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Travel strop.

Here's my take on a travel strop, part of the inspiration came from my "Palm stropping post" .. The leather is double layer vegtan glued together flesh side to flesh side, blade side layer is 8oz thick the back layer is 6oz I still am going to stitch them together after I run a stitching groover around the perimeter. The groove will counter sink the stitches and keep them from ever coming in contact with the razor...I just wanted to share my progress and gather any thoughts!
First 2 pix show width and length.
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next pic shows attachment straps which can be ambidextrous.
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next one shows thumb strap and slick edges :)
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next how it's worn
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as I said stitching yet to come! I may need beta testers for this one I may do a pass around if enough interest is generated.
 
Love the concept. I think I would be worried that the leather would distort. I would be interested in seeing how flat it stays over time.
 
Love the concept. I think I would be worried that the leather would distort. I would be interested in seeing how flat it stays over time.
The strop had no deformation at all it worked the way it was intended to! The double layer of laminated leather had plenty of back bone (stropping pressure is light anyway) and as long as it's not folded in half it will remain flat!
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keep in mind this one is a prototype! The backing or "hand side" can be thicker leather for even more back bone... And the thumb strap was unnecessary. Thanks for the interest and comment!
 
Great solution! I’d bond one to a mirror and have it serve double duty, if you don’t mind me borrowing and expanding on your idea.
 
The strop had no deformation at all it worked the way it was intended to! The double layer of laminated leather had plenty of back bone (stropping pressure is light anyway) and as long as it's not folded in half it will remain flat! View attachment 1039812keep in mind this one is a prototype! The backing or "hand side" can be thicker leather for even more back bone... And the thumb strap was unnecessary. Thanks for the interest and comment!
Sounds cool. Would be interested in seeing a video of it in use at some point.
 

Legion

Staff member
I like the concept. As far as keeping it flat, would not a similar sized, rigid paddle or bench strop do it better?
 
I like the concept. As far as keeping it flat, would not a similar sized, rigid paddle or bench strop do it better?
Well sheeeesh! All the naysayers!!! Lol! I guess it could be better million ways to skin a goat and what not! Thanks for the reply! Happy shaves!
 
Sounds cool. Would be interested in seeing a video of it in use at some point.
Maybe next time I'll try and make short video (plenty of stopping videos out there) but I will try as time permits... Sheesh doubters lol!!
 
Looks great! I'm stuck in a hotel right now because my flight home from Thanksgiving got cancelled. So I took some pics of mine. I removed the handle and linen component from a smallish and very thin horse shell strop. I roll it up and stuff it in a beer koozy and it goes in my carry on.

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Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
That’s interesting @stringer bean My travel solution is pictured. But wait Steve, that’s just a regular strop and a case! That’s exactly what it is, when I travel by air it’s next to the shell of a hard-side case, when I travel by car, it usually just lays in the back seat or trunk. I’ve tried paddles, manufactured ‘travel strops’ and nothing works as well because it’s the same kind of strop that I use every day at home.

The cord is 9m (about 10 feet) of paracord, with which I can secure said strop to almost anything in a hotel room, shower rod, towel rack, doorknob, closet rod, you name it. Why so long? It doubles as a clothesline sometimes for quick dry clothes that I can wash in the sink.

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The cord is 9m (about 10 feet) of paracord, with which I can secure said strop to almost anything in a hotel room, shower rod, towel rack, doorknob, closet rod, you name it. Why so long? It doubles as a clothesline sometimes for quick dry clothes that I can wash in the sink.

But wait Steve, 9m equates to ~10 feet? Maybe you mean 3m? ;-)

As for travel strops, I like either a normal strop rolled up in a tin or a smaller paddle/table strop/piece of leather underlined with felt cut a little bit shy from side to side for some give and convexity.
 
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And hijacked!! Lol all great ideas for travel though! The one I made was double intention protection from the inevitable cut from hand stropping and compactness for travel if needed plus I had the extra leather so why not...
 
Super cool Sanch! If you can make it where it rolls up inwards and is held shut somehow, I think it would preserve the working surface very well during travel. Of course, assuming that rolling it inwards won't deform the leather. You may have to use a thinner piece to achieve that.

This really is a cool idea, and I think there's a hole in the market for travel strops. I was thinking the other day about them, and I had the idea of using a leather straight razor "sheath" as a travel strop with a convex edge. I got the idea because I carry my WR Case pocket knife in a sheath like this:
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I think the folded over non stitched leather surface would make for a more than adequate stropping surface for travel. If any of you leather workers want to try it, then go for it!
 
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