Hollow strop

Funny how things sometimes hide right in front our eyes.

Thought this might be interesting not just to beginners.

Yesterday I realized that my strop is (or now, was) hollow. A 2" DOVO Juchten strop that I bought recently, so no crap.

The blade only touched the left and right shoulder and had no contact in the middle - Another good reason for x-strokes as discussed in this thread - Something was different and I actually had seen it, but somehow accepted it as a fact, not realizing that I should (or could) do something about it.

I then pulled the strop through my hand, slightly bending it the other way (edges back) and applying some pressure from the backside to the middle with one or two fingers. After that it was flat (again?) and stropping completely different.

Sure, a strop is a flexible thing, still somehow I never had the idea to check it for flattness.

When rubbing the palm over the strop, also make sure the pressure is distributed evenly.