Thread: Poor Man Strop draw??

I am currently looking to buy my second strop. A long term strop now that I'm not going to nick it to death. I currently have a Poor Man Strop from Whipped Dog, but that is the only strop I have ever used. I know how it feels, but I don't know how it compares to other strops.

Would the Poor Man Strop be considered light, medium, or heavy draw?
I want a strop with more draw in the new strop than I currently have, but I don't know how the current one would stack up against others.

I'm currently looking at the strops at Straight Razor Designs (SRD), and they have a wide selection all at around the same price with different characteristics.

Strop selection seems to be all personal preference, but what do you do when you don't know what your preferences are?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Ian

Hey Ian,

The strops from SRD are fantastic. If you're looking for a medium draw, I would suggest the Premium I. If you want heavy draw, then the Premium III is for you (once it breaks in). I also have the Premium IV, which is nice.

My personal favourite is the Premium III with its thin leather and heavy draw. I absolutely love it.

Hope this helps.

It's personal and controversial, but I, and I emphasize the I part, I would shoot for heavier draw. But I have a bias about what I think the draw is doing. SRD strops are economical and way better quality than the price point deserves.

Keep in mind that I have seen a few people that don't like draw, but I'm in the camp that thinks of draw as "effect"

Depending on how much you've conditioned it the PMSK will have medium to moderately heavy draw.
It's bridle leather. I forget which SRD strop is bridle leather but I thought I'd seen one last time I was looking. I like a light draw and have the premium II but am thinking about picking up a heavier draw strop as I recently picked up a cheap latigo strop and now that I've gotten used to it I find myself enjoying a heavier strop.
I find the latigo to have a bit more draw than a well conditioned PMSK but as with everything YMMV.

Thanks for the feedback.
If the Poor Man Strop is somewhere between a medium and a heavy draw, then I will probably go for the Premium III Buffalo strop with wool felt(.5 diamond spray on one side).

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

It's personal and controversial, but I, and I emphasize the I part, I would shoot for heavier draw. But I have a bias about what I think the draw is doing. SRD strops are economical and way better quality than the price point deserves.

Keep in mind that I have seen a few people that don't like draw, but I'm in the camp that thinks of draw as "effect"

Al, 'would love to hear your thoughts about strops & draw.

I went to horse hide from latigo, 'cause the draw made for sticky, stuttering strokes sometimes. I've liked horsehid best so far, but tried an SRD P1 today & was quite impressed. I'd like to hear more about your thoughts on the effects of draw. Have you ever had issues w/ stuttering stroke? How did you address it?

I appreciate your thoughts on this, after spending a bit under an hour looking at leather types and draw. 'Couldn't find a place that had info that compared all the types of leather & commented on their relative draw. You vids on stropping are now retained links to share w/ new shavers. Your other comments on stropping make your opinion here most sought. I've wanted to hear you talk about all the stropping techniques and their various affects, when to employ which technique.

Originally Posted by CanadIan

Thanks for the feedback.
If the Poor Man Strop is somewhere between a medium and a heavy draw, then I will probably go for the Premium III Buffalo strop with wool felt(.5 diamond spray on one side).

CanadIan just be careful with the .5 diamond spray. Personal I wouldn't put it on any part of a strop I am going to use everyday. I think that sprays and paste need there own dedicated strop to keep cross contamination from happening. It would not be a good thing to end up with .5 diamond on your everyday leather strop.

In addition if you have only used the PMSK then you probably have never used a linen component in your stropping and using the plain wool before your leather will probably improve the amount of shaves you can get between honing by its self.

Hello Ian ,

I went from a poor man strop , to the Big Daddy 3 inch chestnut
from Starshaving.com .

The price was good for me and still being new to stropping -
thought it best to not spend too much . So far it is working well and I
sanded out the nicks I made .

Again my experience with strips is limited to the above mentioned.

Good luck !

Cheers ,

Scott

I would recommend getting the poly-web from SRD with the Premium III. The edge that it produces is fantastic. I also like the premium fabric that they offer, but it feels a bit more "rough".

I would wait to purchase the hard felt and spray until you have tried and tested the edges you're getting from the fabric/leather components.

Maxi +1 Before treating a strop with diamond, you might try the diamond spray on a 3 by 8 inch piece of balsa. Glue wood to a true platform (glass, hardwood, or other flat host) and lap it with 600 grit (dry) treat it and try it out. Best, wildhog