Which vendors ship strops correctly?

[onethinline]

I'm just getting back into learning SR shaving, and somehow lost the strop I used to have. I just received a new one from a pretty well-known shaving supply vendor, but it was packed with a pretty tight fold which has created wrinkles in the middle of the strop; surely not what you want from what I assume is supposed to be a nice smooth surface.

So, now I'm wary. I'm going to return this one, obviously, but before I buy from somewhere else, it'd be good to have assurance that the seller knows how to package and ship a strop without creasing it or causing damage to the leather. Which vendors know how to do this?

 

[Acmemfg]

Tony Miller...best strops around. Always properly shipped

 

[jmturley]

Second Tony Miller. Amazing strops and an amazing price. He ships his strops in a large postal box so the strop isn't wrapped or tightly folded at all.

 

[David]

You can’t go wrong with Tony.

 

[onethinline]

Great, thanks! Do you recommend any of his in particular for a first strop?

 

[ajduplessis]

Few IME. So stick to the knows.

 

[MilkCrate]

Great, thanks! Do you recommend any of his in particular for a first strop?

I would recommend the plain vanilla or chocolate

 

[onethinline]

I would recommend the plain vanilla or chocolate

Perfect. I went with the plain vanilla. Looks nice. Looking forward to it.

 

[MilkCrate]

Perfect. I went with the plain vanilla. Looks nice. Looking forward to it.

I did the same, it’s a nice strop.

 

[Joshua223]

Tony Miller of course. Scrupleworks has a great reputation. Seen a few makers on Etsy.
Any serious strop maker should be taking care to package their strop so it won't get creases or damage the stropping surface.

Only professionally made strop I have is an Old No 2 from Tony Miller. Great strop.

 

[JamesBlades]

I have a Tony Miller that I bought practically new on the BST. Idk what the model is, but I was impressed with the super thick plastic bag it came in.

 

[onethinline]

My Tony Miller strop arrived a few days ago, and it seems very nice, except that it arrived with a little dent or small damaged area on the surface. Frustrating! Not sure if it was missed when he put it together (seems unlikely) or if it happened in shipping. I don't even know if it's the sort of thing that would cause any trouble in actual stropping. I'm going to email him and send some pictures, see what he says.

 

[MO1]

My Tony Miller strop arrived a few days ago, and it seems very nice, except that it arrived with a little dent or small damaged area on the surface. Frustrating! Not sure if it was missed when he put it together (seems unlikely) or if it happened in shipping. I don't even know if it's the sort of thing that would cause any trouble in actual stropping. I'm going to email him and send some pictures, see what he says.

I'm sure Tony will help you.
He's a great guy. I seriously doubt he would intentionally send a damaged strop.

 

[Tony Miller]

@onethinline email me a pic of the damage. I usually go over these really well before packaging but could have missed something. I will say that horsehide tends to have more very fine range marks or variations in the surface than my other leathers but I am pretty picky as to what I would allow on my first quality strops. My plain strops will have some more obvious cosmetic issues (to me anyway) but I do not let any raised flaws go out on even those as that will affect use. Small dents or depressions (not on an edge where the razor feels them) would be allowed on a Plain strop if not to horrible.

I will take care of any problems though, no worries

 

[onethinline]

email me a pic of the damage. I usually go over these really well before packaging but could have missed something. I will say that horsehide tends to have more very fine range marks or variations in the surface than my other leathers but I am pretty picky as to what I would allow on my first quality strops. My plain strops will have some more obvious cosmetic issues (to me anyway) but I do not let any raised flaws go out on even those as that will affect use. Small dents or depressions (not on an edge where the razor feels them) would be allowed on a Plain strop if not to horrible.

I will take care of any problems though, no worries

Thanks so much, Tony! I’ll follow-up with an email shortly here. It does seem to be a small dent, rather than a raised flaw, so it may not be an issue (I’m new to SR shaving so don’t for sure what would or wouldn’t hurt the edge as far as strop flaws).

 

[Tony Miller]

Looks like the problem was resolved. There is a small roughly 1/8" wide by 1/4" long dent but he had purchased a Plain Vanilla Horsehide strop and that small flaw is what made it a Plain rather than an Artisan grade. It will have no effect on use and very little on the appearance.

I am glad he got in touch though as I want to be sure everyone gets exactly what they expect and would not want something flawed to slip by at any point.

 

[onethinline]

I just want to add that apart from that element I was wondering about, the strop is beautiful, arrived very nicely packed, and that Tony has been very helpful and responsive. I’m very pleased with the experience. Thanks, Tony!