Thread: Help me master my strop

Originally Posted by dylandog

Subjectively, I agree with Bart. Loom strops feel too small for me.

But some guys actually like 'em, and they can be mastered.

There is a youtube video somewhere of a barber really going to town on one. His stroke was actually longer than the strop itself. That is, the razor was flying back and forth over about a two-foot arc, landing on the 8-inch strop with a hearty "thwap" on each pass. Imagine an F-16 doing figure-8s over an aircraft carrier, landing on the strip and taking off again without slowing down. It sounded like tribal drumming, and it looked hella cool.

I'm not suggesting this is how a newb should tackle things.

I'm just sayin'.

Wow, I sure would like to see that video.

I'm certainly not saying loom strops can't be mastered, but I really would encourage any new guy to start out with a tried and trued setup. If someone with a few months of successful straight razor shaving under his belt came up with a plan to ditch an aged and worn strop and replace it with a loom or paddle strop, I'm sure most of us would advice him to give it a go and buy one large enough...

Bart.

Originally Posted by Bart

Wow, I sure would like to see that video.

Found it, it's in this thread.

Fascinating stuff, never quite saw something like that!
It seems like he even flips the strop to a pasted side a couple of times.

Thanks for sharing,
Bart.