Hey guys..

I have a budget of £200 pounds (340 USD) I've set for myself to do some upgrading

I have a bunch of razors, three of them are shaveable, the other four are awaiting honing, which I'm going to do myself.

I want to buy

Norton combi set: available in the uk 2 combi stones and lapping stone
12k chinese
New strop with linen component
jewellers loupe
CrO2 powder
repinning kit
new set of scales for my 7/8 as i'm not in love with the ones i have

This can be done for the budget I've set, mostly buying in and around the uk.

My problem is this. I've been looking at Illinois strops, hear good things about them, but I'm getting caught up in the concept of draw, in conjuntion with finishing honed razors. want to try to get smooth rather than sharp, but i'd take "cuts hair without tugging".

I work away a lot, and coming home can be variable and imprecise in terms of dates.. So do i go over budget and buy from one of the 2 guys in the uk making strops, and be able to control the delivery times a little better, or do i go with the cheap option and buy an iilinois from the states and hope that i make it home before it gets returned by the postal depot.. shipping from the US can be variable.

Also, I'm reading about fast draw finishing strops (english bridle), heavier draw latigo, etc etc.. this will basically be my only strop as i'm repurposing my other strop for pasting.

So.. do i go over budget and get the strop from the uk, and if so, which kind of leather? or do i stick with what i've told myself i should do and buy the illinois. The reason I'm going for the illinois over other US strops is because of the linen as opposed to wool felt or polypropylene component.