Thread: Extreme Stropping Video

How does a kangaroo strop differ from others? I think stropping is my weakest skill of all the things related to straight shaving. I downloaded your video and intend to watch it many times. Thanks.

I believe they are very pliant and soft, a trait that I like a lot in a strop. Might be better for those with a little experience. Jimbo will probably correct me later and add some more info.

For a minute i was thinking you were going to put sunscreen on the strop!!
Great video thanks for sharing, ide love to try one of these roe strops!! hint! hint!

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

How does a kangaroo strop differ from others? I think stropping is my weakest skill of all the things related to straight shaving. I downloaded your video and intend to watch it many times. Thanks.

You are most welcome!

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

I believe they are very pliant and soft, a trait that I like a lot in a strop. Might be better for those with a little experience. Jimbo will probably correct me later and add some more info.

Kangaroo leather is very thin (the one that I use in the video is < 1mm thick). It can be supple and pliant, as Alan says, but it can also feel like plastic too - it really depends on the tanning process I think.

I agree with Alan that a kangaroo strop might be best left until you gain a bit more experience with stropping - not because you need any more skill to use one per se, but mainly because they are so thin that any moderately serious mis-stroke will most likely cut the strop in two. There is very little margin for error with them being so thin.

Kangaroo leather is, weight for weight, the strongest leather there is. It also is a very fine-grained leather which is what I think leads to it being such a good medium to strop on. There is a very mild but noticeable draw with kangaroo, while at the same time the surface feels slick-ish. It is very hard to explain actually.

The other thing I like about the Kangaroo is that it can take, quite easily, a bit of pressure - you may have noticed the deflection under the spine in the video - that is pretty typical of how I strop on these strops. I am not deliberately adding pressure for the sake of it, I am searching for the "feel" that I know yields a good edge. It just so happens that that "feel" starts to occur with some pressure on these strops and happily these strops can handle that quite easily due, again I think, to the thinness. On the other hand, this is not necessarily the case with my other strops (cow and horse).

James.

Originally Posted by Martin103

For a minute i was thinking you were going to put sunscreen on the strop!!
Great video thanks for sharing, ide love to try one of these roe strops!! hint! hint!

No, sunscreen is for my cueball head and Scottish complexion.

James.

My 'roo strop is my favourite so far, based on my experience with the SRP Premium IV Bridle, Black Latigo and the WhippedDog Poor Man. I just love this strop. Perfect amount of draw, great feedback and just seems "right" for me.

I'm the same - once I tried roo I never went back to my other strops, except for nostalgic reasons. I do have a retractable strop I keep downstairs at the honing station for stropping off the hones - that is a very old shell and a beautiful leather. It is the only thing I have found comparable to the kangaroo, maybe because it is also thinnish (so it rolls up into the retractable part of the strop).

James.

Fun in the sun! But where's the chicks in Bikinis, my friend!?

Next video, chicks in bikinis at the pool! What a concept!
Seriously though, nice technique, I do it the same but I think I have HALF the speed you do, stropping master.

I like that idea but I don't know that many bikini chicks who would agree to be in my video - I've asked around before with very little luck...maybe once the restraining orders are lifted I could try again....

I found the "trick" (although it is not a trick, really) to obtaining some speed was, firstly, lots of practice, but secondly really concentrating on the direction changes and the razor flip. Let's face it, we could all probably move our arm pretty fast in one direction - it is the changing of direction at each end that generates stropping speed, not how fast our arm is in one direction.

What helped me with this was:
(1) holding the razor in the best way for me - finger position on the shank is how you get control of the flip;
(2) A light touch on the strop;
(3) That windscreen wiper motion I mention in the video - wrist and forearm only gives you more control, IMO;
(3a) The realisation that you do not need to use the whole strop length - related to 3;
(4) Timing the flip - trickiest bit, but once you get it down you will never look back.

Timing the flip: The flip of the razor starts while the razor is still travelling in the original direction, and I instigate it around 4-6 inches from the end of the strop usually. So the edge is lifted off the strop while the razor is still moving. When the edge is about straight up in the air (90 degrees to the strop), I change the razor's direction and continue the flip until the edge touches back down on the strop, now in the opposite direction. Repeat the process at each end.

If you can nail that, you will get a nice smooth stropping motion and speed will follow. The most important thing is to always be in control of the razor on the strop.

James.