Thread: SRD Bridle Compared to SRD Premium I and III

I have read the recent threads re SRD strops, and they prompted me to order the SRD Premium I and III. I really like both, and will likely be selling my SRD Latigo, which for me is a distant third among these strops. What I prefer about the I and III is that they are thinner and much more flexible than the Latigo. My Latigo has softened up quite a bit over the months, both from palm-rubbing and applications of neatsfoot, but it is still nowhere as flexible (supple?) as the I and III.

My question is whether the other two SRD Premium strops I've not tried - the Premium II and IV share the Latigo's thickness and stiffness, or whether they are closer to the SRD I and III in that regard (i.e., thinner leather, more flexible / supple out of the box.

I know lots of folks love the Bridle and the Premium II, but that really doesn't help me figure out whether it would suit my tastes. And views about draw aren't what I am looking for either; I know the Bridle is between the Latigo and Premium III, and I know the Premium II has very little draw.

Right now I just want to know where the Bridle and Premium II stand in terms of thickness / flexibility (suppleness) out of the box.

I don't want to sell my SRD Latigo only to receive a Bridle or Premium II that share the same stiffness that does not appeal to me.

Thanks for your help.

p.s.,

Did I mention I love the SRD II and III? Should have gotten these long ago.

Originally Posted by Basset

I have read the recent threads re SRD strops, and they prompted me to order the SRD Premium I and III. I really like both, and will likely be selling my SRD Latigo, which for me is a distant third among these strops. What I prefer about the I and III is that they are thinner and much more flexible than the Latigo. My Latigo has softened up quite a bit over the months, both from palm-rubbing and applications of neatsfoot, but it is still nowhere as flexible (supple?) as the I and III.

My question is whether the other two SRD Premium strops I've not tried - the Premium II and IV share the Latigo's thickness and stiffness, or whether they are closer to the SRD I and III in that regard (i.e., thinner leather, more flexible / supple out of the box.

I know lots of folks love the Bridle and the Premium II, but that really doesn't help me figure out whether it would suit my tastes. And views about draw aren't what I am looking for either; I know the Bridle is between the Latigo and Premium III, and I know the Premium II has very little draw.

Right now I just want to know where the Bridle and Premium II stand in terms of thickness / flexibility (suppleness) out of the box.

I don't want to sell my SRD Latigo only to receive a Bridle or Premium II that share the same stiffness that does not appeal to me.

Thanks for your help.

p.s.,

Did I mention I love the SRD II and III? Should have gotten these long ago.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/542206-post3.html

IMO: The Premium II is too slick for me, and the III has too much draw for me... They essentially are higher qualities of Horsehide and Latigo respectively... But if they work for you, that's fantastic!

I personally prefer the I and IV, as the I is essentially a fully broken in II, and just feels perfect on the draw, and the IV is like the III with less draw.

Sorry if that doesn't answer your question fully... If you have any other questions, just ask, I love strop-talk

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

http://straightrazorpalace.com/542206-post3.html

IMO: The Premium II is too slick for me, and the III has too much draw for me... They essentially are higher qualities of Horsehide and Latigo respectively... But if they work for you, that's fantastic!

I personally prefer the I and IV, as the I is essentially a fully broken in II, and just feels perfect on the draw, and the IV is like the III with less draw.

Sorry if that doesn't answer your question fully... If you have any other questions, just ask, I love strop-talk

Is the Bridle (IV) stiff like the Latigo, or flexible supple like the I or III? Leave draw out of the picture.

Same question for the II - stiff like Latigo or flexible/ supple like the I or III? Again, leave draw out of the picture.

Originally Posted by Basset

Is the Bridle (IV) stiff like the Latigo, or flexible supple like the I or III? Leave draw out of the picture.

Same question for the II - stiff like Latigo or flexible/ supple like the I or III? Again, leave draw out of the picture.

All of the premium strops are thin and supple unto your wildest dreams

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

http://straightrazorpalace.com/542206-post3.html

IMO: The Premium II is too slick for me, and the III has too much draw for me... They essentially are higher qualities of Horsehide and Latigo respectively... But if they work for you, that's fantastic!

I personally prefer the I and IV, as the I is essentially a fully broken in II, and just feels perfect on the draw, and the IV is like the III with less draw.

Sorry if that doesn't answer your question fully... If you have any other questions, just ask, I love strop-talk

ShavedZombie,

I have read some of your older posts, and you say you like to use the Premium I as a finishing strop. So what is your process? The Premium IV for x amount of strokes and then the Premium I for another x amount of strokes? And, if I may ask, how many strokes on each?

I have finally quit nicking my first SRD Latigo. I can strop at a fairly good speed without lifting the spine and no nicks, so I want to upgrade my strop. I smell a Premium(s) in my near future.

Originally Posted by Alembic

ShavedZombie,

I have read some of your older posts, and you say you like to use the Premium I as a finishing strop. So what is your process? The Premium IV for x amount of strokes and then the Premium I for another x amount of strokes? And, if I may ask, how many strokes on each?

I have finally quit nicking my first SRD Latigo. I can strop at a fairly good speed without lifting the spine and no nicks, so I want to upgrade my strop. I smell a Premium(s) in my near future.

Oh dear... This is a whole new can of worms

Well... My AVERAGE rotation for stropping is to use the Bridle (Premium IV) and the Poly Web on it... 40 on the poly, 50 on the bridle, then I hang the bridle back up in my dorm... I take my modular paddle to the bathroom with me, and, on it, Unpasted wool felt, and Premium I... I lather up, and while that sits, I do 60 laps on the Premium I paddle... After that I rinse off the lather, and reapply a fresh layer, shave with the grain, and rinse, then I strop 20 on the premium I, then lather and shave across the grain, then rinse, then 25 on the Premium I, then lather, and go against the grain, then rinse with cold water... after those, I do 25 laps on the felt (to clean gunk out of the edge of the razor) and 30 on the Premium I to polish the razor up for storage...

