Thread: New Strop Recommendations

Originally Posted by Pete123

This is great information. Can I get input on the strop after the starter strop? Everyone messes up their first strop - no need to get a good one. What are good quality strops? Some have already been mentioned, though more input would be great.

Tony Miller strops ARE high quality strops. The leather he uses is literally flawless. No uneven textures or variations. These are hand selected materials and hand made. The difference is obvious when you see them. He calls the heirloom strops for a reason. Well cured for they should serve the next generation as well.

Understood. I went to his website and see what you mean.

Kanoyama 10k (or something a bit higher) could be a good choice for a somewhat experienced user. Fendrihan and Aframes have them I think.

When you are ready for a good strop, you have to consider a number of factors: hanging or paddle or bench, draw, width, handle or barber style, type of leather, type of secondary strop if any and cost. That’s a lot to think about unless you have had some experience with those variables. Here’s a capsule of my own strop history.

I was fortunate to inherit a very good vintage barber style Japanese shell horeshide strop and didn’t really appreciate what I had for a long time. It has a slick draw and a smooth linen secondary strop. I use it as a finishing strop before shaving.

On the recommendation of the fellow who sold me my first new TI razor, I bought a 3” bridle bench strop as a starter purchase and a also/felt paddle strop for diamond spray and CrOx. That worked well in combination with my shell strop for many years.

A few years ago I bought a 1 1/2” Herold paddle strop for the cottage - leather on both sides, horizontal slots in the wood to mimic stropping on a hanging strop. It has a somewhat heavier draw than the Japanese strop and absolutely required X-strokes that the bench strop did not. Recently, I acquired a short vintage 1 1/2” German hanging strop with a much heavier draw and a smooth linen secondary, also for the cottage

Finally, this year I bought a Horween 3” strop from ScrupleWorks - a very good strop, but with a much heavier daw and a coarser fabric secondary strop. At the vendor’s recommendation, I got it made with handles rather than barber style - he suggested 3” was going to be hard to properly manage without a handle, and he was right.

I did not mention the mid-quality hanging strop I sliced up before buying the bench bridle strop :-(. Fortunately, I managed to avoid damaging the Japanese strop, which I have learned from some of the folks at SRP might have been made by the master himself about 50 years ago. That was more dumb luck than good planning.

Bottom line: after using a paddle strop to learn proper stropping technique with a minimum amount of damage to the leather, finding the right next strop for me was a journey. I use all of my strops and find each one has a different feel. I’m still experimenting with them and enjoying the experience. And, I feel lucky to have only destroyed one on the way.

Once in the high quality tier of strops, I think it mostly boils down to personal preference.

Looks and strop/leather feel / feedback will do a lot.

My 2c. Started with a cheap strop from Razor Emporium. Meh. Not too exciting but knowing the strop would take a beating due to being my first it did the job. Have not touched it for a while. Started collecting Japanese strops. Accumulated a bunch of them, restored some of them and was very happy. Then one day I decided to try Roo. Ordered one from Gabe, he is here on the forum. Man. Really really good. I had it made to the same size like a Japanese strop, same width, no handle or rings. Plain and simple.
Roo is very thin but not wimpy at all. The leather adjusts to the blade and honestly at this point I prefer it to the thick Kanayamas. Not selling them but not using them as much.

Gabe's strop is the light color one in the middle.

Originally Posted by Pete123

This is great information. Can I get input on the strop after the starter strop? Everyone messes up their first strop - no need to get a good one. What are good quality strops? Some have already been mentioned, though more input would be great.

My first strop was a Parker red latigo. It served me well, but as with most newcomers learning to strop, my Parker shows the signs of my learning curve.

I have since purchased several other strops. They include: a Razor Emporium latigo that replaced my Parker, a SRD kangaroo strop that, unfortunately is cupped, a Razor Emporium russet horsehide strop (a wonderful strop), a Tony Miller fast bridle (also a wonderful strop) and a Griffith Shaving English shell cordovan. The shell cordovan was expensive and I love using it, but I can't say that it does significantly better than my other strops.

My only disappointment was with the SRD kangaroo strop. I was hoping to purchase new leather for the strop and use the old roo for a paddle strop, but SRD has not had any roo leather for a while and it does not seem that they ever will. Bummer! Sourcing kangaroo leather in the states is not easy.

Originally Posted by alex1921

My 2c. Started with a cheap strop from Razor Emporium. Meh. Not too exciting but knowing the strop would take a beating due to being my first it did the job. Have not touched it for a while. Started collecting Japanese strops. Accumulated a bunch of them, restored some of them and was very happy. Then one day I decided to try Roo. Ordered one from Gabe, he is here on the forum. Man. Really really good. I had it made to the same size like a Japanese strop, same width, no handle or rings. Plain and simple.
Roo is very thin but not wimpy at all. The leather adjusts to the blade and honestly at this point I prefer it to the thick Kanayamas. Not selling them but not using them as much.

Gabe's strop is the light color one in the middle.

Who needs clothes when you have great strops!

Originally Posted by Badgister

Who needs clothes when you have great strops!

Get some cloths for your strops!

https://straightrazorpalace.com/move...ml#post1848396

Originally Posted by Badgister

Who needs clothes when you have great strops!

Just the small coat closet by the kitchen.