Thread: Bison Horse hide strop

I've been wanting a nice horse hide strop for some time now and today I snagged one up. After finding a really nice vintage 2" shell cordovan strop at an antique store, and using it exclusively for a year now, I now know I like the fast draw that the horse provides. My other strop I had been using was an English bridal, but the feel was just not for me. That waxy, hard, slow draw just didn't feel good, so i stopped using it. I had been looking for a straight up horse hide, not Cordovan, strop and came to realize that there aren't a whole lot of options out there for that. Bison is one of the only companys making one. After a tip from a fellow member, Phrank, he had said there's a great shaving store in Toronto called Men Essentials. I checked them out online, and it just so happened that they carried the Bison Horse hide. I went there today and got my Horse hide strop, and all I can say is........ this thing is sweet! Very well made, solid construction, thick leather, great felt and a very generous stropping area. I had a chance to put a few razors on it and I must say it felt great. Exactly the draw I had wanted and the 2.5" width, although new to me, I really like. I'll be using this strop a lot in the future!

Don't mind my dirty coffee table!

I have looked at those a couple of times but really can't justify yet another strop purchase. What is the second material and how does it feel. I have a few varieties of second material. I have tried nylon web, and I have a silk weave and they are both way too zippy for me, I don't like the noise or the feel. I also have felt and suede. They are both nice but I have always wanted to try a cotton weave and a true linen just to see how they feel. I have ordered from that shop and they do have good web service. Someday I will find a big shave shop to browse in. I'm a little jealous of both the strop and the shopping.

Horse is my choice also. Not near as nice as yours but I haven't switched in years. I love that slick feel and I think my razors do too.
As for linen I got one off an old strop I bought on the bay. Soft supple and never have found anything like it. I got a pile of old strops to prove it :<0) Wolfpack got one of them almost as soft for me. I'll have to ask him tomorrow what he used and I let you know Shaun.

Very nice strop HarryWally, enjoy as I am sure you will.

I ordered a kanayama cordovan from Japan,,also on a tip from our number one deal finder Phrank!
Went from a 3" bridal leather to it and also love the draw and feel 10X more comparing the same razor on both strops. Only thing missing are the handles like on your Bison, which I intend to fabricate in some fashion eventually.
Enjoy the horse Andrew! Great lookin strop.

I had originally stated that the second strop was felt, and it's not, It's a cotton linen. Pups, I also use vintage cotton linen as a pre strop and I also like the one I have. It's much softer than the Bisons, but I also scrubbed the vintage one twice with Williams soap to get rid of a lot of gunk that had accumulated over the years. You can tell this Bison linen is new, a bit on the firmer side, but you can also tell that it's the same material. I bet if one was to take some williams, or maybe laundry detergent to it, it might soften up. That being said, I won't be doing it to mine. I already have a soft cotton linen.

Second day with this strop, I've been rubbing it down periodically ( twice today, three times yesterday) and the leather is already starting to darken a bit. I've stropped 6 razors on it, just for Shh & gigs and I'm giddy over this thing. I've had the Illinois 827, and would compare the Bison to that style a lot ( excluding the napped leather.) Only difference is, everything about the Bison is way better. This is my sixth strop to date, and is definitely the nicest strop out of them all.

You guys with hardware left over from cheap strops (or cheap strops you're never actually going to use where you can rob the hardware) should have a look at horse butt strips. Takes a little bit of time to break them in, but they make slick fast drawing leather if you can get a good clear butt strip that doesn't have any wrinkles on it. I've been using one for probably 3 or 4 years now? I don't know. Something like that. Total cost of it was $8 harvesting a 2" wide piece out of a butt strip (originally it was 3, but 2 seems better to use).

All you need is a straight edge or a level and a sharp marking knife to cut it.

Do you know what that strop is? Is it conditioned horse butt?

Originally Posted by DaveW

You guys with hardware left over from cheap strops (or cheap strops you're never actually going to use where you can rob the hardware) should have a look at horse butt strips. Takes a little bit of time to break them in, but they make slick fast drawing leather if you can get a good clear butt strip that doesn't have any wrinkles on it. I've been using one for probably 3 or 4 years now? I don't know. Something like that. Total cost of it was $8 harvesting a 2" wide piece out of a butt strip (originally it was 3, but 2 seems better to use).

All you need is a straight edge or a level and a sharp marking knife to cut it.

Do you know what that strop is? Is it conditioned horse butt?

All it says is it's a horse hide strop. Not sure what part of the animal it came from.