Thread: Horsehide vs. Latigo

I aquired a nice shell horsehide strop a while back, and also have acouple horsehide non-shell strops, and acouple TM latigo models....

The other night I was stropping away on the horsehide shell, and the razor failed the HHT....

I then hit up the TM 3" latigo, and bingo, back in HHT business

Went back to the horsehide to put a nice "finish" on there.......back to no HHT....

Hit the latigo once again, yup, you guessed it, HHT back in business.


My non-shell horsehide strops (vintage Illinois, and Craftsman) feel, and work similar to the latigo, but the shell is the glossy, zero draw stuff.

Thoughts?

Coments?

Discussion?

Insults?

Let's have it....

On my DD shell strop, it improved a lot after i cleaned it and applied some neatsfoot oil.

I just cleaned it with some tabac lather.. I was greeted with the nice smell of decades of cigarette smoke when cleaning.

Originally Posted by Seraphim

I aquired a nice shell horsehide strop a while back, and also have acouple horsehide non-shell strops, and acouple TM latigo models....

The other night I was stropping away on the horsehide shell, and the razor failed the HHT....

I then hit up the TM 3" latigo, and bingo, back in HHT business

Went back to the horsehide to put a nice "finish" on there.......back to no HHT....

Hit the latigo once again, yup, you guessed it, HHT back in business.


My non-shell horsehide strops (vintage Illinois, and Craftsman) feel, and work similar to the latigo, but the shell is the glossy, zero draw stuff.

Thoughts?

Coments?

Discussion?

Insults?

Let's have it....

I also oiled and applied lather to the shell strop. It helped the draw somewhat...the blade didn't totally feel like it was gliding on ice, which made me hope for some improvement in edge refinement, but as stated above, the HHT was seemingly degraded by the shell.



My Craftsman strop was also owned as some point in its' history by a chain smoker.....smelled horrible when giving it the lather treatment!

Originally Posted by Seraphim

My Craftsman strop was also owned as some point in its' history by a chain smoker.....smelled horrible when giving it the lather treatment!

Don't buy anything I have to sell unless you like to smell old pipe tobacco... IME Latigo has a lot more draw than horse. I like it in the middle somewhere. Not like it was on ice but not so much that I am afraid the strop will snatch the razor out of my hand. I like to hold the razor with a light touch and strop the same way.

It could very well be that due to the nature of your edge, grind, steel, etc.. the Horsehide, which as less draw, could have just smoothed out your edge for you! Did you try shaving with it? I think you may be surprised.

* I use three strops. The 1st is a TM Red Latigo (the most draw), the 2nd is a Scottish Lassie(medium draw), and the 3rd is a TM horsehide(least draw). My edges are usually very smooth and give great, non-irritating shaves. Half the time I cannot pass the HHT test, but the shave is still great!

Remember: HHT is not the finial test!

Steve

Originally Posted by zepplin

It could very well be that due to the nature of your edge, grind, steel, etc.. the Horsehide, which as less draw, could have just smoothed out your edge for you! Did you try shaving with it? I think you may be surprised.

* I use three strops. The 1st is a TM Red Latigo (the most draw), the 2nd is a Scottish Lassie(medium draw), and the 3rd is a TM horsehide(least draw). My edges are usually very smooth and give great, non-irritating shaves. Half the time I cannot pass the HHT test, but the shave is still great!

Remember: HHT is not the finial test!

Steve

Yeah, I'll have to try it out like that too.....

I have a TM latigo and a TM smooth horse. I have noticed a similar thing happening as you observed. There seems to be some certain condition of the edge that can be tamed by the latigo but not by the horse. On the other hand, I have thought in the past that the latigo was pulling and flaking a delicate edge apart on another razor with a hard, brittle edge.

Sometimes the latigo feels like it is going to jerk the razor out of my hand. Then the next day it feels much smoother. I guess it fluctuates with humidity or something. The horse is always nice and smooth.

Originally Posted by matt321

I have a TM latigo and a TM smooth horse. I have noticed a similar thing happening as you observed. There seems to be some certain condition of the edge that can be tamed by the latigo but not by the horse. On the other hand, I have thought in the past that the latigo was pulling and flaking a delicate edge apart on another razor with a hard, brittle edge.

Sometimes the latigo feels like it is going to jerk the razor out of my hand. Then the next day it feels much smoother. I guess it fluctuates with humidity or something. The horse is always nice and smooth.

I have same as you tm latigo and horse hide some days the latigo has so much draw the next day not so much. the latigo defanatly does improve an edge after honing horse hide does its job but much less draw i do think the hht is a great indicator and the latigo strop can after honing give the ultimate hht also after horse hide i never lost hht i also think the linen is better than the smooth cotton i have both and prefer the linen after the linen i'm pasing hht this is after honing on a coticule. the linen and latigo plus horse hide works for me .

Well, for me the hanging hair test is fine, I have a 50/50 track record with it cutting or not but it does not matter.

The hairs I shave are not hanging, but rather attached firmly to my face and quite stiff. If it shaves them, and them alone, I and the razor are having a good day.

Tony

I actually like to think in terms of results from shaving as well. It is rare that I rely on a hanging hair test for anything other than my own amusement. (This is not a slam on those who find value in the HHT. If it has meaning for you, then by all means it is a good thing.) I think the interesting thing is that even if you thumb pad test, you may feel a difference (more sticky/sharp feeling) from a newer Horsehide which tends to be almost slippery to me. to the vintage which have a little more draw to the English Bridle, Latigo's or Water Buffalo which have heavier draw and find that the shaves can be pretty similar depending on the amount of strokes and perhaps your personal level of pressure. I think that strops, like a lot of the things we use in this environment are in many cases driven by personal preference too.

Lynn