Thread: Sourcing Cordovan/Russian Shell strops/leather

I was wondering if anybody had any ideas on finding something of the sort. My understanding is that the Russian Red leather hasn't been made in 80 something years. If this is true, would it be possible to source a NOS/usable vintage one? The Cordovan seems to lead to a similar note, although it seems to be in production. The only place I can seem to find vintage/NOS strops is ebay, but the descriptions, pictures, and usability of such items are either lacking or very difficult to determine.

Added: Also, is there anything comparable being manufactured today, or would it have to be custom made?

According to what i have read, the special thing about the russian leather was the birch bark used in it's tanning. Since that is not used anymore, modern russian leather is comparable to any other veg tanned leather.

Tony Miller looked into buying cordovan pieces, but said that it was not economical. If you were buying some, you would need to be able to see the pieces so you could check that they were free from defects, and mark out in your head how many strops you could cut from the piece. I tried to find myself some in the UK but i haven't been successful yet.

I am doing two things.

The first is ordering an 'Old Dog' strop from www.handamerican.com , Your other main option is to order from Tony http://www.thewellshavedgentleman.com I have tried neither myself yet, but they both come well recommended here. Handamerican will provide you with samples of the leather types they use, so you could get them and try and source some locally.

The second is buying a piece of veg tanned leather locally and the requisite bits of hardware and making one myself. I will practice on this until i receive my old dog strop and feel ready to use it. I do not know how experienced you are, but i have been using my belt up till now and it has suffered a few minor cuts so far, which would be galling if i had dropped $70 on one.

Let me ask you, is this a quest for ultimate quality, or is it because you think you can make one better and cheaper yourself?

As ernestrome has said, availability is not good. I have had lots of horsehide samplkes here and very little was usable for strops. I made a few for myself and see no real advanatge especially considering what the costs would be. Cordovan is available but my check last wee showed a wholesale price of $90 per single oval which would be less than 17" long. No telling what the surface quality woulk be either.

Believe me, if there were an advantage and a ready source I would have already been on it <g>. To me any decent leather, with suitable draw and more importantly a good uniform surface free from creases and fat wrinkles as well as one not prone to cupping as happens on so many high dollar commercial strops is far more important.

Mine are not cheap but they will beat most Dovos out there, come with a free second so you don't risk the good one with learning nick AND are stood behind 100%. Wherever yo buy, hand made or commercial it is the surface more than the beast it came from that counts.

Tony