Thread: Which of these strops to get? I am new to all of this.

I just sent my razors out to get honed. I ordered all of the stuff I need to shave. But after I ordered my strop I noticed the comments on it said it was a POS.
Amazon.com: Scalpmaster Barber Strop: Health & Personal Care

When it came in the mail I didn't think the leather quality was nearly as bad as the reviews said. it seemed softer than the average belt (the reviews said it was hard and brittle). But I marked this one down to something to learn from and decided to go find a low priced better quality strop. I asked on this page under a posting of my shaving kit but need better input from a room designated to the subject.

The two links given to me were:
Amazon.com: Fromm Razor Strop 2 1/2" X 23" W/HDL Russia: Health & Personal Care
and
Products
I am leaning to the whippeddog kit just because of the other items that come with it.
So what I am asking is if anyone knows anything about these items or if they know something better in this price range.
Thank you

I have a poor man's strop and you can't go wrong with it. Customer service there is top-notch and the price can't be beat. My wife is buying me a Star Shaving Big Daddy come Christmas time. I've heard good things about the Fromm too.

As a beginner, I really think the poor man's is the best way to go. You will nick it and cut it. So, it's better to nick and cut a $19 strop than a $40 one, right? IF you want to go ever cheaper, whippeddog has a "$7 special" strop that's basically a poor man's with cosmetically (but not structurally) flawed leather. I have one of those and it just has some natural discoloration. I don't mind nicking a $7 strop. Once you get good at it, get the Fromm.

What about stropping paste? Some posts say it is required, others leave it out of the equation.

Don't paste a daily use leather strop. Rubbing with your palm before washing your hands in the morning may be all you ever need to keep the strop soft and in good shape, if not a dab of neatsfoot oil rubbed into your palm and then onto the leather should do it. Pastes are abrasives of different grits and should be applied to hanging strops (not so much) or to paddle strops (better choice) and used as a tune up for a razor that is not performing as it did when honed.

The reason I prefer a paddle strop for the light duty abrasives is that they don't deflect as a hanging strop does and you avoid getting the "appleseed" edge that you can get from a pasted hanging strop. The paddle strop will work almost the the same as a barber's hone.

But an old traveling hanging strop of mine has its backside treated with Thiers Issard paste and it has worked its charms on razors as needed in the motel room. But you can reach the end of the effectiveness of the pasted hanger as the edge can get progressively more rounded as the "appleseed" approaches the hemisphere aspect and now you have some honing to do.

Your second link is a very good strop, it's says Fromm, but it's an Illinois #827.

Thank you for the response Bruce - This makes perfect sense