Unknown Strop Leather

Hi all,

So I have this strop by Jemico that is made in Germany apparently and is the first one I ever had but never got around to using all that much. Over the course of the few years I've been using a straight, I acquired several other strops like a Latigo, SRD Premium II, English Bridle, etc and those became my day to day strops. Just recently I've come back to this Jemico and I've grown to love the stropping action on it. It's a 2 inch width I believe or 2 & 1/2. The side I'm using to strop is the "rough" side - it looks like a sanded finish with a raised nap on it that changes direction while stropping - although I'm not sure if this is the side I should be using since it also has another side which is smoother. On this smooth side, it says "Prima Rindleder" and I'm guessing that's the type of leather? All I've noticed is that the shine and polish on my blade after using the "rough" side of this strop is just WOW! Now, I haven't had the chance to actually shave with it but I'd like to know what type of leather this is and whether it comes in a 3 inch width variety if it turns out it's not "Prima Rindleder" or whatever. Also, are these considered good strops?

Any thoughts?

Thanks

It is simply cowhide - most of the smaller strops from Germany (Herold, Jemico, Dovo, etc) are made from this.

It has had the surface milled off. This gets rid of any blemishes and shallow wrinkles. It then has a grain pattern imprinted on it (called 'corrected grain') to leave a surface with a slight nap or fine velvety feel. The rougher side is the flesh side of the leather. If it is not too coarse it can be used for pre stropping, if you like, though something made for that task alone is preferable (cotton, canvas, cotton-canvas, linen, etc).

The cheaper strops are generally 2 or 2 and 1/4 inches wide, and not very long but the stuff can be had in 3 inch wide lengths and a good deal longer - at a significantly higher cost, naturally.

Regards,
Neil