I started with an SRD Paddle with the premium leather. It seemed slick to me with very little draw. I bought some Neatsfoot oil, used it, and it made no difference and might have slicked it up even more. Somebody on here mentioned lather, so I tried it. I slopped up the strop, left it overnight, wiped the residue off the next morning, and I had a gigantic increase in draw. I like lots of draw. It allows me to use less pressure and let the strop do the work. Recently I bought the SRD Bridle leather for my paddle and lathered it up after the first, unimpressive, session. It was a draw machine! I don't know how it works or what it will eventually do to the strop, and I don't really care. What I care about is results. If the strop dies a nasty death, I will buy another one and lather that one up too.