I'm crazy, and it just gets worse...

like I said, that's what I do most often... However, some days I will do 40 laps on TM Linen, 40 laps on TM Nylon, 50 laps on TM latigo, and 30 laps on TM Horsehide, then a HHT, then another 30 laps, then shave... During those days, I take the Horsehide to the bathroom with me, and do the same 20, 25, 25&30 during my shave, only with horsehide and nylon.

Or, If I'm in a mood to just use the paddle, it'll be 30 laps on the clean felt, 40 laps on scrub leather, 50 laps on the Bridle pad (For record, I also do palm rubbing with leather on the modular paddle... Try it with a paddle when you get one, it makes a huge difference, just like with a hanger) then 30 on the Premium I, a HHT, then another 30 on the Premium I... On these days, the paddle comes to the bathroom with me, in the same configuration as my "average" day

Another of my rotations is, and here's where I get completely anal, the "touch up" rotation. These are done in two steps... the Abrasive (a stage that removes metal) step, and the nonabrasive (no metal removed) step. The abrasive step is, every third touchup, done with 10-15 laps on a Barber's hone, followed by 15-20 laps on .5micron diamond spray (SRD) on wool felt (Also SRD)... However, when it's one of the two or three touchups in between the barber's hone, I use .5 Micron Chromium Oxide crayon (SRD) on the SRD Webbed Fabric, and this gets 15-20 laps... That's the two version of the Abrasive stage... The nonabrasive stage is 35 laps on TM linen, followed by 40 on SRD webbed fabric, then 45 on TM Nylon. After that I do 50 laps on TM latigo, then 55 laps on SRD Bridle, followed by 30 laps on TM horsehide, a HHT, then 30 more laps on TM Horsehide.

I have other rotations too, but those I make up based on mood... THese are my current "set in stone" rotations... Note, I do not yet have a Premium I of my own (outside of the modular paddle)... I've only used Lynn's one (a lot)... However, I'll have my own soon, just waiting on one other purchase to clear, then it's MORE STROPS1?!!

I have a whole ton of these different patterns, and, for the most part, there are slightly different results, that your thumb pad might notice, but I doubt your face will feel the difference... What it really boils down to is that I just like to strop, so I come up with all these crazy rotations

But it also gives me great experience with a whole bunch of strops, and, even if the results are negligible in difference, the feel of stropping on the Bridle is so much better than another leather, even if the results aren't that different.. It just feels "premium"


Anything else?

Cheers,
Jeremy

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

Anything else?

Maybe. The purpose of a strop is to re-align the edge. That means, it does not sharpen the razor. At all. Unless, of course, it is a pasted strop. Therefore, "strop progressions" do not make sense.

Sterling post, by the way.

Regards,
Robin

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Maybe. The purpose of a strop is to re-align the edge. That means, it does not sharpen the razor. At all. Unless, of course, it is a pasted strop. Therefore, "strop progressions" do not make sense.

Sterling post, by the way.

Regards,
Robin

I believe I addressed this... If not as concisely as you did, so thank you, Robin... Like I said, I mostly strop for the fun of it... I just enjoy stropping and feeling all the different leathers...

That being said, you may be overlooking something (however, it would be something extremely negligible) After honing, after shaving, after anything done to the very fine edge of a razor, there are minute teeth left on it... The purpose of honing from one grit to a higher one, if I understand it correctly, isn't to make an edge "sharper" (which I understand to be putting a thinner edge so it slices easier) but rather to make it "smoother" (Which I understand to be, rather than making a thinner, easier cutting edge, making the teeth smaller, so the whole thing makes a more uniform cut, rather than a tear/sawing effect) That is to say that, since the spine-bevel jig keeps a constant angle, you cannot, by my (possibly misinformed) definition, create a sharper edge, merely one that is smoother and cuts easier.

In that vein, as you go from low to high grit stones, there may be some validity to material changes in strops... The microteeth left from honing will be realigned and smoothed by a strop, but couldn't using a smoother, finer strop make those teeth even smoother? Like buffing with a dish rag, or a chamois cloth?

Again, this is conjecture, so I may be completely out of line, feel free to correct me, but it may have some nigh-insignificant effect...

Point being, it really doesn't improve the shave, but strop progression may improve the edge... Albeit a slight enough improvement that it doesn't matter...

Either way, I'll keep my strop progressions, because they're fun, and that's what this hobby is all about to me...

That, and he who has the most strops wins It was in the fine print

Originally Posted by ShavedZombie

Well... My AVERAGE rotation for stropping is to use the Bridle (Premium IV) and the Poly Web on it... 40 on the poly, 50 on the bridle, then I hang the bridle back up in my dorm... I take my modular paddle to the bathroom with me, and, on it, Unpasted wool felt, and Premium I... I lather up, and while that sits, I do 60 laps on the Premium I paddle... After that I rinse off the lather, and reapply a fresh layer, shave with the grain, and rinse, then I strop 20 on the premium I, then lather and shave across the grain, then rinse, then 25 on the Premium I, then lather, and go against the grain, then rinse with cold water... after those, I do 25 laps on the felt (to clean gunk out of the edge of the razor) and 30 on the Premium I to polish the razor up for storage...

So you do approximately 250 laps on an average shave? Wow!

You crazy kids and your straps