I nicked my strop the first day I had it! In more than one place even. Ugh! I'm so glad I took everyone's advice and started with an inexpensive option. I have since learned to slow down. Contact cement and some light sandpaper repaired the strop to its original condition - worked far better than I expected. After applying oil to the strop, I can hardly tell where the nicks are. Definitely +1 on the contact cement solution - if only there was an equally effective solution to repairing nicks on the face. :-)