Thread: At what point do I *Need* a better strop?

Quick background...
Been shaving with a straight daily for the past month (since 06/15/2010 to be specific)...
My current strop is the "Filly" model offered by Rup Razor. My razors of choice have been various Torrey models. I have three Torrey razors in rotation that give me great shaves... they seem to strop easily and have proven to be very smooth shavers.

My question is... how much difference would I see if I were to add a cotton or other "cloth" second strop to my arsenal... such as the SRD Premium II which would have the cloth secondary strop?
I know that experienced shavers say that the cloth strop will add a noticeable difference... my question is "How much of a difference?".

To answer some obvious questions:...

My prep is good... I shave after a good hot shower.
My lather is good... been experimenting with a cream/cake mix, but have found cake soaps do best on my face.
My razors are sharp... they shave very well. My stropping and technique don't seem to be a big concern yet... I'm getting better, but my "first" razor is still very usable 1 month in.... very good shaves with no razor burn.
My Filly stop has proven to be a good strop... but I'm curious how much improvement I could see by moving on from it?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Not sure you would ever need a better strop.You could probably get along for a long time with just a simple leather strop.However,at some point,you will no doubt want a better strop.The canvas or linen element seems to reduce the number of laps required on the leather and serves to "warm up" the steel prior to stropping.I envision micro curls of steel curving away from my edge and the cotton material straightening them in preparation to the leather side smoothing them.

At the moment your filly strop is so cut up its no longer usefull
Then you need a better strop(you actually only NEED a replacement but why not upgrade)

Coming from a guy with too many strops already, trust me, you don't NEED a new strop unless your current one is unusable... However you will soon want one... The fabric, IMO/E, really does make an improvement, but not for everyone. However, the leather probably won't make that much of a difference to the blade... It will, however, feel much better while you're stropping... It's much like a Tweezerman badger brush (20$ Amazon.com badger brush) versus a quality Silvertip, or a Thater... They all do the same job, and they all do it comparably well, but the latter two brushes feel so much better doing it.

And while we're at it, I recommend either SRD Premium IV in extra long, or the Premium I. You can't go wrong with either. And get the Webbed Fabric as the fabric component. It takes a little getting used to, but it works fantastically.

Cheers,
Jeremy

As the others have said, you don't technically need a nice, fancy strop. It's a luxury item, but great to have once you get settled into this hobby and the AD's kick in.

I would recommend a strop with a linen component, but after that, you're pretty much set. A stop will last as long as it is not nicked to death, but with careful repair and treatment a strop could last a lifetime.

my frist strop was a ebay special worn and very smooth but with 60 quick laps kept me shaving for the frist year later i picked up one of tony millers masterpices. whoa so this is what draw is all abought. anyway the difference is mostly speed my tony will do what my ebay did in half the laps and looks a whole lot better hanging in my bathroom. i still use that ebay when i want a sunday shave going 30 on the tony and 30 on the ebay. did i need it? heck no but iam glad i bought the tony miller

I only own one strop: a Rup Razor Paladin. It's a double strop, with a 2" canvass and a 3" horsehide. When I was first learning how to strop, I only used the leather. After a few months I began using the canvass also. I go 25 - 30 canvass followed by 30 - 60 leather and believe me, stropping on the canvass makes a tremendous difference in the keenness of the edge (for me anyway).
Namaste,
Morty -_-

I got my SRD 3" black latigo for a couple of reasons: I wanted a 3" strop rather than my 2" Dorko, the Dorko was fairly nicked from my learning and I wanted to paste it and have it in my shave den as a pasted strop.

But yes, you only need a new one once your current one is unusable. I do think the fabric component is useful though, and improves the efficacy of the stropping.