Gentlemen,

For years, I have searched for my ideal hanging travel strop, but it still eludes me. I think it is time I design my own and have a prominent strop master make it. Since I strop the old barber style, with the blade at a slight angle, and use only about six to seven inches of stropping space, my strop will have a total length of about 12 inches, with a width of about three inches. No handles. Obviously, it will need some sort of tether or hook with which to hang it in the hotel bathroom.

While traveling, I have stropped on a rolled newspaper, auto seat belt material, blue jeans, the palm of my hand (although I finish my daily stropping with about 30 strokes on the palm of my hand) and a variety of other improvised strop materials, but still I want my own two-component travel strop. That's that.

I don't particularly care for paddle strops, although my current travel strop is the Kanoyama cordovan board strop, and it's okay. Currently I have the Kanoyama 70000 and 80000, as well as the Tolorf Horween oil tanned horse hide (the three-inch Tony Miller cowhide is dedicated for after honing), and have taken each on the road, with a leather tether to hang on doorknobs, they still fall short of ideal for my hanging travel strop.

Because of the heavy arthritis in my hands, especially in my thumb joints, I prefer light a draw in a strop. Also, as a novelist and freelance writer, I spend much of my day in my home office writing. That I use a fountain pen for the first draft of everything before switching to the computer, the right thumb takes an even more beating (Then again, writing with a beautiful fountain pen is one of life's greatest joys, but that's for another thread).

The material for my travel strop will be shell cordovan or another leather with light draw — I have tried kangaroo and don't much care for it.

So here we are, gentlemen: that's my ideal hanging travel strop. What is your ideal travel strop?