a lot of people use pressed wool felt with the diamond spray and use a plain cotton or linen strop for everyday use alongside the leather.

D-rings or handles, again personal preference. I like the barber's style, no rings, no handle, just a leather strip.

Most people with just one paste go for some high end Chromium Oxide, available in the classifieds. It costs $4 and is enough to keep your strop pasted pretty much forever. But keep the paste off your daily use strop. I have the back side of a practice strop pasted.

I would recommend you start with Tony's practice strop. Go ahead and get a high end one too for when you get proficient at it but most guys will nick/cut their strop when they're learning.

Latigo has more draw (resistance) while horsehide has little or none. I like the handles rather than the d-ring by itself but one is probably as good as the other.

Tony's linen is mighty fine stuff. I don't think he carries the webbed fabric and I like that too. I like the wool hanger for diamond spray but I think that should come later after you've mastered stropping and shaving. Just IMO.

Here is a barber manual thing on honing and stropping. The last couple of pages on stropping helped me a lot.

Oh, and Glen (gssixgun) has a great thread on stropping that has been added to recently, full of pictures and animations and links to the wiki and videos. All that good stuff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jerald1978

It seems the answer for a newbie like myself is the filly from rup razor, but I also like the look of the Artisan line from thewellshavedgentleman.com as you can get a practice strop for an extra $8. Now the question is:
-2" or 3", is there any difference beside personal taste, is one easier to use aside from eliminating x stropping?
-latigo or horsehide, whats the difference?
-wool, linen, or web fabric? i don't know where to begin?
-d-rings or handles, is one easier to work with or just for looks?
- and then the pastes, what does a guy need?

this is a cry for help, I'm trying to help my wife do her christmas shopping here so any/multiple opinions would help.

Thanks everyone,

jt

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I went from a 3" to a 2" because I found that with the wider strop I wasn't as able to keep the blade in proper contact with the leather due to the cupping tendency of the strop. Though the cupping was so slight as to not be noticeable to the eye, it was still enough to keep portions of the blade from making full contact. I was able to make full contact by using an X pattern, but I decided that if I was going to do that, I would just go to the 2 inch, which I find easier to maintain proper, full blade contact. Ultimately, however, it really is just a matter of personal preference.

I think latigo is probably the best way to go for your first strop. Horsehide tends to be a little slicker, which means less draw. Its really hard to beat good latigo for an all-around, general-purpose strop.

As far as wool, linen, or web fabric, I would go with whatever is least expensive, especially for a beginning strop. And all can take a paste if you decide to go that route.

D-rings or handles? It's strictly a matter of personal preference. I have both and enjoy them both, though, at the moment, I'm partial to D rings.

Regarding pastes, I would not be thinking about that right now. I think that should come later as you get more experience with the whole process. You're going to have your plate full just mastering the basics. No need to take on more than you have to at this point.

Good luck and happy shaving!

Along with tagging those who answered with a thanks, I just wanted to jump on and say I have made up my mind. Gonna go with a 2" Old School Artisan model from TM with standard Latigo, soft cotton, and D-rings. Also picking up the 2nd quality practice strop to learn on so I don't destroy a good strop. Thanks so much for all of your input posts and to the awesome wiki at SRP.
If it wasn't for the help here I'd still be thinkin Gilette was the best a man could get. SRP Rocks.

Definitely get the practice strop. In fact get two. After you destroy your first one you will still probably have a few knicks you will need to get out of your system. After three months move to the good strop and you will probably never even put a ding on your good strop.

When one of your buddies wants to try a straight you can hand over the practice strop with a gold dollar and let'em have at it.