Thread: Star Shaving strops

...i am a rank newbie.... i am shopping for my first strop. i've decided to purchase one from Star Shaving since they have the most reasonably priced strops and they are made in the USA using USA products....

my question is, should i just stick to the beginner's strop for about $13, or go for the Big Mamma or Big Daddy which is about double, but has the double strop thing going on??

appreciate any suggestions or comments.........

thank you...............

You usually get what you pay for in this world. $13 for a strop or similar for a razor and you may be unhappy down the road. In the end you wind up paying more. Save your money and buy a quality piece. That's my personal opinion.

....thank you.......thebigspendur............appreciate your comment........

.....can you recommend a good strop for someone who is just starting out???

Hi leonidas, I have a Big Mama in chestnut and very pleased with it. It is longer and wider than my Jemico. I LOVE the felt also. All of the other guy's I've spoken with who own these strops are very happy with them. I agree with thebigspender about buying cheap. I did buy the $13.00 strop for my son as a first strop. He seems happy with it. It is intended as a throw away since he has 0 experience. I will buy him a Big Moma or Daddy later. I would strongly reccomend some Dovo strop conditioner in the white tube with yellow band. These strops are a bit stiff when new. They are way better than they should be at this price point. Rember, you have to start somewhere. Buying good equipment will make SR shaving much more enjoyable. I hope this helps you get started. Don

So far I haven't heard from an unhappy owner of the Big Momma or Daddy. I suspect the leather is rather dry and far from broken in, but that's not rocket science. You'll need a good leather conditioner anyway. My Illinois 361 needed some moisture and a few days of rubbing, and is performing just fine. I suspect the worst you'd encounter w/ the Star strops is a bit more moisturizing and rubbing for break-in. The Illinois 827 has appeared at times for $31 through Amazon. That's the strop you see in Glen's thread (beginners tips for 3/11), which is so good I saved the link to send to all noobs.

Best of luck & keep us posted.

The Leather in the beginner strop is the same that is used on the big Mamma and Daddy strops. Just smaller and no felt. This is the best entry level strop that I have seen so far. I do not own the entry level one but have had 2 entry level strops from other vendors to compare to,

Ive got the 2" beginner strop from them as well as the poor man's strop kit from whipped dog. I also have an SRD Premium II that is the only one of the three that sees regular use.
My personal preference is for less draw than latigo has. If I was going to buy a strop from star shaving as my first strop I'd pick up the big mama. I have no real complaints with the strop and maybe I'm new to latigo but the leather just didn't feel great to me.
However, for just a couple bucks more you can get a 2.5" latigo with d ring handles from SRD and their leather is superb.
In that price point (around the big mama IR just above it) though, I think the Illinois strops are better. I've tried a couple out and for the price they're hard to beat.
The PMSK from whipped dog isn't bad at all. It definitely needed some love but it did come with two gits of CrOx, so that is nice, but if I were buying from Larry again I'd get his other strop option with the two leathers on it.
I really like the draw of bridle leather.
As always, ymmv.

.....gentlemen, thank you VERY much for the information and for taking the time to answering my newbie question..........this is a great site....

...........thank you again............

harry

I own several of star shaving's strop, Momma's, Daddy's, beginers. Love them all!! I have no complaint with any of them, but to the point of this Thread, Buy the Beginers strop, you will do some damage, some people more than other's. There will be nicks, cuts' and errors and will will learn in the proccess to glue, sand, and burnish your new strop and when your averages' go up and your much more sure of your stroke then put out the money for a Big Daddy in Briddle leather, you'll LOVE it!!
It's all part of the learning curve, IMHO only.

Thanks for reading, have a great day and a BBS to boot!!!

tinkersd of SRP

I would just buy an SRD strop and take it slow so you don't nick it!