Quote Originally Posted by sparq View Post
I have a little hypothesis - if there is something wrong with an edge that is not instantly obvious after honing (i.e. microscopic cracks, hidden rust etc), good stropping on linen quickly reveals such issues and the problematic material gets removed, chipped away etc.

On the other hand, are you sure that your stropping technique is okay?

I have seen similar things going to higher grit polishing stones. Polishing on the edge (stone, strop, whatever) does reveal issues that are hidden at lower grits, to be sure.