Need help choosing a cheap beginner strop

Hi all. Just bought a SSA Eskiltuna straight razor from ebay in good condition.
Now I need a good strop with both a finer side and rougher side. I dont' want to spend more than I have to but at the same time want one I don't need to replace in a long time - I have enough shaving stuff laying around already

Used is fine. Is one these better than the other and why?

New and cheap:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Barber-Shav...944284?hash=item3ac50b21dc:g:73gAAOSwbdpWXTfF


Any other recommendation/tips on good straps for ebay?

whippeddog.com

Poor man's strop kit to keep it simple.
Rich man's strop kit to be fancy.

Larry is a great guy and his products hit the mark every time.

Another vote for Whipped Dog for basic strops.

I would 3rd Larry at Whipped dog. I still use the balsa strop from the poor man's kit. If you choose to go another route though, you may want to purchase new. Unless you have experience with restoring/maintaining leather anyway. Or if you can find a newer used strop from possibly a member here. Vintage may require some care to get going and adding one more level when starting out might be difficult.

Thanks for replys. Not intending to be rude but the poor man strop kit: What the heck is the wood board with green stuff? What is it good for?

Balsa wood with the green stuff is the step in between the hone and the strop. It has more bite than a strop, but it isn't as much as a hone. You can keep a razor maintained for a while with a strop, but at some point you are going to need a little more. The balsa wood with the green stuff is the little more.

I am using qhipped dog poor man's kit. Works great. I will eventually upgrade, but this kit will keep me going for as long as i want it to.

I also started out with the poor man's kit with the balsa strop. Extremely cost effective, and good products. Even after a more expensive strop is procured, the poor man's strop is still a great one to have, assuming it didn't get eaten up in the learning phase(which tends to happen).

It also depends on the actual condition of the razor as received off the 'Bay. A real shave-ready razor should be ready for the first shave as received without stropping. As you are starting out in this case, shave-ready should come from a respected seller in this regard. Not all sellers on the 'Bay are of this calibre. So in short, a cheap, two-sided strop may not be enough depending on the actual razor as received. But in answer to your question, I'm sure the Whipped Dog rich man combos will suffice as suggested, again assuming that the razor as received is in relatively shave-worthy condition, but you might also consider the Herold linen only and Herold basic strop from The Superior Shave. The linen strop can be pasted with the red or green Dovo tube paste on one side and the white Dovo paste on the other. This will give you a small palette of options, if needed, before the leather strop.

Illinois 127 was all that I used for many years. Inexpensive and effective.

The razor was bought from a respected swedish seller so pretty confident it is 100% shave ready
I will probably need some slightly more hardcore stuff later on if I decided to buy more used razors from different and less trusted sources. This time I just need a strop. I am the kind of person that prefer to buy something high quality and more expensive than the very cheapest. At the same time I expect to cut it up in the beginning and I therefore think going for the poor mans strap kit is perfect.
Would be annoying buying a expensive one and destroy it because im a newbie! At the same time I get the balsa strap for if light honing is needed with this or other straights in the future Makes sense to go for Whipped Dog but im not sure yet. Hmm...

Novus said:

The razor was bought from a respected swedish seller so pretty confident it is 100% shave ready
I will probably need some slightly more hardcore stuff later on if I decided to buy more used razors from different and less trusted sources. This time I just need a strop. I am the kind of person that prefer to buy something high quality and more expensive than the very cheapest. At the same time I expect to cut it up in the beginning and I therefore think going for the poor mans strap kit is perfect.
Would be annoying buying a expensive one and destroy it because im a newbie! At the same time I get the balsa strap for if light honing is needed with this or other straights in the future Makes sense to go for Whipped Dog but im not sure yet. Hmm...

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If you have any more questions/concerns about the kit, contact Larry. He's a stand up guy! He will gladly answer any questions you might still have.

We hear and see accounts of those who have bought a 'shave ready' razor. Not to denigrate another's honing, shave ready however is subjective. A freshly honed razor, is shave ready, but in order for it to be face ready, it needs to be stopped a couple of minutes prior to shaving. Try it yourself shave with a razor straight off the hone. It won't be comfortable. Give it 30 laps on leather and it will be better.

Bobski said:

We hear and see accounts of those who have bought a 'shave ready' razor. Not to denigrate another's honing, shave ready however is subjective. A freshly honed razor, is shave ready, but in order for it to be face ready, it needs to be stopped a couple of minutes prior to shaving. Try it yourself shave with a razor straight off the hone. It won't be comfortable. Give it 30 laps on leather and it will be better.

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Thanks for the tip! Btw I went with the poor mans kit at Wipped Dogs. Also bought a sight unseen non-flawed as well. Then I don 't risk destroying the swedish razor. Nice to have something cheap I can practice with till i 'm a straight master!

Shoot, I was going to recommend you Tony Miller's Vanilla (or Chocolate) strop. They're only $40 or so and a wonderful strop for the price. The nice thing about them is that all the hardware is removable if you need to replace the leather.

SRD's latigo is another option too. Good basic strop that you can replace the leather on.

ALSO, while the balsa with Green/Red powder is good, be very aware of any wood warping. Mine did and ruined the wonderful edge that Larry put on my sight unseen.

the poor man's strop is a fine starting point. and the balsa will help too as you learn to shave. the better you get with a razor, the longer the edge will last. it is what it is.

a Tony Miller Chocolate or vanilla at $40 odd dollars is a fine step up when you're ready. one of his top end strops is hard to beat.

There are lots of variety out there as far as strops go. The cheaper strops are a better way to go if you don't have a lot of experience. And if it is that way, then I'd get a 3 inch version. Only because it negates the need for x strokes. When learning the most common thing in shaving is the short order destruction of a strop, with lots of nicks/cuts. So, if you like the look of the Miller strops, the Scrupleworks, Westholme or Kanayama, they are all great, and they are not cheap. Most of us, our first ever strop, is history after 2 or so months, a victim of eager stropping. There are not many out there who can say they have the discipline to start with a skinny shell strop, and not damage it. My current strop, some years later, mind you, is the Kanayama #70000. I am very glad it wasn't my 1st strop, as they are a delight to use.

+1 for Whipped Dog and Larry, I purchased and received my poor man's strop within 3 days. I did not get the kit just the strop for 16.00.
He was a pleasure to communicate with and he answered all my questions and concerns.