Thread: Strops. More than bits of leather.

In recent times, a fair bit has been written about high end strops. Shell Cordovan, the better steer hide strops. From Tony Miller, Kanayama and the SRD horse hides. It is true that re strops, they all do basically the same job. They are an accoutrement to many fine collections of straight razors. Lot's of us own many razors, and it is a little more fashionable to have more than one strop. Most start out with a strop that you can 'learn' on, or nick or cut without losing lots of cash. I was happy for 3 years on my two 3 Inch strops. One Latigo and another English bridle. Then I discovered Shell Cordovan and the Kanayama strops. I bought a #10000 and was thrilled with it. I added a suede piece, and I was hooked. The lovely delicate draw, appearance, feel. They were great. Now, with a little strop acquisition disorder, I have added 3 more, 2 #70000's, and an #80000. did I need them? Probably not, but want, is the key word. I am rapturous over their performance. True, like razors and other shaving items, I am prone to 'collecting' things of beauty, thus my Kanayama collection. Many of our members, lots who are pre-eminent in the straight shaving world, have more than one Kanayama. What are your experiences with higher end strops? I just love them, enjoy them, some I on-sell, and some are just for playing with now and again. I am interested, Do others share my passion for lovely strops?

I do enjoy my strops, and the way each feels under the blade. My current line-up is a Neil Miller Shell, a Kanayama 80000, a Westholme Italian Horsehide, a Scrupleworks oil tanned horsehide, and a Tony Miller Fast Bridle.

I enjoy using each one, although I couldn't tell you how I pick out which one to use. Somehow, I pick whatever razor, brush, soap, and strop by whatever I feel like using that morning. I do tend to use my Kanayama for my dozen or so Japanese razors, not that makes any sense. I like to use the relatively fast draw Shell or Fast Bridle with my wedges. My Westholme is my go to strop about 60% of the time, as I tend to favor medium draw strops, and I could use my Scrupleworks with just about any razor. In reality, any one of them would perform as well as the others. However, I enjoy using more than one strop, just like I enjoy rotating razors, soaps, and brushes. It just makes shaving fun. I'm now thinking of adding a Westholme Shell to my collection, not that I need it. I just think they are beautiful.

tony miller 3" english bridle was my sole strop for a long time. then SAD came over me and i quickly purchased a red latigo, kangaroo and kanayama 10k all within about two weeks. immediately after getting the kanayama i ordered a 70k. still havent unpacked it though - just stare at it and wisper 'my precious' under my breath.

Along with my Kanayama 80000 I have a Neil Miller Shell with linen, it is an absolute joy to use, it has a very light and fast draw, not as glassy as the Kanayama but is pretty much the perfect strop. It also smells lovely if you're into that sort of thing!
I also have a Westholme Shell and Latigo strop, both parts Horween. The Latigo part is not like old latigo it is thinner and far less oily making the draw medium light.
I also tend to just use my Kanayama for my Japanese razors.
I love all three strops and highly recommend them, one day I'll have to get round to ordering a Scrupleworks.

I started with a Tony Miller horse/linen. Then I got him to make me a horse/latigo/linen with all three components on one hanger. Then an SRD Premium 1. I basically used those, one or another, all of the time. They have battle scars, nicks, and wear. So I tend to use them rather than risk damaging my 'collection' strops.

I began with a Kanayama 90,000 but it was too beautiful to use. I ended up selling it because of that. Same with a Neil Miller horse/linen with snake handles. I have an 80,000 now which I use on occasion. TBH while it is a beautiful strop, the same as the 90,000 but a standard length, rather than the longer 90k, I don't know what the fuss is about. It is a strop.

I have a few different HandAmerican 'Old Dogs', a couple of his double horsehides, and the last one he made, the 905, with horse and a diamond cut Russian type horse second component. Keith De'Grau, the maker, felt that 'good' linen was not obtainable so he preferred leather as the second component. Of those second components the one diamond cut, another smooth, and one rough out.

Finally I have a number of vintage barber strops;

C-Mon DeLuxe Hand Finished Broke In Peter J. Michaels

Master C-Mon Hand Made Selected Shell Peter J. Michaels

Koken Imported Scotch Shell Natural Finish

dubl duck Satinedge Imported Shell

Red Imp Certyfid

Wester Bros Imperial Russia Shell

Engels Leader, Russia, ('O-K over K-C' in a circle) with Cyrillic lettering in a circle around that, and Finest Selected Horse, Hide Hand Finished

Craftsman Genuine Shell

So I have 16 strops, like any normal person ...........

Top-end leather is key, for me. All of my quality vintage ones possess this. A strop was quite important back then, as it is now.
Strops from more contemporary custom makers such as the late Neil Miller are blessed with fine leathers to match their craftsmanship.
Kanoyama is always great, if in good condition.
It is surprising how many vintage ones with many names upon them can be attributed to him, regardless of the 'made in USA' label or not.

The market is also loaded with junk, however. There is a cheap Chinese or Pakistani strop for each of their razors, it seems.
Sad that some interested in straight shaving are hooked-in by these inferior things.
JMO.

When I started I decided I would have one strop from every critter that ever walked, crawled, ran or swam. I had a lot of strops and they all performed the same. my favorite was a black sealskin strop. Most of those I gave away and these days I have a kanayama 90K and a 3K, a large Livi Loom model, a DD Model 50, a Miller Horse, a SRD Horse and a Red Imp Horse. I also have a couple of bench strops too

My opinion hasn't changed. They all do the same thing. The difference is like driving around in a Yugo or a Mercedes Benz. They both take you where you want to go.

I applaud your passion. We all have different passions about different things. I like what theBigspender had to say.

They all do the same thing. The difference is like driving around in a Yugo or a Mercedes Benz. They both take you where you want to go.

Most everything that I have isn't pretty, but its functional. That's all that matters to me.

Yeah, Spendur always says that, yet just look at what he strops upon!

Proof's in the pudding.....Strop, I mean!

yea but I didn't always strop on what I have now. My first strops were eboy specials.

We buy things in our comfort zone and I wouldn't drive around in a Yugo either.