Thread: Strops on eBay? How to separate the good from the bad

So I'm looking to buy my first strop and eBay seems to have a pretty wide range of things, I know not all strops are created equally but with that said, how do you guys recommend I go about separating the ones that will get the job done from ones that'll ruin my razor.

Note: I'm a student (pronounced "poor" haha) and eBay appears to be the cheapest source for strops, if you guys have a suggestion or a place I can get a good strop cheaper I'm all ears

Any suggestions would be immensely appreciated

Illinois, jemico, and the seller starshavingsupplies should give you a decent start
(this is for new only)
There is other good strops out there. But those are hard to find sinse 99+% of ebay strops are considered garbage bag stuffing

Not the answer your looking for but stay away from the eBay ones and use you leather belt until you feel comfortable stropping, and save up for a nice one.

Please buy a new strop from a reputable vendor.

I haven't used this site but members on these forms sometimes recommend this for the shaver on a budget:

Whipped Dog Straight Razor Sales

Unless there are really good photos and you know what you are looking for stay away from Eboy. True, you can get a great strop for little money but you could also get junk. You can get a brand new piece from many of the vendors here for a very reasonable amount and you know it will be a quality piece you will have for a very long time.

yes, you can't tell the good from the bad. if you have enough money to invest you can learn by experience, but if you're just trying to save money you should buy a proven strop.

Originally Posted by MrRyder

I haven't used this site but members on these forms sometimes recommend this for the shaver on a budget:

Whipped Dog Straight Razor Sales

I have Whipped Dog's "Poor Man's Strop Kit". It's perfectly adequate, and hard to beat for $19.

The leather strop isn't huge or fancy, but it's smooth and works well. The balsa pasted strop (2 grits) will do a good job on "almost shave-ready" edges.

Charles

Are you kidding? When I look at the strops offered on Ebay they look like they have been through WW-III! I definitely ignore any strop offerings there. My opinion, buy a good strop from someone who makes them professionally. Avoid the cheapies, good strops are $75 to $125 each and very worth spending the money on. Most other solutions you may be asking for trouble, why make it tougher than it has to be? I learned the hard way in this regard.
I currently own four strops from SRD and two from Tony Miller, they are very nice and have different surfaces to work with. There is a great deal of difference in materials and how they work on the blade. It's fun to see what makes the best edge on any given razor. Quality is important, skimping on the strop is a stumbling block to a nice shave in my opinion.

Originally Posted by hasibb7

So I'm looking to buy my first strop and eBay seems to have a pretty wide range of things, I know not all strops are created equally but with that said, how do you guys recommend I go about separating the ones that will get the job done from ones that'll ruin my razor.

Note: I'm a student (pronounced "poor" haha) and eBay appears to be the cheapest source for strops, if you guys have a suggestion or a place I can get a good strop cheaper I'm all ears

Any suggestions would be immensely appreciated

I know your situation! Find a nice decent well made strop by someone that likes to work leather. Nice thing about the one I have, made by Star Shaving.com is he makes them himself and made takes pride in them. Nice leathers and good felt secondary strop without breaking the bank. I grew up on a ranch where there was but one strop for all the years I watched them shave with their straights. Vendors here have nice strops, but so do a lot of other fine folks. You might even find the one from Starshaving.com on ebay, but it is just as easy to order from their website and being in Oklahoma, it's about central to the U.S. for shipping.