I'm always getting ****ed at my illinois 127 strop cause when i hold it by the handle it tends to bow in middle lengthwise. i don't know if anyone else has this problem, but it seems like it might be a fairly common thing happening to beginners like me. So today i had an idea and i choked up on the strop. ignored the handle completly and ever so slightly bent the end with handle down. This got rid of the bow in the middle and i could feel my blade get a better draw. i thought i would share this just in case any one else had this problem. This might be kind of a "well duh" thing but i just thought i would share