Thread: finally pulled the trigger on a Tony Miller strop!

Well, I've seen probably 20 or more excited posts by SRP members spouting and crowing over Tony's remarkable handmade heirloom strops, and y'know, that kind of talk can really get to a guy. In fact, I have been scoping and lurking Tony's site for many months waiting for that elusive moment when he has strops available and I also have an extra bit of money available to spend on myself. Well, that moment came about a week and a half ago:

I had been all over the internet looking at handmade strops listed on Etsy and for sale on different shaving sites, Ebay, leatherworkers, a couple of makers in Europe, but I kept landing back The Well Shaved Gentleman. I was a little bit hesitant because Tony was offering the Fast Bridle strop, which he described as having a light to medium draw, and I was thinking that I was probably a medium to heavy draw guy, y'know, Red Latigo.... But I decided to take the leap of faith. Tony's journey with making these strops has been an evolution over the years and I decided to trust that he just simply wouldn't put anything into my hands that was anything short of superlative. That leap of faith came through yesterday via the US Postal Service.

just taking this magnificent 3" strop into my hands, I could feel the quality of it just oozing. The leathers, the weight, the hardware, the finishes. Just perfect. And to my touch, the Fast Bridle was just as described: buttery and velvety and flawless; a bit more draw than the 2" RupRazor Filly begnners strop I have been sufficing with (Still an excellent little strop, just obviously in a different league!)

So, last night, needing a shave, I brought out my current favorite razor, a 7/8ths" Ern GONG, which has consistntly yielded beatiful shaves for me, and hit it for a few strokes on the naked cotton canvas strop (Tony can no longer get the Linen strop in 3" width :-( ) then gave it 50 or 60 strokes on the the fast bridle. Felt great! I gave my face the first pass with my regular treatment of some hot water and Cremo Creme, and the difference on the shaving edge was profoundly different! A new level of shaving! I dried the razor, restropped and shaved against the grain, and everything felt great! This strop has levated my quality of life. I love it.

Thank you Tony for the work you do in making these awsme strops! worth every penny!

David

Could you possibly post a pic of it? I've been needing a new strop. I have been leaning towards SRD's #4 English Bridle strop, but maybe I could put a few extra bucks aside and get one of Tony's. Was it terribly expensive?

Have fun with your new strop, you lucky guy ;-)

Sure, here ya go

I put the 2" RupTazor Filly in the phot for size comparison.

I absolutely love having the 3" width. No "X" required!

BTW I was also given (upon request) one of Lynn's super excellent modar paddle strops for my birthday in November, and found the Bridle leather on it to be a bit slick. I started getting slightly more draw on it after a couple thousand strokes. I like the paddle a lot but kept finding that even after the most careful uses, my edges still improved on a hanging strop. I love the paddle strop. It allows for very even finish work and I believe it will always be part of my process when bringing razors back from the dead, but I just seem to get a finer final finish off the hanging strop. Personal preference or perhaps under-developed technique with the paddle strop I suppose.

The base price for Tony's strop was $82 plus $14 for handles rather than "d" rings and a little bit more for shipping landed me around $103 I think.

The whole strop is held together with Chicago screws rather than rivets, so if an element is ever in need of replacement it can be disassemble without damage.

Good luck with your search!

many great strops abound,tonys are fantastic.Expensive? a bit on the high side.
But a quality Strop should last a lifetime,or more.

Thanks for the pics. Wow! Beautiful strop. It just looks perfect. I'm definitely going to check them out. Not a bad price, either. Yep, I'm going to save up for one of these beauties.

Thanks again for the nice pics. Once again, you're a very lucky guy. Have fun.

Thanks bruseth, keep in mind Tony makes a few of these a week when his day job allows. The materials seem to shift depending on the leathers he can find the highest quality on. I caught him at the right moment, I guess.... My bet is that if you go with one of these beauties you'll have it for a very long time and will not be dissatisfied!

Congratulations on getting a superb and beautiful strop. I have two of Tony's premium steerhide strops and I appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into them. Plus, Tony is great to deal with and it's nice to buy from the maker directly.

Indeed. I love to have things that are beautifully made. Thanks

My first real strop was a Tony Miller Red Latigo, got it like six or seven years ago. Was the only strop I used for many years (until I won my SRD strop in a raffle) and the thing shows no signs of being used. It was made to last a life time, I would probably never need a new strop for a couple generations. It is now my main travel strop, because it is the smaller 2.5 inch and I just prefer to use my three inch SRD strop daily.

Yeah, I got the same model in Latigo a few years ago as my 1st and only strop. I love it!