Thread: Travel strop

In a couple of months time I'm spending a week in a caravan within the same country and I intend on bringing a straight or two with me.

This is the first time I'll have traveled with a straight and I wasn't sure if it's worth investing in a paddle strop to take with me?

Or if it'd be feasible to take my hanging strop and make use of door handles or if it'd be okay to simply lay the strop on a table and sort of use it as a paddle strop?

You could take your strop if you're carefully not to bend it much, and keep it out of the extreme heats of the car (even then it would not get ruin by some heat IMO). I have travel with a paddle many times. The SRD paddle also has the advantage of having different materials with treated paste for maintaining a razor at home or on the road. However, recently I took my roo strop and I liked it better, as far as performance and convenience of packing it on a suitcase. I would not take my cowhide strop on a suitcase, but I would take it on a road trip in the car, but then I have a paddle, and I would rather take the paddle on the road than the cowhide or a horse hide strop. Hopes this helps you! Double O

If you decide to take your hanging strop, don't forget to take some strong nylon cord to tie it to a odor handle or something.

Never really crossed my mind about the potential bending of the strop when in transit. It does sound more convenient to take a paddle, just means I have to buy one first, though I do like the look of the SRD paddle

I made my own travel strop from a regular strop I had around that I started out on a few years back. It had lots of cuts and nicks, but they were all clustered at the top and bottom. So I cut each end down and replaced the hardware, and had a strop with about 13-14 inches of stropping space. I then replaced the handles on the end with a heave D-ring, making the strop overall a good bit shorter. Inspired, i then cut down my old fabric strop and sprayed one side very very lightly with diamond paste. So on the road I still have a nice strop, it's just shorter. Overall, though, it's short enough to sit in my suitcase without having to be folded or rolled up.

The acid test came when I lived in Israel for 4 months last year, and this was my only strop. It performed wonderfully! You can see the results right here:

I also add an 'amen' to the suggestion of a cord or something to hang it on. You never know what you'll attach your strop to on the road. I pack a loop of strong cord and a carabiner which works well.

I just use a piece of spruce about a foot long and 1 1/2 inches square with chrome oxide rubbed into one side. I'm going to glue a piece of leather to the other side when I find some scrap, but CrOx alone will do for short trips.

Two options that make a good travel or everyday strops are

1. Pike strop hone. This you would have to find on ebay and many need to have a new piece of leather on them.

2. Is a new boker strop hone http://www2.knifecenter.com/item/BO0...th-Razor-Stone

This a nice strop and hone.

Both of these if for some reason your edge gets damaged you could fix it.

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!