Thanks for the insight. In the meantime I went on and sanded the back side with 1000 grit paper to remove that tacky/glossy shine, and now the strop has a very fine velvety surface that has a very definite draw when I run a blade over it. I also lightly rubbed it down with some of the "special' oil I was given with the strop and that really has seemed to have helped with the overall feel. From what I've read it seems leathers can be 'burnished' to a shine when cut and flattened, and well I think that's what was done to this strop, but now thankfully it has basically got a satin feel to it - very smooth and very flat. And it did bring out the edge verrry nicely on a recently honed blade - so I guess thats the true test.. Nonetheless I'll probably purchase a TM strop soon - if Mr. Miller will be willing to ship it to South Africa that is.