I have had some pretty good results with using a toe-leading instead of heel-leading X pattern stropping. Be careful trying this, it feels awkward at first. When I toe-lead, I lay the strop on a table to avoid any curve of the stropping surface. I notice the draw is more if using toe-leading stroppings. I have also done this with honing. Anyone with a microscope may see a cross-hatched pattern on the edge if stropping/honing alternating the attack this way. I dunno. What about it?