Thread: the ideal strop?

I have been SR shaving for about 4 months now and things are going ok. I have about half a dozen SRs - most of them are 6/8 full hollow, but I also have one wedge. I've been stropping with the SRD black latigo strop and a kangaroo strop on glass substrate, but I really have no idea if these are ideal strops for the razors I am using. They both seem to give me reasonably close shaves, although I am still coming up the learning curve so its hard for me to tell if my strop is holding me back.

Does anybody have any advice on the ideal strop for 6/8" full hollow SRs? What about wedge SRs? What kind of "draw" should I have for each kind of SR? I'd prefer to buy it from SRD unless there is something much better out there.

Thanks!
Jeff

This is one of those things where everyone is going to have a different answer.

For me personally, I owned the latigo and the english bridle from srd. Much prefer the english bridle.

That SRD stop will suit all your razors just fine, regardless of whether it is a wedge or full hollow.

Originally Posted by hebbj123

I've been stropping with the SRD black latigo strop and a kangaroo strop on glass substrate, but I really have no idea if these are ideal strops for the razors I am using. They both seem to give me reasonably close shaves, although I am still coming up the learning curve so its hard for me to tell if my strop is holding me back.

If you have an SRD strop, then your strop is NOT holding you back. Your stropping might be, but your strop is not.

Utopian, I'm sure I can improve on my stropping, and I know they are all high quality strops, but I guess you are saying there is no difference between any of the different strops? I'm confused because their descrptions say they have different "draws", and I assumed that that meant they did something different to the edge. Please help me understand.

They all do the same thing, which is realigning the edge. Different draws are different feelings of drag during stropping but they all accomplish the same thing.

ok thanks a lot. I guess people just have different preferences for the feel.

The ideal strop will be the one your the most comfortable and confident with. If the leather is smooth and of decent quality it will do the job , as Ron said its all about draw when comparing what one person likes from the next guy, yes there are strops out there of better or the same quality as SRD, but they will not do anything their strops won't, plus they are easy to replace the leather on, or just try another type leather, I have their kangaroo and it's a quick draw , which then led me to trying a Kanayama(WOW) and now I have a Scrupleworks that I,m in love with, but my edges are just as good with the SRD. So buy with confidence and strop away. Tc

Tc, thanks a lot for your reply. That makes a lot of sense to me.

I'll humbly weigh in...both of my leathers are SRD...starting about 7/8 years ago, my first was the Latigo and served me fine w/good shaves. Unfortunately, my initial stropping wasn't up to par and resulted in nicks at both ends of the strop which means I was as unskilled on the to-stroke as the away-stroke...consistent at least. Instead of purchasing a replacement leather, I just more carefully shortened my strokes with more care and this leads me to my point. I decided that rather than continue my poor technique until it was engrained, I would perfect my technique and took an old razor I purchased off of ebay, dulled the edge and then each night, I would slowly go thru a couple hundred slow perfect repetitions, flipping the razor between my index and thumb instead of rotating my wrist, which, is the correct method according to the pros. I continued doing this until I no longer regressed into the wrist-twist...also, when you do it this way, it greatly assists in reduced pressure, whereas the wrist twist can result in too much pressure and inconsistent flat contact. Now, I'm not saying your technique is bad...I have no idea, but, throw that out as it greatly helped me. I now own a English bridle from SRD...love it...I would agree with Hirlau in saying the latigo and the kangaroo, (which I have no experience with), would do everything you or I would want...with good technique.