Stropping on Your ARM...

Yes, you read it right, on your arm. My silly, silly son, who I taught to straight razor shave several weeks ago, insists on spending his money on wax for his dreads rather than a strop. He tells me he strops on his arm (inner lower). Apart from the obvious danger, is he actually DOING any good to the razor? Judging by the smattering of hairs I saw over his little face today (those I COULD see behind his ridiculously long dreadlocks) I think the Emil Kronenberg razor I gave him is very much wanting to see a REAL strop. Now I HAVE heard of people stropping on the palm of their hand, but has anyone heard of stropping on one's arm? Goodness knows what will happen when he nicks his 'strop' as we have all done....

I don't think your skin is resistant/hard enough to have an effect on the edge of the blade. So besides the huge risk, I don't think he is accomplishing anything at all.

Yes. I hand strop my DE and SE blades after I use them. I Rinse them off , then Palm Strop them a couple of times on each side.

But then again who am i to say because after stropping I store them re wrapped on a tray with a Magnet under in.

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Originally Posted by Johnus

Yes. I hand strop my DE and SE blades after I use them. I Rinse them off , then Palm Strop them a couple of times on each side.

But then again who am i to say because after stropping I store them re wrapped on a tray with a Magnet under in.

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What exactly are you trying to accomplish by doing this?

My barber strops on his arm.

I strop on my arm when honing, to clean the edge of slurry for examination.

It's more of a cleaning thing, than any kind of blade polishing.

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Originally Posted by JimR

My barber strops on his arm.

I strop on my arm when honing, to clean the edge of slurry for examination.

It's more of a cleaning thing, than any kind of blade polishing.

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Ah.....I get it now. I use paper towel. Much safer I think.

I could SORT of understand stropping on your arm ('top, hairy side') if you were on a desert island or something) but to be honest it scares the feces out of me...

Arm stropping, top then lower side, is just like stropping on linen/leather except it takes 10,000/30,000 passes. I tried it once but kept losing count and had to start over.

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Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

I could SORT of understand stropping on your arm ('top, hairy side') if you were on a desert island or something) but to be honest it scares the feces out of me...

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Originally Posted by ace

Arm stropping, top then lower side, is just like stropping on linen/leather except it takes 10,000/30/000 passes. I tried it once but kept losing count and had to start over.

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Thank you both for the hearty laugh!!!:rofl2::rofl2:

Take the razor back... Then shave his head and take him down to the recruiting station.. I have worked with the Aussie Infantry before, they are some of the best Soldiers on the planet... They will tighten his shot group.

Hmm..I would be concerned with salts and other things on your skin that might remain on the edge unless you wipe it down afterwards.

Gentlemen, really, there is something to be said about stropping on the strop. What would the straight razor ritual be without a strop? What would a glorious single malt scotch be without a whisper of water to create fireworks in the flavor?

Sure, you can strop on almost anything — well, pretend to strop, anyway, since few of us are barbers who can manage arm stropping — but you've already incurred some expense by acquiring a razor, brush and soap. Add a few more shekels to the tab and buy a strop. If you take care of it, it will last almost a lifetime.

Come now, gentlemen, some things are sacred: a strop, for instance in the straight razor shave.

id tell him to use the strop as a strop or you're going to use it as a belt and smack some sense into him.

Be careful about flipping the blade at the end of your stroke.

he will stop when he "nicks the strop" good and proper....

I strop on my wrist &/or hand on occasion as an "icing on the cake" approach but not to the exclusion of using my strops.
Xmas is coming Carl. Buy him a 'real' strop.

buying wax for dreads? I thought those things pretty much took care of themselves.

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

I strop on my wrist &/or hand on occasion as an "icing on the cake" approach but not to the exclusion of using my strops.
Xmas is coming Carl. Buy him a 'real' strop.

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No way!! That sends the message that if he doesn't do something, his dad will pick up the slack. Let that razor get ridiculously dull, the tell him "hhhmmmm....maybe you need a real strop". Follow that up with a quick "get a haircut!" :)

Don't shoot the messenger here but pretty sure I've read somewhere that Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens if you prefer) claimed to get better shaves when he finished stropping on his forearm

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Originally Posted by JohnP

Don't shoot the messenger here but pretty sure I've read somewhere that Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens if you prefer) claimed to get better shaves when he finished stropping on his forearm

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yeah.......... but he was a notorious story teller.....

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Originally Posted by Wintchase

Take the razor back... Then shave his head and take him down to the recruiting station.. I have worked with the Aussie Infantry before, they are some of the best Soldiers on the planet... They will tighten his shot group.

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Too true, too [expletive] true. But he's a gentle soul and would cry...

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Originally Posted by Dunc

buying wax for dreads? I thought those things pretty much took care of themselves.

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No, it's an entire hobby for him...

Thanks for all the replies, I'm going to read them to him and see if I can make him see sense. After that, I'll take the advice and buy him a strop....and some shoes....

