Gents Leather Razor Strop 2.5" x 23.5" Cowhide Straight Razor Strop Dual Sided Canvas Barber Sharpening Strap for Razors Knives Tools

I am brand new to straight razor. I purchased this strop based on other favorable reviews that spoke of its quality and design relative to its modest price. I am very satisfied with its design and performance. But I have found that straight razor shaving has a serious learning curve, and it is essential to watch several You Tube Videos on each facet of straight razor shaving to get the hang of things. Stropping is no exception. For example, It is essential that the blade of a straight razor be kept flat across the strop, not at an angle as would be true with sharpening a knife edge. Failure to maintain the blade flat against the strop will seriously dull the edge of the blade and can also cut or otherwise damage the strop face. As was recommended in other reviews I recommend use of 1907 Strop Dressing to keep the leather supple and the strop strokes smooth. And for best shaving results I have found that none of the straight razors I purchased are truly "shave ready" out of the box. They must be stropped thoroughly before first use; and between uses; and also a few strokes from time to time during each shaving process to get a really close shave.

Worth every penny - I use it to finish sharpening all my knives and it’s working great… Holds up very well. It’s actual rawhide and two strips not one I love it.

Update to the update. GBS obviously read my earlier review, and they are genuinely concerned with what the customers think. They sent me a replacement strop without having to ask for one. This one is much better quality. The leather strop is smooth without that slick artificial finish, and the cloth portion is heavy duty canvas. I've moved them up to 4 stars because I like the fact that they actually listen to customer feedback. My original comments and first update are included below. Original review: I can't imagine why this strop has any positive reviews. A good strop simply has to be a fairly thick smooth piece of leather. The leather strop on this one is definitely not smooth, and has a great big GBS logo deeply stamped into one end of it. If that wasn't enough, there is a slick finish applied that makes it impossible for the strop to function for its primary purpose. It is like using a strop with a glazed, dried out surface that needs dressing. I'm guessing the finish is to try to cosmetically hide the fact the leather has ridges and imperfections. The additional cloth strop is not linen or canvas. It is a flimsy synthetic fabric that "pills" after very little use. I decided to make the best of a bad product. I used a finish sander to remove the slick finish, starting with 150 grit and ending with 330 grit. It smoothed it out pretty well, but there are still a few imperfections. I used a strop dressing, and now at least have something somewhat usable. I have yet to see if it is good enough for my razors, and it may be relegated to other uses, like my woodworking tools. I don't think the cloth strop is salvageable for any real use. Overall, this strop is cheap imported junk. I've decided you probably can't find a good strop for this price, and I'm eyeing a domestically produced strop that costs 2-3 times more if this one doesn't pan out for my straight razors. Update: The leather strop works fairly well now that I smoothed it out and removed the weird finish that was on it as described above. The cloth strop is coming apart after less than three weeks of light use.

Excellent value! You'll want to use this between sharpenings to keep your knives at peak sharpness. Purchased this for home use to strop kitchen knifes and other items. Well constructed and finished. No need to pay $60+ unless you want to boast to your friends that you purchased the most expensive strop around. I took an 8" knife that was dulled from normal use. I tried to use a metal hone but just could not get the edge fully restore as I am not practiced enough to hold the angle perfect. I switched to the stop. Five passes per side without any polishing compound and it was nearly razor sharp. Could shave hair and slice through paper. The Hone will likely stay in its rack.

I like the item overall but if has a functionality issue. The clip does not rotate and it should. Not every bathroom will have a perfectly positioned hook to attach the strop to, so it needs to be able to rotate to account for different arrangements. Currently I've only used it a couple of times because I've only shaved with my straight razor a couple of times. It's very slick on the one side, which sometimes makes it tricky to use. I'll revisit this review when I've used it more.

I'm using this when my Outdoor Edge replaceable blades edge doesn't cut as cleanly as a new blade. It touches up the edge and lets me use the blade a little longer.

It works extremely well. I’ll recommend it to anybody that needs to sharpen a knife.

As sold, this is a nice thick piece of cowhide but as a strop straight out of the package it is lacking. It is coated with a dye and too much of a slick finish making it not so great as a strop. It's TOO slick. With some work scrubbing it with some shave soap, nothing too fancy, just some Williams Shave Soap and a nail brush then allowing it to dry and then rubbing it down with a SMALL amount of Neatsfoot Oil this is now a good quality strop.

I have bought several strops over the past few years. This one is the best ever. I have been using it for over two years. The leather is supple and even grained which makes is hard to mess up and cut it to pieces, unlike all of the others I have tried. I highly recommend it - likely I will never need another one. Well done!

The brown side is extremely trash leather thats rougher than my butt cheek, the black side is a lot better but still not good, atleast it gets the job done and gives my blade a sharp enough edge to shave

I am new to straight razor shaving. I purchased a Dovo razor. I didn’t purchase a strop with it. I purchased this strop and received it today. After some rough shaves with my razor, this strop turned my razor into the quality razor it’s meant to be. It’s night and day. A strop is a must. I am still a newbie to this, so I don’t know what to look for in a strop. I just know I am pleased with the purchase especially for the price. It does the trick. I would give 5 stars, but I don’t think it’s fair considering I don’t know what a 5 star looks like.

Cheap leather but it’ll do for stropping knives.

Would probably be okay if you heavily oiled before use. I didnt and tried stroping my razor, the black side works pretty fantastic, leather is nice and soft works great. However the brown side is cracked, wrinkled, and stiff. If you dont oil or soften it youll do what I did and on the first pass it will start flaking off the fine brown finish making it completely useless.