Thread: Rethinking newbie strops

Thanks for the support guys. Seconds seems to be my term, not my buyers. I think one fellow said here a while back "if this was a second, I could have been happy with a third" Seriously though, if it has a flaw, any flaw, I could not charge full price. My strops are not cheap but priced on average with Dovo and Jemico. I am picky with the leather and the craftmanship. I reject half of each hide I buy. Some of the waste makes seconds, some makes giveaways (thirds) and the rest are large pieces of waste that goes to the local leathercraft place as giveaways for Boy Scout and kids projects.

Okay, to the question at hand. I suggest a paddle as a start for this reason. I hate to see a guy buy more than he needs. A newbie starts with a pre-honed razor and a hanging strop (really the best type of strop) he strops and shaves a few days and enjoys it. He is stropping poorly though and within a week or two the razor is less than sharp. Now he needs to go buy another tool. Maybe a hone with a slow learning curve, maybe a pasted paddle. Either way he is looking at $50 to $80 additional expense within a few weeks of starting. If the same fellow started with a pre-honed razor and a paddle, even with slightly poor stropping techniques, he has a tool to get the razor back up to speed. Yes, the daily use side is small and not as effective as the hanging strop but his initial outlay is less and if he gives up quickly he didn't invest much.

The really best way to do this is a hanging and an all pasted paddle strop (or hone) but how many newbies are ready to drop this much up front? I would estimate there are more guys who start this and drop it just because it's not their thing than those that bail out because they should have started with other equipment.

I really am curious as to the thoughts of those who started with paddle vs hanging strops and how you made out. I myself started with both on Classic Shaving's advice but I also had dropped over $200 just getting started this way by buying both a hanging and a paddle strop along with enough tubes of pastes to get going. My goal as both mentor and business is to offer advice and products that suit the beginner and old hand alike. Since 75% of my business is newbies I would really like to get the pulse of that group to improve my suggestions and offerings.

Thanks,
Tony