I can't see that method accomplishing much, except speeding up the dullness of the blade, and his inevitable trip to the ER.

Carmaloschneider,

Your kid got it all wrong. First of all, I've had long dreadlocks for a very long time. Not anymore, though. Applying wax to them on a current basis will only grease the hell out of your head and do no good except getting you dirty. Tell him to wash them properly two times a week with natural soap and leave them be. If they don't stick this way it means his hair just ain't meant for that kind of stressful treatment (dreadlocks) and that's a fact. Waxing them on and off will completely destroy his hair, by the time he gets a haircut there's going to be half of what he used to have. Unless he's got Caribbean-type hair.

If he doesn't want to buy a strop then let him use a belt, at least. Full grain leather belts that are worn in can strop pretty good. Better than left arm, that's for sure. Human skin is not comparable to cowhide or horsehide, even if the stropping motion is done correctly. If you can't put some sense into him, take your razor back and let him use cartridges, it's a waste of a good razor. Plus, if he can't get the damn hair to look good without applying chemicals to it, how does he think a high carbon steel blade can be maintained by doing nothing to it? And like Firefighter2 said, have him have ER on speed dial.

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Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Too true, too [expletive] true. But he's a gentle soul and would cry...

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The infantry would cure that aspect of his personality too, Carl
As an old Recruit Instructor I guarantee it

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Originally Posted by Havachat45

The infantry would cure that aspect of his personality too, Carl
As an old Recruit Instructor I guarantee it

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Oh! an old Recruit Instructor! A true mate! I was a Recruit Instructor from '91 to '93! Best job in the Army! I still have my 'RI' badge that they started to make then. I also still have my cane. I'm sure we could have a conversation for months about that job!

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Originally Posted by whiskeypete

Carmaloschneider,

Your kid got it all wrong. First of all, I've had long dreadlocks for a very long time. Not anymore, though. Applying wax to them on a current basis will only grease the hell out of your head and do no good except getting you dirty. Tell him to wash them properly two times a week with natural soap and leave them be. If they don't stick this way it means his hair just ain't meant for that kind of stressful treatment (dreadlocks) and that's a fact. Waxing them on and off will completely destroy his hair, by the time he gets a haircut there's going to be half of what he used to have. Unless he's got Caribbean-type hair.

If he doesn't want to buy a strop then let him use a belt, at least. Full grain leather belts that are worn in can strop pretty good. Better than left arm, that's for sure. Human skin is not comparable to cowhide or horsehide, even if the stropping motion is done correctly. If you can't put some sense into him, take your razor back and let him use cartridges, it's a waste of a good razor. Plus, if he can't get the damn hair to look good without applying chemicals to it, how does he think a high carbon steel blade can be maintained by doing nothing to it? And like Firefighter2 said, have him have ER on speed dial.

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Aaron's hair is basically 30% his hair, 30% wax and 30% fluff he's picked up from his bedding. He washes them twice a week and waxes afterwards. And no, he hasn't got 'carribean' hair :-)

I seem to remember there are videos of Mastro Livi stropping on his arm.

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Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

Oh! an old Recruit Instructor! A true mate! I was a Recruit Instructor from '91 to '93! Best job in the Army! I still have my 'RI' badge that they started to make then. I also still have my cane. I'm sure we could have a conversation for months about that job!

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Oh Yeah, we certainly could.
I have my cane too, complete with 'range produce'
I did 6 years - 3 cpl, 3 Sgt - and loved it.
I might have to visit SA just for the conversation (do they have Bundy there?).
Do you ever get to Melbourne?
I try to go to Phillip Island for the superbikes around March each year.
Geoff

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Originally Posted by Havachat45

The infantry would cure that aspect of his personality too, Carl
As an old Recruit Instructor I guarantee it

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Apart from having a mop for hair, he does have the guts to defy his father by willfuly continue to strop on his arm and having dreadlocks, both of which his father is at least mildly opposed to. True, it is only mild rebellion and stubbornness, but it's a start :p

However, a strop is one of those things that you do actually need for a better shave, so just buy him one for christmas. If he hasn't cut up his arm stropping yet, and he still gets decent shaves, his technique seems to be okay.

i have to agree.... arm stropping would either lead to

A. perfect technique

B.stitches...

Aaron visited the other night and I read out all the replies. He was a little taken aback by the number of comments and the 'intensity' of some of them :-)

Luckily, he brought his razor with him, and he did 25 laps on the Shapton 16k and a good stropping. He then borrowed my shaving gear. After the shave, I asked him if the razor felt better, and with a huge smile, feeling his face, he replied that it did (and it looked less patchy, too). I sent him home with the 1/2 used tube of Speick I have (which I wasn't all that in love with) and at that point he decided to buy a strop. I promised to ask him how much Mick's are. I also saw some in The Shaver shop for 100 bucks; and another (quite wide) for 115.

The end result is that all your comments have added to my comments to convince him. Thanks! :D

I remember seeing some skin on a Danish topless beach that you could have stropped on. *Shudder*