Who's or what strop are we talking about? If you doctor tells you you have too much money & you go buy a costly Kanayama - very little 'break-in' is needed - that's part of what you paid for. The SRD premiums need little or none. The Illinois - more. A pc of latigo from a leather shop - think 1500 strokes (don't have to be all at once). The preparing & break-in always depends on the starting point - which often has some (not completely) to do w/ cost, reputation of the maker, etc. Latigo has a low reputation, but well broken in, is very effective. 'Not the easiest to learn stropping with, due to being a bit grabby at first. (don't ask how I know) Stropping remains an area we seem to have the least knowledge, confidence that can be generalized from one strop/blade/individual to another. I tend to want to listen most to some of the more experienced voices there - Tony Miller, Lynn, formerly Neil Miller. I pay alot of attention to AFDavis on the topic. For new shavers, it would be hard to overstate the value of AFDavis' short vid - used to be posted on the home page - on the all important 'flip' at the end of the stroke. That one part led to the demise of 5 of my strops. Glen's old thread on strops was freaking priceless - about not needing fancy or magic material, etc. His old, scarred, 30 y.o. Illinois remained his daily driver.