Thread: Travel strop

Originally Posted by chris0194

does the daily use of crox not have a detrimental effect on the edge, thought it'd be too much of a good thing

Not in my experience. I generally take 10 or 15 passes on a crox pasted board before stropping on cotton and leather. I never use crox on a flexible strop.

I live in a caravan and just have my regular strop hanging on one of the walls. Actually, it's my cordovan strop--my best one. My heavier steerhide strop still hangs on the bathroom wall at home.

The paddle strop, I've found, isn't that great a solution for travel, because the slots in the body aren't varnished and the wood warps as you get into different humidities. Where I live, the humidity is very low and the stropping surfaces end up cupped. If I was back in the humid middle of the country, I'm guessing the ends would bow out. So if you get a paddle strop, either get one without the slots or put some finish in them before you hit the road.

If your caravan isn't well insulated and you camp in cold weather, you'll have condensation along the wall and that moisture may cause your strop to cup a little bit. This hasn't happened with my cordovan, but it did happen with a steerhide one I used to have in there.

Happy travels!