Thread: My Strop review.

As most of you know, i recently bought 4 different strops. So i thought i would share my opinion on them in hopes of helping someone else in a future buying of strops.

What i had bought was... Latigo, Buffalo and Roo from SRD and an Engish Bridle from a fine member here on tbis wonderful forum. The quality put into these strops were all top notch. BTW, all four were 3" wide. Id have no issues buying from SRD again. Was plesently serprised in what i got from them, and from the member here. Now to let you know what I know, not much a out strops, ha. I started with the whippeddog richmans strop. Cut it all to hell and bought another one. When i got to where i was no longer cutting or nicking my strop i went all out and bought a 80000 Kamayama. Wasnt going to fool around with working my way up the strop chain. I found the Kanayama to be very buttery smooth, soft, very soft and had a nice draw. I wouldn't recommend a newbie to buy a Kanayama like i did as it spoiled me and scared me to death because of how soft it felt. If i wanted more draw i rubbed my hand on it about 30 laps and it was great. After a few months i wanted to try more strops of different leathers and the AD kicked in.

All of the SRD Strop had a waxy feel to them when new. I took a clean barely damp cotton cloth to them on the first day and then stropped on them 100 times in the morning and 100 times in the evening to help them break in. It took from a few days to a week before the consistancy was found. But i only wiped them down one time with the cloth. Ill start this review with the most draw to the least. I swear this review will go short but sweet from now on.

LATIGO: i find it has a lot of draw, and I hope Im not over stepping here, Id say an extreme amount of draw! The leather is very smooth and dark in color and the draw is consistant from end to end. I dont rub my hand on this strop as it would gain in the amount of draw and its a bit much for me. I find just durring the stropping process it builds up more draw. This is a great strop for right after honing a blade and progressing to a lesser draw strop. Ive been told that after some use it will start to get a little slick with time as it builds up a burnish on the leather.

Tony Miller, Old no. 2, ENGLISH BRIDLE: I would rate this as a medium draw strop. A touch of soft feel to it but nothing like the feel of the Kamayama although the draw was compareable. With a good hand rubbing the draw increases nicely but not too much in my opinion. The leather is smooth to the touch but not hard and flat like most leathers. I find it to be a nice every day strop by itself or as a beginning step in a progression of stropping.

PREMIUM #3, BUFFALO: light to medium draw. As with all leather strops, a good hand rubbing brings the draw up a little and at this point id say its perfect. IMO. And after 50 to 60 laps the extra draw goes away and your back at a light draw. Smooth flat texture. Not soft. At this point in time (thanks Glen) id say its my favorite strop.

KANGAROO: Very thin and slick! Not much draw at all until a hand rubbing then it has a slight draw. Im guessing but i think with some more time the draw will increase on this strop. Very flexable and strong. I get no feeling of the leather stretching even when pulled tight! But so thin its hard to believe. As others have said, this would make a great traveling strop as it will roll up small and fit in any bag. The biggest part will be the handle.

So there you go. My opinions. Hope this might helps at least one person in pickng out a strop. Sorry for any miss-spelling, im not a writer, just a damn truck driver.

Ok, maybe not as short as i wanted.

Thanks bro!! Nice reading!! Im still to buy one of those buffalo an one tony miller strops to add toy atsenal

Afyer ghis review, ill definedly start saving some $$ for hose two [emoji1]

I have a latigo now, really thinking of going up to a Tony Miller bridle, thanks for the review.

Sent from my R1 PLUS using Tapatalk

The Latigo is a nice strop but its almost like work using it. I like something a bit easier to use. Still, its great for the just honed blade.

The latigo will lose its waxy sticky feel after about six month of some good TLC. Mine is very slick even though there are a ton of sanded spots from when I first started. Can't compare it to anything else but it did lighten up from when I first bought. When I first started it felt like it wanted to pull the razor out of my hand. I have also got into the habit of wiping it down with a slightly damp cloth like once a month or so just to get the surface gunk off.

Yes, i have noticed it getting a little less grabby with time. I dont use it much but i guess i need to to help it break in better/faster.

I really wish I had money to buy more stuff, the kanayama calls to me in my sleep. Even the cheaper ones under $200 look super nice. Also Grifith Shaving has some really nice looking strops. So tax season is going to get crazy, lol

Nice review thanks for that. Interesting take on the latigo. After breaking in I find the latigo quite pleasant to strop on even though at first it does seem a bit waxy and certainly pushes back until you get used to it. I clean mine with Naptha/lighter fluid from time to time to get some of the extra oils and dirt off it and it will get nicer over time. It does have a draw though but I enjoy it , that's just me. The Tony Miller Heirloom #2 however feels super fast or at least on the fast side. I seem to be able to go as fast as I want or can on that strop. It has a remarkable surface very smooth and even though I have stropped on it hundreds of times I cant see so much as a sign of friction or marks from dragging so many razors over it, I find the strop is fairly amazing. Its interesting to me you find its draw middle of the road, I guess I have been stropping on Latigo so long I built up my stropping muscles and the Tony Miller feels like ice to me hehe. For curiosity sake I would like to try out a truly super fast strop and see how that feels. Maybe some shiny cordovan or something.

I have to say that after even more use the Tony Miller #2 is getting faster, less draw. The Latigo is still extreme in my opinion but it too is starting to let up some. Maybe i need to start wiping it down to see if i can get some of the waxy feel off of it. Thanks for the comments gents. Being still on the new side of strop use im in no way an expert. I manage to not scratch or cut my strops, my speed is in a comfortable range so it dont take so long to strop any more and my blade edges hold up just fine now. These were just my opinions from the newguy standpoint.

Glad some have found my review of some use.