Thread: Strop width

So I will be buying a stone this week, and I am considering to buy another strop.
Now I have a paddle strop, but it has the disadvantage that it is short, as well as less wide than my razor.

Does it make sense to use a wide 3 inch strop?
Otherwise I'd have to X while stropping, which seems to be a bit annoying.

Many (maybe even most) of us X while stropping, even those of us with 3" wide strops. Among other things, using an X helps ensure you don't nick your strop by giving you more time to get the direction reversed before the edge comes down to the strop again. It's a big help when you're just beginning and feeling the urge to speed up the stropping.

I've been using a 2.5" without any problems. At this point in time, I don't even think about it, x comes naturally.

I have a 3" strop and I don't use the X pattern it works fine for me and I would never change to a smaller strop. I find the 3" a lot easier to use.

Most razors are are around 3 inches long if you measure just the blade. On a 2.5 inch strop, you only have to shift the blade about a half inch to do an X. I have a 2.5 inch hanging strop from Tony and I don't even notice that I'm doing X strokes.

Josh

I like narrower strops...

Nenad