Thread: Gambled a few bucks with low expectations...

I am taking a short vacation and wanted an inexpensive travel strop. I don't do a lot of traveling and my home strop is an awesome SRP, so when I dropped $15 on an ebay strop, that came with a straight razor, I didn't have much hope it would be useful. I've blown $15 in worse ways, time and again, so I am not upset about it.

The razor is a piece of crap.. a cheap Pakistani blade in awful black plastic scales. I don't think it is even worth being used as a practice blade for honing. Frankly, I don't care. I'll either use it a sacrificial blade for honing, or glue it closed and use it as a paper weight.

I had hoped the strop would be useful.. not sure.

The hardware is really cheap. I could just tie it to a doorknob and ditch the hardware. The 'linen' side is white nylon webbing. Very stiff, but a light draw. If nothing else can be put in service the web side can. The leather is unbelievable stiff. Finished black on one side and raw on the back. The finish side looks almost like it was painted. And the near edge, the side closest to my hand (I am right hand dominant), has a slight ridge along the length of.

I've tried to loosen it up with loads of palm rubbing but it has gotten more of an 'alligator' texture to it if nothing else. I didn't try any kind of oil. I don't think it will help.

Can I make it a week without leather? If I had to, I could take the SRP. The web side will be usable. I am afraid to use the finished side of the leather, but I am curious if the back side is of any value. Pretty stiff, smooth suede but not ridge to contend with.

Try as I did, I can't get a good picture of the ridge but trust me that I wouldn't run even my least favorite blade over it, let alone one of the ones I wanted to take with me. The alligator texture is obvious.
The second pic is of the nylon web.

Ditch the leather and go just with the Web?

First get yourself a couple paper clamps.

Then buy yourself a newspaper when you get wherever you are going.

Read it if you like then pick a full page with a lot of newsprint and on the long end accordion fold it with about three inch folds till you have the whole page folded.

Finish by folding the paper in half ether over a towel rack and clamping the two ends together or just fold it in half clamp both ends leaving the top end metal pieces up. You then tie a shoe lace through the metal pieces and use the shoe lace to hang it up.

Originally Posted by Castel33

First get yourself a couple paper clamps.

Then buy yourself a newspaper when you get wherever you are going.

Read it if you like then pick a full page with a lot of newsprint and on the long end accordion fold it with about three inch folds till you have the whole page folded.

Finish by folding the paper in half ether over a towel rack and clamping the two ends together or just fold it in half clamp both ends leaving the top end metal pieces up. You then tie a shoe lace through the metal pieces and use the shoe lace to hang it up.

LOL... Thanks.. yes, I know the Newpaper Strop technique.

It would make a great conversation starter I am sure.

Mike, I have a small Illinois strop with leather tether and it works great as a travel strop — my door knob special. In the past, however, I have rolled a newspaper, a thick roll, and used it as I would a paddle strop. I still use it after honing to clean up the blade a bit more before going to the leather strop. It's a good tool, and it will fit in your suitcase.

Since you already know the newspaper trick. I will give you some other options.

First the leather on those strops are no good for razors. You couple put it into service for tools using the back side.

The webbing is not bad and can be used as you where thinking.

No as to just using the webbing for travel you could do it with no problem for a short time. You will probably notice that the razor doesn't feels as smooth as it normally does.

As to other alternatives there are a bunch that will cost you some more money. Paddles are always good for travel. You can make ones that are pretty cheap if you have a leather store near you or even a shoe repair place where you can get a decent piece of leather. You can get a small hanging strop like Obie suggest. I like this one for that purpose. http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/J30...r-Single-Sided

That is actually my everyday strop but a great size for travel. Though if you have an SRD strop this will be a big size difference so I would use it leading up to your trip also to get use to it.

Oh wow. That looks horrid. I want one of those razors to put in the blender for a video.

My suggestion, if you're not going to go the newspaper route, would be to go to Hobby Lobby or Michael's and get a 1.5" wide leather belt blank. You may or may not need to treat it with neatsfoot oil. From that point, REEEEALLY practice your x-strokes. The good thing about this, though, is that since you have a longer surface to strop on you can take your time on your x-strokes and make sure you hit the entire edge.

For a "linen" component, you may want to take a look in the wiki here on how to make one out of an old pair of jeans.

With those two things, you could cobble one together pretty easily.

Originally Posted by crouton976

My suggestion, if you're not going to go the newspaper route, would be to go to Hobby Lobby or Michael's and get a 1.5" wide leather belt blank. You may or may not need to treat it with neatsfoot oil.

That's a REALLY good idea..
I was going to buy a poor mans travel strop from Whipping Dog, but chances of it getting here in time are slim.

I have a craft store close to home..

Thanks!

Happy to oblige, sir.