Thread: Russians?

Okay, it seems as we get older, we get dumber. I am already learning that I know nothing about topics that I was expert in twenty years ago. Perhaps I am just learning the value of humility and I am humbled by the wealth of knowledge here at SRP. Please allow me to admit my ignorance regarding leather strops.

I have just ordered a top grain cowhide 2.5 x 24 Illinois (no handle). I bought this one because it is what I had in my past shaving life and I liked it. I had that first one because an old Italian barber who taught me about razor care and maintenance took it off one of his two chairs and handed it to me along with a brown ceramic hone. He said, "Ay! You taka dese ana no cutta youself eh. De raza getsa dull maybe she breaksa, you comma back ana see me. She'sa easy to fixa. You getta cut you no so easy fiixa".

Now for the first time I am reading catalogs and I see some of the most expensive strops are "Russian" leather. What does it mean? Are they made from Russian cows, horses, pigs, girrafes or maybe even the rare Russian naugas? How much difference does the hiide make when many folks are using abrasive paste on top anyway (huge props to Josh Earl for his beautiful tutorial)?

Thanks,

Brad

Some vintage strop leather actually came from Russia but a lot of times "Russian shell" or "Russia shell" simply refers to the tanning process (I think). Keith from www.handamerican.com tells the story on his ever-changing and always challenging website.

"Shell" is short for "shell cordovan," which as you probably know is a type of horse leather that comes from the buttock area. It is now mainly used for high-quality shoes, but it used to be used for strops. It is pliant but extremely tough, and in my opinion is not as prone to wrinkling and cupping and so on. Type in "shell strop" on ebay and you'll usually pull up a bunch of these vintage horse strops; they go for about $15-30.

Some people swear by shell strops while others find them too slick, preferring the heavier draw of the bovine leathers. I love my vintage russia shell strop. One thing I like about it is that it has almost no draw at first but you start getting one when the razor is fully stropped and ready. This also makes it a useful test for shave-readiness (alongside the hanging hair test and other traditional tests). A razor that's not shave-ready simply won't build draw on it, in my experience.

I use a shell strop as well and have to say that its my favorite over the small russian dovo one that was my first. Mine was new when I bought it though.

They have probably at one time or another used every critter that has walked or crawled on land and from the sea to make strops from. I really don't think it makes a difference. At one time I thought it would be a neat idea to have one strop from every different animal but gave up because there were too many and basically gave them all away. The only leather that really feels different is horse. There is basically no draw when you strop but other than that they all accomplish the same thing.

Many times "Russian" will also refer to the rest of the process used in making the strop. Often a textured surface..diamond patterns, compressed surfaces, etc.... are used, even on cowhide (Bovine if one prefers to baffle with terminology ).
I have a Russian Cowhide with all Cyrillic markings and a presed in textured surface so Russian does not always mean horse ( or Equine).

Tony

Thank you muchly for the info. I will pick up a horsehide strop and compare it to my cowhide Illinois. The question of course is which horsehide strop do I buy?

Tony, I really love the simple design of the strop JoshEarl pasted in this thread:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=17886
Can you please tell me how I may aquire one of those? Oh, and from what animal does "latigo" come?

Icedog,
They will be one of our new products in a week or two. We have been cutting horsehide again ove the past two weeks so we have a good supply on hand before releasing anything. In addition to the Horsehide Artisans there will be Originals and a dressed up Starter like the strop Josh has. His was likely one of our pasting versions made from a batch of discolored horse we bought. Not pretty enough for our regular strops but if one was going to cover them with paste they would be fine.

We will have a post here in about 2 weeks on our Horsehide strops and some changes in how we offer our products.

Tony

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

...Bovine if one prefers to baffle with terminology ).
Tony

Sorry Tony, I didn't mean to be pretentious . I typed "cow leather" and it looked ridiculous, and I sort of paused and scratched my head yet somehow the word "cowhide" wouldn't come to mind but "bovine" did.

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

I have a Russian Cowhide with all Cyrillic markings and a presed in textured surface so Russian does not always mean horse ( or Equine).

Yeah I've seen these cyrillic markings as well and wondered if it meant in that case the strop really did come from Russia? Or maybe it was just good marketing because of Russian leather's reputation. Kind of like how soaps and perfumes etc. often have labels in French even when they're made in New Jersey.

Dylan,
I didn't mean that to be directed at you at all. The term has been thrown around other places and probably for the reason you found. "Cow leather" looks odd somehow, "cowhide" a bit better. To the average city boy though "bovine" conjures up something more exotic than a cow. I jut try to keep it in it's most simply form. I asked a few folks at my day job and m,ost guessed pig!

Even though my strop has the Cyrillic markings it still says Made In USA on the bottom. Again, fancy terms for marketing I suspect!

Tony

Well my strop then is bovine. The strop I next buy will be equine. My brush is porcine