Something interesting I remember reading in one of the shaving threads. It was from one of the manuals in the "Help" section on honing. It mentioned doing the thumb nail test after honing, not only to check the edge, but also to remove the "feather" edge produced by honing.

My understanding is that some of the members here avoid the thumb nail test after honing at higher finishing grits. This leads me to think, based on what I mentioned above, that those blades may still have that "feather" edge remaining. Could it be that this is what's prone to breaking off during stropping?

Just a thought.

Scott