Thread: First kanayama strop, 30000

Went to Aframes to get a kanayama 30k strop and it just came in today. My other strops were Illinois 127 strop (Strop when I first started SR shaving) and the SRD English Bridle. Only complaint right now is it feels a bit wavy and not as flat as I would like, but I think it will flatten out a bit with some use. I really enjoy the size and like the 65mm width. Just did a quick stropping of a razor on it and I am liking the draw and how the leather feels. Will update what I think about it in a month or so if anything changes

Thought I would go ahead and do an update on the kanayama strop. I have only been using it for the past two weeks shaving every other day. Rubbing the strop with my hand a few times helped take out a lot of the waviness and after 4th/5th use felt like my razor was always laying flat against the strop.

I picked up the Suede backing version of the strop. I really don't like using linen/webbing and never really used those backings on my SRD strop. However the Suede backing was pretty nice to use. I use leather only before shave but after the shave I will do 10-20 strops on the Suede first to clean the blade some. Suede feels nice once you are use to it and I think it does a good job at cleaning razor edge up some.

As for the edge I have been getting great results so far although the razors that it has touched were recently touched up. Used my english bridle this week as well on a razor and it definitely felt a bit weird after using the kanayama only for 2 weeks+. Definitely a bigger fan of the kanayama but keeping the english bridle to see how much it can help razor edge when kanayama having trouble on razor needing touch up.

I enjoy using a variety of strops, but it's hard to beat a Kanayama. It has a buttery feel unlike any other strop that I've used. I generally use the suede prior to the leather, and use linen prior to leather on my other strops. Congratulations and I hope it provides years of enjoyable stropping.

I know for some the looks of a strop are not as important as the results it yields but a strop for me has to look good and perform well and the strops I have seen pictures of lately coming from Kanayama I am not impressed from the visual aspect of it, I have had several Kanayama strops from 80k down to The 30k and just kept selling them off and getting another one and I was finally able to get one of the older 30k strops that a supplier I know had from about 8-10 years ago and it sat wrapped and unused and the stropping on it is so much better than any other one I had.

i,m curious, what,s a strop supposed to look like? i have them from Neil Miller to Kanayama, and some old shell. and they all are just leather with a hook at the top. i have never had any with custom snake skin handles but they all look the same to me from just about any reliable source. my Naomi-San shell strop from the 40,s isn't any better looking than my Kanayama # 3 that was made by the old man 5 years ago. Tc

My guess is he's wanting a more uniform color? My kana looked real good brand new about a year ago. Its now got signs of use and being dirty. It seems to get dirty easy but a damp cloth cleans it right up. I love the feel of the kana 70 strop i have but im not using it a lot. I know the old man making them isnt going to last much longer and buying another for backup is a good idea but i havent gotten around to it.

Maybe i should buy 3 more, wait for him to pass, then sell at 300% markup. Ha.
As far as the suede goes, its great for drying to edge but i dont think it does a lot for the cleaning/scraping of the edge. Ive looked at the results with a loupe compaired to linen and its just not the same. Too soft. Still, i enjoy using the suede, but mainly for drying after a shave.

Nothing wrong with Kanayama but I honestly feel the ones produced years back are better than the current produced ones, we all know that any quality leather strop will keep our razors tuned up but for me it has to look good as well.