Tony's strops... and what about HandAmerican

[fredvs79]

Hey guys,
I'm in the market for a new strop. I suppose this question would be best answered by Tony, but he's got some leather choices to pick from.
5-7 oz Red Latigo, 7-9 oz Honey Brown, 9-10 oz Black Latigo. The Latigos have "increased draw", I suppose over the Honey Brown. And there is now an option to get a strop without the Linen and have it be Black Latigo and Honey Brown. Of course, since you get a free beginner's strop (out of honey brown) with the #1 strops, I don't see the black/honey strop as worth losing the linen.

Since all of these are top notch high end strops, what exactly is the splitting hairs difference in these three types of leather? Any preferences? Does any particular one work better for certain types of knives?


Also, Keith's site of HandAmerican has been down, so I have no idea what the Old Dog strops look like, but I've always heard good things about them. I'd like to at least get a look see before deciding who to order from, but I'm wondering when his site will be back up. But on HA it looks like they have latigo, and also do a diamond pattern on them, to increase draw. I've not seen any strops with this, so i'm just waiting for everyone's $0.02 on the matter.

[rickw]

If you go to the HA home page, you can access the definitions for the draw on the leathers that he uses. Mine is a red latigo and black corrected.

Rick

[suzuki]

Like everything else - leather choice is a personal preference. Some people think that different leathers work better/worse for different razors.

I'm a relative newbie, but I can tell the difference between my Dovo and my Miller #1 in red latigo - the Dovo has much less draw.

More draw is not necessarily better - in fact when I switched from my Dovo to my Miller, I had to adjust as I was using too much pressure on the Miller due to the increased draw of the red latigo. I have adjusted my technique and am getting great results from this strop.

Keith at Handamerican is in the process of redesigning his strops, which is why you can't see them on his site.

I would carefully read the information on Tony's site and on SRP regarding the differences between the various leather options and, if you still have questions, ask Tony or give Keith a call.

I like using the linen - it seems to work for me - and wouldn't forgo the linen if this is your first "good" strop. You can always purchase another strop if you want more leather choices.

[PuFFaH]

I'm a relative newbie, but I can tell the difference between my Dovo and my Miller #1 in red latigo - the Dovo has much less draw.

Have you used the yellow strop conditioning paste on your Dovo? I am sure if you do you will see a remaked differance in the dovos draw. Remember let the strop rest after applying conditioner.

PuFF

[suzuki]

Have you used the yellow strop conditioning paste on your Dovo? I am sure if you do you will see a remaked differance in the dovos draw. Remember let the strop rest after applying conditioner.

PuFF

Yup - more draw, but still much less than my Miller red latigo.

[Tony Miller]

The amount of draw needed is a personal thing. I use two of my own strops daily, one red latigo and one honey brown. For some razors I like having the increased friction and other just seem to do better on a smoother strop. That was the reason for the multiple leathers on a strop in place of linen. I a also adding several leathers very similar to the Dovo/Jemico choices.

Neither is a bad choice and I doubt anyone will feel one was a bad choice over the other. I have used several of Keith's smoother leathers in the past. Different than mine but they worked well too on certain razors, thay all have their applications. There is really no bad option here, or from Illinois, Dovo or Jemico. Different designs, different leathers, construction , etc ...... all will do the job to different extents and for different tastes.

Tony