new strop

[danjared]

Yeah, but I bet you're still using an x-stroke while stropping... and I'd hate to imagine the kind of cupping you'd see on a 4" strop.

[paco664]

Yeah, but I bet you're still using an x-stroke while stropping... and I'd hate to imagine the kind of cupping you'd see on a 4" strop.

that is the one razor i own i have never shaved with....

it is a freaking machete....

[Slash McCoy]

I never really saw the point of 3" wide strops. Aside from the reasons mentioned above, there's hardly a razor that even has a 3" long cutting edge (most are at least a bit shorter*), so there's clearly some wasted width. But, I guess some go for "bigger is better". Personally, I see diminishing returns, just as I see for flatter honing surfaces, super-fine abrasives and super-straight razor edges.

*This is not to mention that very few razors were designed to have a completely straight cutting edge.

The first point is very true, usually. Of course there are exceptions, as in Paco's big chopper, but I do think a 2-3/4" wide strop would actually be the ideal width. The extra quarter inch doesn't trouble me, though.

Most of my razors have pretty straight edges. Most of them I bought that way, or had to do major steel removal due to chipped or pitted edges, and I take the opportunity to breadknife them nice and straight. My slightly smiling razors over time tend to evolve into straight edges. Frowns I always straighten. Many smileys I deliberately straighten, or sell or give away. If a razor is too "happy", I don't even buy it. I like a straight edge because it is so much easier to maintain, and I don't feel a need for a smiley. A straight edge shaves me just fine.

Like wedges, I tend to put radical smileys in a whole separate category, with their own special treatment. And like wedges, I have a tendency to leave big smiles to those who are more expert in their use and maintenance, and who have a love for that type of blade.

My advice is not meant for the expert, who after all knows better than me what his own preferences are. My advice is generally for the newbie who most needs it, and so ease in getting good results, whether it be in shaving, maintenance, whatever, is the primary consideration. A fairly straight blade on a nice wide hone or strop is the quickest way for a newbie to start getting the same results that the proficient old timers get with whatever their choice of equipment or methods may be. There is nothing wrong with a narrow strop or a narrow hone in competent hands. Nothing wrong with a razor that smiles like Bozo the Clown, in the hands of a shaver experienced in its use, who has a love for that type of blade. A newbie CAN learn with that sort of equipment, but my way will give him better results, sooner.

[danjared]

I don't really find a perfectly straight edge easier to maintain and never have in the past...

I've seen many struggle with honing at all, regardless of whether their hones are wide or narrow or their razors perfectly straight or slightly smiling, so I'm not so certain that the ideals your prescribe have much bearing on what it takes to learn. If anything, learning to hone only under the ideal conditions you describe later might mean unlearning previous assumptions. In fact, I've had to help several people break these assumptions, so it certainly happens at least some of the time. I think this all applies to stropping as well.

[foxj66]

big daddy 3" strop from www.starshaving.com
or the big mama 2.5"...

they have really nice strops and their customer service is top notch....

i have 2 of the big daddys and i wholeheartedly recommend them....

Thanks for the info on them. I had seen these on ebay and wasn't sure if they were good for the money or not. I ordered one today to try out!

[paco664]

money well spent...

Thanks for the info on them. I had seen these on ebay and wasn't sure if they were good for the money or not. I ordered one today to try out!