Thread: Porpoise hide.Really?

Porpoise hide strop (maybe?).Works good and looks to be a quality made piece.Anyone have experience with or info?

Might be a thing...was talking to a guy this week who said he sold a strop recently made from Whale skin.

Could be, as it has a certain pebbly grain structure that I haven't seen in my vintage horse shell strops. On the other hand, one of mine is marked "Kangaroo Shell," and it's probably my finest true horse shell. As long as it puts a smokin' edge on a blade, it's all good in the hood, right?

I had one. it worked like all the others, no better or worse.

When I started out I collected strops and had one from every critter that that ever walked, crawled, or swam they made strops from.

Honestly, my all time favorite was a sealskin strop. It was black and was a thick supple piece of leather. The result was no better but it was just a joy to use.

I pretty much sold them all and these days have a few of the usual suspects, no exotics.

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ne...G18930614.2.14

Hard to determine what these strops were actually made of but its all fun and can't say they are a whole lot better than a good quality horse or cow or whatever strop.Thanks for the replies,good stuff to know.The Seal Skin Finish strop is well worn on both sides,and the other side is cut like a Russia and worn down past the cuts.Something satisfying about using a razor made 100-150 years old and accumulating the stuff to keep it working well and figuring the right way to go about it.Thanks for the help.

As long as it is skin that is not too thin and not too thick, it would probably make a good strop. Some folks strop on their palm, so human skin is a candidate, at least while still alive. Skin from any sea mammal (whale, seal, dolphin,etc.) are likely candidates, although animal rights folks may disagree. Skin from deer, sheep, goats, antelope, kangaroo, etc. should work. I have thought about using chamois leather for a paddle strop. It is too thin and stretchy for a hanging strop, but would work if glued down. Hides of large African mammals like elephants, rhinos, and hippos would be too thick.

Most strops are made from cowhide as that is a readily available byproduct of the meat packing industry.

I wonder how exotic leather such as snakeskin and ostrich would work. They might not be smooth enough.

My take on strops is "if it ain't broke don't fix it". Now if stranded on a desert island you may have to get resourceful.