The more I think about it the more I think I will go with SRD, because I can probably get some shaves in before I have to develop any really good stropping techniques.

I was told to steer clear of latigo, but I figured since I would most likely butcher my first strop to just get that. I was going to upgrade the cloth portion from webbing to wool felt.

Any advice on carbon vs. stainless? I am not concerned with rust as I will take care of the equpitment, I just want a blade that will hold a better edge in between stroppings