Just wanted to give an update on what is in the works here at the Heirloom Razor Strop Co. as we enter our 19th year of making strops.
I have been looking at some new materials as many that I have sourced in the past are either getting hard to find or have jumped significantly in price. Last year my cotton almost doubled in price as has the genuine linen. The horsehide is still fairly easy to get but just does not have as nice an appearance as it once did. More staining, more mottled colors and rather varied textures from hide to hide. This means a much higher number of Plain strops and that the few Artisan strops will have more "character" and color variation. I wish they could be better but there is only one reliable USA source for horsehide and sadly it is what it is.
I have been testing some new cloth strop options and two forum members have kindly been testing these as well and giving me their feedback. Once all the results are in I hope to release these. One is a new, strong herringbone weave flax linen, a bit thinner and more coarse and seemingly a bit more aggressive. I am also testing a hemp webbing, thick like my current cotton but far softer and more supple but does still have that slight corregated zip/zip, corduroy "whistle britches" sound to it LOL.
I have also sourced more European (Italian) Bridle leather but in a nice medium brown tone. This has a good medium to slightly heavy draw and a very smooth and supple feel. For a heavier but still supple option I have tried some roughout versions too.
This is the European bridle, the Roughout is at the bottom and has the d-ring grips and cotton, the smooth at the top has the handles and genuine linen:
The new cloth materials are the thick, supple hemp on the left and the new herringbone flax linen on the right:
The European Bridle will be up on the storefront by the weekend, the Horsehide will be back up on my site next week once I cut and grade the hides.
I will be releasing the new fabrics as soon as testing is finished but if you want to try one ahead of final testing instead of my current cloth components, well, my arm can be twisted.
I did also drop all my Artisan pricing by $5 to try and curb inflation just a bit.
Thanks to all of you and to Badger & Blade for the continued support as always.
Tony
I have been looking at some new materials as many that I have sourced in the past are either getting hard to find or have jumped significantly in price. Last year my cotton almost doubled in price as has the genuine linen. The horsehide is still fairly easy to get but just does not have as nice an appearance as it once did. More staining, more mottled colors and rather varied textures from hide to hide. This means a much higher number of Plain strops and that the few Artisan strops will have more "character" and color variation. I wish they could be better but there is only one reliable USA source for horsehide and sadly it is what it is.
I have been testing some new cloth strop options and two forum members have kindly been testing these as well and giving me their feedback. Once all the results are in I hope to release these. One is a new, strong herringbone weave flax linen, a bit thinner and more coarse and seemingly a bit more aggressive. I am also testing a hemp webbing, thick like my current cotton but far softer and more supple but does still have that slight corregated zip/zip, corduroy "whistle britches" sound to it LOL.
I have also sourced more European (Italian) Bridle leather but in a nice medium brown tone. This has a good medium to slightly heavy draw and a very smooth and supple feel. For a heavier but still supple option I have tried some roughout versions too.
This is the European bridle, the Roughout is at the bottom and has the d-ring grips and cotton, the smooth at the top has the handles and genuine linen:
The new cloth materials are the thick, supple hemp on the left and the new herringbone flax linen on the right:
The European Bridle will be up on the storefront by the weekend, the Horsehide will be back up on my site next week once I cut and grade the hides.
I will be releasing the new fabrics as soon as testing is finished but if you want to try one ahead of final testing instead of my current cloth components, well, my arm can be twisted.
I did also drop all my Artisan pricing by $5 to try and curb inflation just a bit.
Thanks to all of you and to Badger & Blade for the continued support as always.
Tony
Last edited:
