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What do you look for in a $30-ish strop?

I'm new to the straight razor game but have been heavily involved with knives for a bit and have made hundreds of strops. Every time I send out a knife I try to include a packable paddle strop (typically a 2.5"x6" piece of leather) and have made a whole lot of every size of paddle strop. I prefer latigo due to its price and performance (not to mention availability).

Anyway, I have made about 3 dozen hanging and paddle strops specifically for straight razors that I've given away to friends who are getting into straight razor shaving and other gifts. I have just done a D-ring on either end with 3 chicago screws or rivets to secure. I have looked at doing cotton webbing along with the leather, just haven't walked across the street to the fabric store to pick some up...

Now to my point. I bought a bunch of latigo recently and one particular side looked exceptional for straight razor strops so I cut up the entire side so I wouldn't be tempted to use it for anything else. Now I have leather cut for probably 50 strops ranging from 2-3" in 80" or so sections. I typically include strops with orders but most likely won't have anything going out for quite a while so I'd like to sell as many of the strops as possible but want to make sure they are priced appropriately.

So, what would you guys expect out of a latigo strop in the $30 range? It seems, after reading through many threads in the strops forum, that most people prefer a barber style strop or one with a d-ring as opposed to a handle. Do you think there would be an interest in paddle strops or does everybody typically go with a hanging strop? Personally I like paddle strops but that's just me, and that's what I'm used to using for polishing knife bevels.

Any input would be greatly appreciated, thanks guys!
 
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I'm pretty new ot str8s also but I was advised by some well respected members here to grab a "Big Mama" strop on ebay. The gent that sells them is good to go and the strop is outstanding. I think it was $20 or $25 bucks. Comes with the leather strop and woolk felt strop.

I love mine.
 
Yeah, I've tried a Big Mama before, it was fine. Not really my cup o' tea but it got the job done.

I'll post pics when I have one completed so you can see what I have in mind. With the response this thread has received I'll probably just stick to what I originally had in mind. :tongue_sm
 
The strop I have now is a horse hide strop and not in the best of shape... it has a handle and I really like the handle part, but I have never tried a D ring strop. I think probably the most important thing would be to have one side leather and the felt strop behind it with some way to hang the strop at the top. :biggrin1:
 
I'm not at all impressed w/the Big Mama. I suppose it'll do, but I had Ambrose send me one of his, and for a very reasonable price (that I'm not sure he's secretive about, but I'm not mentioning here) it's easily the best value in strops I've seen. Very affordable, and superb quality. Drop him a PM, he'll hook you up.
 
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