My old mentor swore by his leather strop, but I can't find a good one anymore.

Any recommendations for a strop that holds up like the ones from thirty years back?

3 comments

3 Comments

When you say "holds up like the ones from thirty years back," what was his strop actually made of? My grandad had one that lasted forever, but it was a specific kind of thick saddle leather he treated with neat's-foot oil every year. The ones you see now are often thinner or use different finishes. Was your mentor's strop really stiff or more supple?

ward.jamie3d ago

My buddy Alex found an old barber's strop in his dad's garage last year, tucked behind some paint cans. It was this crazy thick piece of leather, almost like a belt but denser, with the stamp from a local tannery that closed in the seventies. He said it had no flex at all, just a rigid board that still had dried old compound in the grain. That thing probably hadn't been touched in twenty years and the leather showed zero wear, nothing like the floppy ones he buys now.

xenaroberts4d ago

Did it flex much? Not a chance! It was that dense, hard-packed leather from a harness shop. He'd rub it with tallow every few months, so it never softened up. Felt like smoothing a blade on a wooden bench, and it held its shape for decades!