English Bridal vs Horsehide

[KarlMaldensNose]

Okay, I know I'm getting waaay ahead of myself here as I'm only doing my first straight razor shave tonight, so let's just call this a more general conversation for the purposes of furthering knowledge and dialogue.

Any opinions regarding the ACTUAL benefits of using something like Tony Miller's Artisan Horsehide Strop (~$80) compared to the more economical English Bridal leather strops available at Whipped Dog (~$20)? Width of strop is irrelevant. I'm talking about surface qualities. Obviously people have their preferences, but is there any consensus about one being "better" (as in producing better edges) than another?

 

[QuarkVI]

I am not very experienced with straight shaving but having recently done a lot of reading re strops prior to my purchase of a Tony Miller HH - and currently using a Whipped Dog poor man's kit - I believe I can offer the following points in summary:

- As with vintage razors there is no real difference in terms of performance of the various leathers, it is all about personal preference i.e. the draw and feel

- The only performance comment I have found is that some people feel a cordovan strop gives a slightly better edge on their full hollow grinds

- Stick with the cheapest for your first strop as you WILL damage it extensively

- As with straights, brushes etc. it is about looks, history and other non performance related factors. While the poor man's kit does the same job as the TM they are a world apart regarding finish and aesthetics. Once again we have to admit that it isn't just about getting a shave

I was satisified from all I read that I could choose the strop that appealed to me most without having to lose performance. I chose horsehide because after sanding back my poor man's for the umpteenth time I found I quite like the velvety finish. I went with TM because I thought the red latigo/horsehide combo looked great and I wanted a linen secondary for looks and historical reasons. It was a tough decision between a TM, an Ambrose and a Legion as they all appealed for different reasons. I will probably land up owning one of each just to look at.

Sorry for the lengthy post but I hope that helps some.

______________________________________
Robin

 

[Kentos]

It's not the best analogy, but it's like driving a Chevy, or driving a Cadillac. Both accomplish the same thing, but do so in a different fashion.

 

[professorchaos]

If he's making them once you have stropping down, you'd be crazy not to get a Tony Miller. Latigo, horsehide, cordovan - they all get the job done. Some Latin phrases come to mind: non plus ultra and nulli secundus. Of course ad praesens ova cras pullis sunt meliora.

 

[Alraz]

Exactly, they all work but some are just spectacular to use and to look at.

Al raz.

If he's making them once you have stropping down, you'd be crazy not to get a Tony Miller. Latigo, horsehide, cordovan - they all get the job done. Some Latin phrases come to mind: non plus ultra and nulli secundus. Of course ad praesens ova cras pullis sunt meliora.

 

[Escosse73]

After my Whippeddog strop I got this one :

http://shop.starshaving.com/New-Design-3-Wide-Big-Daddy-1-Burgundy-Leather-Strop-0072.htm

So far it is working well !

Cheers ,

Scott

 

[QuarkVI]

ad praesens ova cras pullis sunt meliora.

too true - TM is on leave at the moment but is planning on putting some more strops up for sale at the end of the month - jump on it and put it in the cupboard till the chances of nicking it have diminished. Ambrose is planning on having some new strops soon as well.....

(just following time honoured B&B approach of enabling and suggesting getting all of the options)

 

[professorchaos]

too true - TM is on leave at the moment but is planning on putting some more strops up for sale at the end of the month - jump on it and put it in the cupboard till the chances of nicking it have diminished. Ambrose is planning on having some new strops soon as well.....

(just following time honoured B&B approach of enabling and suggesting getting all of the options)

Precisely! Sine desiderio vive!

 

[Kentos]

Er....veni vedi veci? E tu brutus? Never had a chance to take latin, but from what I understand no one knows really how to have a conversation in it as the language only exists in books such as dictionaries and stories. So we have only phrases and snippets. Is this true?

 

[Kentos]

I would also like to point out that a Tony Miller strop in good condition sells quite easily, and for up to 80% if not more of the original value...a testament to the intrinsic value placed on these strops by some straight razor shavers.
(I will never sell mine tho, especially my Latigo, my Horsehide, and my Notovan...)

 

[professorchaos]

Er....veni vedi veci? E tu brutus? Never had a chance to take latin, but from what I understand no one knows really how to have a conversation in it as the language only exists in books such as dictionaries and stories. So we have only phrases and snippets. Is this true?

That is pretty much my understanding of it. I don't actually know any Latin - I couldn't put a sentence together. Rather I've stored a bunch of Latin expressions among all the other useless knowledge I've accumulated.

 

[Kentos]

That is pretty much my understanding of it. I don't actually know any Latin - I couldn't put a sentence together. Rather I've stored a bunch of Latin expressions among all the other useless knowledge I've accumulated.

You could have fooled me! You could have told me you took a year of Latin at Cambridge

 

[W_B_K]

I had 3 years of Latin in high school; you can indeed converse with it just as with any other language. Although you would have a hard time finding someone to converse with as it is essentially a "dead" langauge! Today it is useful in legal, medical and religous professions... many of our words have Latin roots (across several languages) so if you study linguistics, I'd suspect you'd want a good understanding of Latin as well in that profession.

I love history (especially Roman) which is why I orginally chose to study Latin.

 

[professorchaos]

You could have fooled me! You could have told me you took a year of Latin at Cambridge

I don't even speak pig Latin well.