Thread: New people and 3" strops

Is it just me or is there a lot of people suggesting a new straight user to go with a 3" strop?

In my personal opinion a 3" strop is not the best for a beginner. A 2.5" would be better. I see people saying to get a 3" so you don't have to learn the x-stroke while stropping. IMHO it's completely the wrong line of thought. The x-stroke is very important to know. If you learn to strop with an x-stroke you learn a better technique, therefore you will have better results.

If you learn to just go straight up and back you may miss some of the blade. That also transitions into honing if you choose to learn.

To sum up, I personally think learning to strop on a 2.5" strop is the best way to learn. Then once you have experience try something new.

Of course this is just my opinion and a pet peace of mine.

Agree 100% for a hanger, X stroke or windshield wiper type Stroke should be learned,A hard Paddle is a diff story,Maybe.

Absolutely no reason you can't perform X-strokes on a 3" strop, IMO

Originally Posted by Siguy

Absolutely no reason you can't perform X-strokes on a 3" strop, IMO

Of Course you can,But newbs feel with a 3in, strop,all that is needed is an up and down stroke,thats wrong IMO

it s like so many other things you learn ,,, do it the right way step by step till your good enough to get creative , but if you stick with the basics the first time you wont have to break your bad habits later on I started on a 2" strop , had to do the x stroke ,, now I just naturally do it no matter what strop I use 3" or 2" tc

X marks the spot. X a question and get an answer. Xed it out. X my heart and hope to... X is an essential part of living. Mark your ballot with an X in the right place. Acquire many X's via bad marriages. Forgotten how to write, X your signature. I'd swear that an X movement is more natural to the human frame than back and forth or up and down or side to side. Extol the value of X in any mathematical formula. Cross eyed is an X look. So, newbie's learn the X stroke in stropping and you will reap X amount of rewards for it.

I use a 3" hanging strop, and do a windscreen wiper stroke, after i read one of pixels posts some time ago, definately just up and down isnt ideal, if your blade or strop arent flat.

Im reasonably new (less than 6 months) and have been trying different things on my SRD paddle strop. Lately I've been trying a zigzag motion, with the spine leading and edge trailing as I move down the length of the strop. I do roughly 1/3 passes like this, 1/3 straight and 1/3 windshield wiper style, and so far that has given me the smoothest shaves to date. Can't comment on hanging strops, as I only have the whipped dog poor mans strop and since getting the paddle strop, the paddle is the only one I use.