Thread: Are most German strops made by the same company?

I recently acquired an older (don’t think it’s vintage) small Biber hanging strop with a linen backer. It looks almost identical to Dovo and Herold strops I’ve seen on the internet. Same thing for a 2-sided Herold paddle strop I purchased, but in that case the apparent doppelgängers seem to come in very similar boxes as well. Loom strops from different companies also seem pretty much the same

It makes me think that these companies apply their own brands to a strop made by a third party. I know that resellers did that with Japanese strops and Solingen razors and wonder if the same is true for German strops.

I haven’t compared pricing, but knowing that the brand on the strop only effects the price and not so much the quality would certainly influence future purchasing choices.

Here in Austria, I have purchased my paddle from Esbjerg. Not sure if its what you have been seeing but here is a link.https://www.esbjerg.com/product/leat...h-green-paste/ Living in the region by no means makes me an expert but I don't think a lot of rebranding cheaper products is the case with this shop.

Making strops is a specialized business and outfits selling razor gear in general have never made strops. In the U.S even back in the day there were just a handful of strop makers. It's common practice to put a retailers name on strop. Usually the maker and retailer will have their names on it.

Many of the strop outfits main business was making belts for factories in the old days.

I'm sure it was the same no matter the country.

I concur, DZEC. Even in-hand it seems obvious those and more are from the same maker.
There is another one I have had, cannot remember the name.

Originally Posted by Theoman

Here in Austria, I have purchased my paddle from Esbjerg. Not sure if its what you have been seeing but here is a link.https://www.esbjerg.com/product/leat...h-green-paste/ Living in the region by no means makes me an expert but I don't think a lot of rebranding cheaper products is the case with this shop.

Haven’t been to Esbjerg for a while, because sadly I don’t come to Vienna that often anymore.

But the Esbjerg-branded strop that you showed, plus the Mühle-branded strops they sold before are most certainly made by Herold.

These Herold loom strops are fairly inexpensive, which is not to say they don’t work well. Yet it is always a good idea to physically check them out, as I once bought one on the Internet where the base plate was askew. The strop was usable, but it just looked odd.

As they don’t weigh much, they also make a good travel option, where you can slide two razors, with tissue wrapped around them, inside the loom strop before you put it in the protective cardboard case. Simple and effective razor protection when travelling.
These loom strops are fairly easy to identify by the way they are constructed and put together, sold in a protective cardboard box.

Most of the smaller European-made economy hanging strops seem to come from Herold as well and these are pretty much the only Herold strop type that can be had in what Herold calls “XXL” (2”/5cm) width. All the other strops seem to come in 4cm/1½” width.



B.