An Unscientific Comparison Of The Thickness Of Shell Strops

I figured it might be better to do this in a stand alone thread where it won't be buried within the 'European strop' thread. I measured the thickness of these using a Starrett metric dial caliper. The strops are all marked Shell with the exception of the Red Imp. The Red Imp is said in a Certifyd catalog to be Shell. You'll be viewing the strops listed top to bottom from left to right in each photo ;

Certifyd Red IMP 3.9mm

Sears Roebuck 2.3mm

Koken 1.6 (very old strop)

Dubl Duck 3.5

C-Mon 'Broke In' 1.8

C-Mon Master 3.5

Wester Bros 3mm

Kanayama 80,000 3.9mm

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If you could only take one?? Is it possible to choose between them??
No offense meant nice selection of strops.

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Originally Posted by ultrasoundguy2003

If you could only take one?? Is it possible to choose between them??
No offense meant nice selection of strops.

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It is possible. I would take the Koken. It is the coolest strop.

OTOH, the strops I value the most I never use. I don't want to put wear on them. :shrug:

Jimmy, I am so happy to hear that as I have the exact same Koken strop (only with "the hone strop" instead of linen) It is in superb shape and I love using it. Could you expand on why you feel it's the "coolest"?

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Originally Posted by Steel

Jimmy, I am so happy to hear that as I have the exact same Koken strop (only with "the hone strop" instead of linen) It is in superb shape and I love using it. Could you expand on why you feel it's the "coolest"?

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It is hard to put into words. It is a matter of feel. I love the thinness, the feel when I strop a razor on it, and I don't know if it is wishful thinking, or reality, but it seems that when I do use it the razor is much keener afterwards than when I use something else. It also is a handsome piece of leather with vertical lines of color variation from top to bottom that are part of the original hide.

I have an Australian Kangaroo strop that is super thin and l enjoy stropping on it and get good results to boot. Thin is good....:chapeau

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

It is hard to put into words. It is a matter of feel. I love the thinness, the feel when I strop a razor on it, and I don't know if it is wishful thinking, or reality, but it seems that when I do use it the razor is much keener afterwards than when I use something else. It also is a handsome piece of leather with vertical lines of color variation from top to bottom that are part of the original hide.

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I think you described it perfectly! I am not crazy. That Koken started me looking at all things shell because after using it a few times I could swear that I was getting a keener edge. Then I just chalked it up to a biased day dream. Which now I still believe it's only wishful thinking but my point is I know EXACTLY what you are talking about. The feel, the look, the results. Hey the name is pretty cool too. :-)

Uhh Oh, KoKen Heads. :D

All those UN-USED strops, the new law is send them to me for inspection, I will use them for a year and return in good condition, Broke in , for Free of course. :deal:

I used to have loads of strops like that. I'm glad I thinned the Herd.

If I had to pick the strop that's the most pleasureable to use it would have to be the Livi Loom. the leather is indeed like buttah.

Those are some beautiful strops Jimmy,theres about half a herd there! I passed up on a NOS Red Imp last year and will always regret it.
It goes to show that all beasts are not created equal, two of your strops are thinner than the Shell that Horween produce.

Nice selection! I love the look of the duck strop...I will be looking for one now:)

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I used to have loads of strops like that. I'm glad I thinned the Herd.

If I had to pick the strop that's the most pleasureable to use it would have to be the Livi Loom. the leather is indeed like buttah.

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I had one and it indeed is the finest, thinnest leather I've ever seen. Great tool.

As a relative newcomer to SR shaving, strops, etc, I've noticed that a lot of shell strops do not have handles, D-rings, etc. on the free end. I was curious as to why that is.

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Originally Posted by donaldjr1969

As a relative newcomer to SR shaving, strops, etc, I've noticed that a lot of shell strops do not have handles, D-rings, etc. on the free end. I was curious as to why that is.

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Just IMHO, from observations made over the years. The pro barber strops always came without D-rings or handles. The non professional, home owner's strops had handles and were usually shorter than the professional strops. I never saw D-rings until the past 10 years on artisan strops. I wasn't exactly looking for them, so they may have been around on pro strops, but that is IME.

My Koken hand finished Imported Shell horsehide #1 Selection strop is about 5/32" thick. My Jager Barber Supply Shell strop is just over 1/8" thick & the leather honing strop is 1/8" thick. I love both of these strops but if I could only have one it would be the Koken I have to say.

My only strop was a travel sized Dovo from AoS, but I just restored a big Irwin strop that is very nice. I couldnt tell the make until I refurbished the leather, and then the letters became legible. As an aside , the ugliest word in the shaving world has to be "Sunasack", that ugly word on my strop confused the crud out of me.