"butcher your first strop"? I butchered my first 2½ strops, but then I'm a slow learner.Whichever one you think you might want. You don't have preferences yet. If you are just starting, go with ordinary cow or steer hide, veg tanned, decent hardware, something under $50 because you will probably butcher your first strop while you learn to use it.
shorter strops with hardware on both ends are more likely to get nicked
"butcher your first strop"? I butchered my first 2½ strops, but then I'm a slow learner.
Still on number 3 with only a few nicks in it. I might send @Tony Miller an order sometime next year.
You could be right but I prefer to think that I am just a slow learner. After all, it took me about 100 SR shaves to become very proficient with an SR.More abrupt starting and stopping
That makes a whole lot of sense nowMore abrupt starting and stopping