So this mornings shave went very well still sans leather.
I hit the edge, remember that the edge was not as sharp as it should have been to start this little experiment, on newspaper (spine leading) 6 times and went at it with no strop in between passes.
Result. BBS, no irritation, and minimal burn with my A/S. The burn was comparable to my other shaves with the leather.
I used the same razor and have used different soaps all week. The next challenge will be Monday. A 3 day beard. We shall see sports fans.
I think my strop may be going away.