Thoughts on Strops for New Shavers
I'm on day three of this straight razor journey, so take what I have to say with a pound of salt.
When selecting my first items to start learning to shave, I settled on a bridle strop from SRD. Lots of posts here about starter strops and not spending too much money. You'll nick it, you'll cut it, you'll drop it in the toilet! True. But here's my thought:
I spent $95 on an SRD english bridle strop. I've used it for three days and already put a ocuple of nicks in it. Very small ones at the end closest to me that seem to occur when that back stroke stops and the razor moves very slightly forward. I'll have to work on that. But I digress.
I spent a few extra bucks on a really nice strop that I can be confident will deliver the right results if I deliver the right technique. I've put a couple of character marks in it, but nothig detrimental. But what if I do? Well, SRD sells a replacement piece of leather for $45, even less for the smaller standard leathers ($25 I think). If something irreparable happens, your out $25. The same $25 you'd be out if you bought a smaller, less prepped strop as a learner and ruined it. But with the upgraded strop you get better hardware, true handles, and a cloth second strop. Seems like a bargain to me.
This is not a bash against any person or company that makes the smaller strops and I have absolutely no affiliation with SRD. Just my $.02.
--David
