New user from Richardson, TX

Hey Y'all.

My name is Aleem

I'm in Richardson, Tx which is just north of Dallas and to the east of Plano. I'm a medical student and decided my hectic lifestyle needed some built in downtime outside of the gym so I did some reading and decided to get into using a straight razor.

I've purchased a new Theirs Issard Carbon razor 5/8 inch blade with a Bocote Wood scale. I intend to get it professionally honed tomorrow and am in the process of procuring a strop. Regarding the strop what exactly should i look for, other than smoothness and thickness of the leather and potentially the presence of a linen backing? A local store carries what was described to me as a 2" Annie strop, im assuming its this oneAmazon.com: Annie Barber Razor Strop 2.5" X 23.5" #5118: Beauty would this be something suitable for a beginner such as my self? I'm also looking at the different strop pastes, i know theirs issard makes a paste and i figure itd probably be good to use with their own blades. Am I correct in this assumption?

According to the guide that came with my blade it specifies using Vaseline oil, I've also read about using pre-shave oils to lubricate the razor and prevent rusting between shaves. I go to school in the Caribbean so procuring preshave oils in general can be a bit difficult. What would yall recommend as far as what to use to lubricate between shaves.

Any advice y'all can give me would be greatly appreciated. I have read the beginners guide here as well as done some of my own research.

- Cheers

First welcome to SRP. Theirs Issard (TI) make so really nice razors. Good idea getting it professionally honed. I don't know anything about the strop in the link so can't comment on it, I would recommend however a 2 1/2 to 3 inch wide strop just because it's easier, a 2 inch will work you just have to be a bit more careful because you will have to do the x-stroke while stropping, but it can still be easily done, just a bit more of a learning curve. As for the different strop pastes they are more for touching up the edge of the blade when it starts to dull, instead of using a hone. I'm pretty sure any kind of light oil will work well on the blade (lots of guys just use a mineral oil, nice and cheap). Any other questions don't be afraid to ask (I'm sure more people will chime in soon).

Man I would love to go to school in the Caribbean, I bet it is really nice out there.

Again Welcome to SRP
-Dan-

Is there anything really to watch out for in strops? i know purchasing razors espeicallly used ones takes some time and expertise, but i dont want to risk ruining my new blade, should i go for a more expensive strop like those you can find at The Art of Shaving or is that more of a luxury preference? ive looked into making my own strop but i'm not really certain where to go about looking for good leather and linens to use out in the DFW metroplex.

Welcome to the SRP from another Texan.