Thread: Strop Question?

Hi Fellas.

I've just been looking at strops and like anything else they range wildy in price, ofcourse the quality and brand will vary greatly from the cheapest to the most expenive but my question is fundamentally, will any leather strop be just as good as another, or at least treat your blade well, regardless of price or do we really need to spend moderatrley big bucks on a high end strop? What do you guys think?

In my humble opinion I think it's important that you shop within your budget. If you are new to stropping it may be wise to spend less. Chances are you may put a few nicks or (gasp) a cut in your strop while learning. Better that happens to a less expensive strop than a really high-end one. At the outset I wouldn't worry so much about leather type. A cheap strop if used properly will keep your razor(s) sharp. You can always upgrade at a later point. In any case this is food for thought. Hope it helps. Best of luck!

Strops are made from leather...leather is leathery. So in my experience any leather that is fine grained and smooth will do the job. There is nothing wrong with buying a cheap strop as long as it doesn't have wrinkles or bumps or other imperfections on it that will mess up the edge. What you are paying for in a high priced strop is name, type of leather, and consistency in finish. That last part is really the only important part in my opinion. I have had latigo and cordovan and a cheap ebay strop. They all worked and they all took the same amount of laps to work and they all were made of leather. Was the cordovan prettier...yes. Do I care about that....no. In light of this I sold both the latigo and cordovan strops and went to a local leather supplier and bought a 50"x3" piece of leather that was smooth all the way through and made 3 strops with it, they all work great.

Originally Posted by cosperryan

...leather is leathery. So in my experience any leather [...] will do...

There is nothing wrong [...] long as it doesn't have wrinkles or bumps or other imperfections...

[...]Was the cordovan prettier...yes. Do I care about that....no...

Just like other things in life, what we see here fulfills the old adage of of 'different strokes for different folks'. Just suppose (don't get all hysterical on me now) that we are talking about women and especially being a teen and talking about women. My argument with an anonymous pal could very well be somewhat similar to the above:

pal: "women are women, so in my experience any woman will do"
me "have to disagree with you there"
pal 'there is nothing wrong as long as she doesn't have wrinkles, bumps or other imperfections"
me " its truly amazing how you manage to be ageist, sexist and elitist all in the same sentence"
pal "was Carolyn prettier...yes. Do I care about that...no"
me "damn - Carolyn is definitely pretty, very pretty! Do I care about that - hell, yes! Oh dear, I seem to have fallen into your elitist, sexist trap..."

All I'm saying is we all have our own points of view, so who cares what anyone else thinks about what appeals to one of us - each persons choice is just that - his choice.

Regards,
Neil

You don't need to spend a fortune to get a good quality strop. From about 40 to 50 you can get good strops but usually can't get replacement pieces. The midrange tend to be a bit nicer and you can get replacement pieces and the high end ate great but there is a lot of diminishing returns going on. My Illinois razor Co 827 works well and my kanayama 80000 works better but both will definitely give a shave ready razor and there isn't a great deal of difference but the Kanayama is a joy to use. The only thing I wouldn't do is use one made of low quality leather. Do a few searches through the site and I'm sure you will find what you are looking for

All I can say, which applies to most things shaving related, is that I wish I had been a little less "penny wise and pound foolish" as my grandmother used to say.

A cheap strop will work BUT when you slice it beyond use another cheap strop will cost you more than a new piece of leather for a quality strop. I know; I've gone that route. As a result I have a $40 strop I don't like, a $30 strop I can't use because it's too messed up (by me early on), and a SRD modular paddle strop that I have all kinds of surfaces for that costs about $85. A new leather or felt costs about $10....Same thing goes for the SRD premium and many other quality strops...leather and fabric pieces are replaceable.

On brand name shave ready razors for a beginner I'm a believer that steel, well ground, is steel, and the expensive ones are just fancier (until you get really high end).

But on strops in particular, cheap in the short run isn't necessarily where you want to go.

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Just like other things in life, what we see here fulfills the old adage of of 'different strokes for different folks'. Just suppose (don't get all hysterical on me now) that we are talking about women and especially being a teen and talking about women. My argument with an anonymous pal could very well be somewhat similar to the above:

pal: "women are women, so in my experience any woman will do"
me "have to disagree with you there"
pal 'there is nothing wrong as long as she doesn't have wrinkles, bumps or other imperfections"
me " its truly amazing how you manage to be ageist, sexist and elitist all in the same sentence"
pal "was Carolyn prettier...yes. Do I care about that...no"
me "damn - Carolyn is definitely pretty, very pretty! Do I care about that - hell, yes! Oh dear, I seem to have fallen into your elitist, sexist trap..."

All I'm saying is we all have our own points of view, so who cares what anyone else thinks about what appeals to one of us - each persons choice is just that - his choice.

Regards,
Neil

I don't get it. strops are used for function, women are people. If your using something for function you don't want it to have imperfections that diminish the function-ability, like say a raised bump or covered in wrinkles like most of the cheapy strops on the bay, however it is possible that you can get one of those with out issues just like you can get a gold dollar razor off of the bay that has no issues, its just a gamble. Of course you could just buy a nice strop from a reputable dealer and your out worry free. I am assuming the OP asked this question due to budgetary concerns. I am not going to tell someone they need to buy a Ferrari when all they need or might be able to afford is a nice toyota.

If we are using the woman analogy , maybe you could rent different strops until deciding on one. Just saying.....

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Just like other things in life, what we see here fulfills the old adage of of 'different strokes for different folks'. Just suppose (don't get all hysterical on me now) that we are talking about women and especially being a teen and talking about women. My argument with an anonymous pal could very well be somewhat similar to the above:

pal: "women are women, so in my experience any woman will do"
me "have to disagree with you there"
pal 'there is nothing wrong as long as she doesn't have wrinkles, bumps or other imperfections"
me " its truly amazing how you manage to be ageist, sexist and elitist all in the same sentence"
pal "was Carolyn prettier...yes. Do I care about that...no"
me "damn - Carolyn is definitely pretty, very pretty! Do I care about that - hell, yes! Oh dear, I seem to have fallen into your elitist, sexist trap..."

All I'm saying is we all have our own points of view, so who cares what anyone else thinks about what appeals to one of us - each persons choice is just that - his choice.

Regards,
Neil

But why just settle on one type. Does a bee just settle on one type of flower?
How boring honey would be if he did!

Originally Posted by TurbineBlade

Hi Fellas.

I've just been looking at strops and like anything else they range wildy in price, ofcourse the quality and brand will vary greatly from the cheapest to the most expenive but my question is fundamentally, will any leather strop be just as good as another, or at least treat your blade well, regardless of price or do we really need to spend moderatrley big bucks on a high end strop? What do you guys think?

No,,,,,, not all strops are the same,,,,

"Need" has nothing to do with it,,,, I want the best I can afford.