Thread: Bison made strop

i guess you can agree with the others. If its not stamped horween, its not a horween.
just demand for a refund and ship it back. doesnt hurt to get a refund.

This to me says a lot about the company. Since they didn't have what you ordered they should have contacted you and offered a refund or told you of the wait time. Instead they sent you something different with a she'll be right attitude hoping that you wouldn't figure it out. Never heard of any other top strop maker doing it. Id have it back to them and tell them that they are paying the postage as they shouldn't have sent it in the first place. Just my 2cents

Hey guys I found out where it's from , I've spoken to the owner of the tannery and and bison made, the tannery is based out of Argentina it's called rocinante and the website is lisroyal.com, if you have any more comments about this please bring them on because I I like the strop a lot, but we all know that if I haven't had a horween shell than I don't know what is authentic, let's know what you guys think, of you want pictures of the leather to make a professional estimate I will do it

Originally Posted by rcf1023

Hey guys I found out where it's from , I've spoken to the owner of the tannery and and bison made, the tannery is based out of Argentina it's called rocinante and the website is lisroyal.com, if you have any more comments about this please bring them on because I I like the strop a lot, but we all know that if I haven't had a horween shell than I don't know what is authentic, let's know what you guys think, of you want pictures of the leather to make a professional estimate I will do it

Confirms what we came up with in this post # 17 here http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...ml#post1408323

I doubt if photos will be enough to tell whether it is shell cordovan or horsehide. Send a PM to Neil Miller and ask him if he knows the tannery. He is no stranger to the strop business. Did the Rocinante say it was shell cordovan ? If he did, it probably is.

Bottom line, if you like it and feel you paid a fair price it is all good.

Horween's shells are about $300 per now, at least shells that will yield two strops. A couple of years ago, I bought a shell to make a strop and it was a smaller #2 shell that they picked for me to be oblong more than others and it was still about $230 or something back then (and prices have gone up). It's nice stuff, the virtue being that you can pretty much cut it into a strop shape and it's super slick and yields a really keen stropped edge right away (whereas other stuff might do better after it's broken in but not necessarily so lovely right away cut right from the stock).

I don't know anything about the leather you got, but if you like the strop, I would do two things (personally):
* I'd find out of it's treated horsehide leather (like butt strip) or if it's a shell. Shell is shell, but horween's treatment yields something much different than, say, the shells that come on a kanayama strop. It's unlikely to be the same. It could be better or worse. If it's not shell, I'd send it back or ask for a big concession
* If it is shell and you really like it, then you have to make the judgement about whether or not you feel you got a fair deal. That's up to you.

(I don't even use my horween strop, it gets damaged easily. I use horse butt instead, veg tanned and nothing else done to it. I can put anything I want on it and it returns to a mirror finish on the surface. It was not, however, ready for use cut right off of the butt strip. It took at least a month of daily stropping to get it in decent shape. But I can clean it with a paper towel soaked with mineral oil and it's slicker afterward than it was before cleaning - I like that.)

It's hard for you, me or anyone else to make judgements about stuff that we really don't know that well, and I don't know leather that well either, beyond what I've cut to make my own strops.

One final thought. Allen Edmonds sells shoes made of horween shell, and they cost several hundred dollars more than shoes that are not. I personally don't know who the people at bison strop are or whether or not they're nice folks, but I find substituting something like another leather or shell in place of horween and not telling you that they were doing it and offering ahead of time to allow you to back out to be very inconsiderate. That's just my opinion. Allen Edmonds wouldn't send people shoes advertised as horween cordovan and make them with something else and not tell anyone.

I found a guy who does custom strop work, you can contact him on Facebook Westholme razor strops , he is very good and uses Horween, I will send pictures of my new strop, he is always available to answer questions and even put my initials into the strop , he has competitive prices, he really is amazing, much better when you're dealing with a custom maker and he is quite well known already, I know it has been tough finding shell cordovan strops from big sites so this guy will be able to help out!

Originally Posted by rcf1023

I found a guy who does custom strop work, you can contact him on Facebook Westholme razor strops , he is very good and uses Horween,

Nice stuff. Glad you found what you were looking for. Did you keep the Bison strop ? If so, how does the material compare with the Horween ? Like DaveW says, sometimes horsebutt, if that is what the Bison is, can be as effective as shell. I guess, I'm learning that I don't know as much about strops as I'd like to think I do.

I did keep the strops, now i also have horween shell now, I like the bison made shells but note they change sources from time to time they are trying to get horween but they have a horrible shortage that is why they outsourced shells elsewhere, I believe the Rocinante and the horween are pretty much exact but I do find the horween to be a slight touch more glassy feel, this is just my opinion and again I am absolutely happy wit both products!

Originally Posted by rcf1023

I did keep the strops, now i also have horween shell now, I like the bison made shells but note they change sources from time to time they are trying to get horween but they have a horrible shortage that is why they outsourced shells elsewhere, I believe the Rocinante and the horween are pretty much exact but I do find the horween to be a slight touch more glassy feel, this is just my opinion and again I am absolutely happy wit both products!

That is a good out come. The bad news for me is ........ now I want one of each !!

I know the feeling that why I went crazy for both! But I had to pay for it too! They are not cheap as you know, I'm not rich either but I love leather, and I plan on making my own strops and other things very soon because I know how hard it is to get and I have grown to love the craftsmen ship. Hopefully I'll post pictures soon of some work probably be horaehide not shell cordovan because it is expensive for me right now.