Red v. Black Latigo or Quality?

I decided to replace the black latigo leather from my original strop with a replacement leather that fit right into the old D rings.

The interesting part, to me, is that I bought a replacement leather from SRD and the original leather was from a different online shop. Just from the very first strokes on this new leather I felt a big difference, I could feel the blade's contact on the leather much more clearly (if that makes sense).

Also, my original strop was black latigo and I decided to switch things up a bit and go with red. I'm assuming SRD just sells better quality leather but I am wondering if maybe there is a difference between red and black latigo of which I am unaware. Any thoughts?


On a side note, the red leather enclosed in the original black leather 'fasteners' looks amazing!

I don't think the finish has much to do with quality. The quality part is intrinsic to the piece of leather and it's absence of defects and mars of any kind. The color is just they type of finishing it has. Maybe the thickness of the leather would be considered by many to be an indicator of quality also. I've always thought any quality strop does the same job. The finish just gives it a different feel.

Yeah it is probably the finish, it is hard for me to accurately describe the difference though being that this is only my second leather and I don't have much to go by.

The main characteristics of the leather depend on what type of leather it is, how it has been tanned, and how it has been finished. Even two black latigos from different tanneries can be like chalk and cheese. Some years ago a lot of wholesalers started to stock mexican tanned latigo in preference to the older, soft latigo. The mexican stuff was incredibly stiff. So it depends on tha tannery - not the wholesale buyer of finished leather. The thickness is neither here nor there - many thin leathers superior to many thick leathers. A tanner can make a 4 oz leather as stiff as a board, and a 8 oz leather as floppy as suede. The finish has a lot to do with it too - some leathers that would have a natural (full-grain) finish would be unsuitable to use as stropping leather because the grain, texture, marks, etc would act against the smooth and safe passage of the blade over its surface. When this happens the natural surface is milled-off, and the leather is restamped with a fine and even grain (regularised) with a very natural look which makes it into a fine stropping leather. Sometimes the impressed grain is so naturalistic it is hard to spot. I believe the majority of Dovo and Jemico strops used regularised prima rindleder in their construction.

Regards,
Neil