Thread: Just Discovered Palm Stropping

I’ve been using palm stropping regularly for some weeks now. I do all my pre and post preparations in the truck before going to the shower at the truck stop. After shave as I’m cleaning and packing up I’ll palm strop 10-20 strokes for cleaning and drying purposes. Once back in the truck I’ll do all my post shave cleaning and stropping. Focus, yes; worried, no.

Only time I've palm stropped was tinkering with scraper blades at work. Used a set of Arkansas stones to make them sharper than they come from the factory. Then palm stropped the edge - mostly to see the look on my co-worker's face. It was priceless.

But straight razors at home? Nah. I paid good money for a strop so I could slip and cut it rather than myself. So far I've done a rather poor job of that. The only nick on my SRD strop is the one I put there intentionally when I unwrapped it to get that first one out of the way. Maybe my old neighbor's superstition was right and it really is good luck to put that first scratch on a new thing yourself right away?

I don't get the concerns about palm stropping. I don't like putting my razor under running water because I don't want it to be wet, so I always wipe my blade on the palm of my hand. Then I wipe my hand on a towel. I don't wipe the blade directly on the towel because the towel folds over and can dull the blade but my palm doesn't do that. Sometimes I palm strop between passes if I feel it'll help (I'm not actually sure it does).

Anyway, I'm no wonder of coordination -- not a great shot with a handgun, not a good dancer. Best I can say is I'm pretty good at working with hand tools. But I've never cut myself palm stropping. Just need to move the blade spine leading not edge leading is all, so it seems to me that anyone who can do that shouldn't be worried. It's a lot easier than shaving your face with a razor!

Heard of this before, but haven't really tried it. I'd rather have a little more surface area to work with.

One thing is a little strange to me. When you buy a Strop, you want it to be smooth and free of creases. You strop on your skin, you use an area full of creases. Just a thought.

If we ever see a guy with one palm green and the other red, we'll know why!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

JMHO

Used while honing to quickly see the "true" Edge minus the sparklies = good idea

Used in place of Linen and Leather of a real strop = Not so good idea

I'll probably keep using towels like a savage.

It's a pretty 'handy' technique to have in your arsenal (heh heh heh)... Obviously not for beginners.

Hunter is a fan: https://youtu.be/c6ItwxxeF3Q?t=3m43s

Not a fan of Mastro Livi razors, but all of the tutorials on honing, stropping, shaving etc, are very good.
Palm stropping during a shave works for me, although I wouldn't recommend it unless you haven't destroyed a strop for at least 3 years.
Look on the bright side, if you nick your "strop" with this technique it will fix itself...

This is right up there, with using a straight razor to shave your privates.

I palm strop before my ATG pass. Seems to help a bit.

Originally Posted by Grazor

Look on the bright side, if you nick your "strop" with this technique it will fix itself...

................

Can you use any part of your anatomy?