Tony Millers 3" Tri-Strop
3" Red Latigo/Horsehide/Linen
Workmanship:
Perfection ! It is cut, trimmed and assembled with extreme care and attention to detail. The end caps that hold everything together top and bottom are cut to perfection and styled beautifully giving it a classic look. The whole strop is made to be taken apart to replace and or change the setup if you want. Chicago Screws are used throughout the setup to allow this to be done with ease. The hardware throughout the strop from the rectangular rings to the swivel clip are heavy duty and compliment the strop with function and beauty. The Linen is excellent heavy quality. The cuts of leather for the Latigo and Horsehide are TOP NOTCH and leave nothing to doubt that they are the finest available. Both the Latigo and Horsehide are thick and cupping is something that wont ever be an issue.
Use:
It works and it works well.
The Linen has a rough yet smooth surface that gives great feedback with a light to medium "pull" when using.
The Red Latigo also gives a nice feeling as well in feedback. It has more "pull" when you strop on it then the horsehide. I would say its got a medium "pull"
The Horsehide is smooth and almost silky when stropping on it.
Setup:
Each of the 3 strops is 3" wide with 17" of usable stropping surface between the end caps and each has a contoured handle. The Linen is on top and then the Red Latigo. The Horsehide is the third but is mounted opposite. It is done that way so you can turn the Tri-Strop over and use it without folding over the Linen and Latigo. The swivel snap on top makes this possible. One of Tonys concerns was the Linen strop interfering with the full use of the Latigo. I can assure you that is not the case. The Linen being quite pliable it "flips" over and hangs out of the way with ease. The weight of the contoured handle helps this even more by acting as a weight to allow it to stay put once flipped over.
Why:
Why a Tri-Strop? Well what other way to have the Ultimate strop then get one that has the best of the best and all in one setup. Red Latigo/Horsehide/Linen. I thought I would probably use one or the other but always use the Linen. It has been that way so far but i have read some will go from Linen to Latigo to Horsehide and then shave. I have used the 3 razors in my rotation on it and they certainly loved it as did my face. I found stropping my Duck "Satin Wedge" and Dovo "Best Quality" on the Horsehide worked well but I liked stopping my Dovo Micarta on the Latigo better for its feedback. Science behind that is zero. It is just my feeling based on my experience and ability.
Overall, this is the Ultimate strop for me and will last beyond my life. Eventually it will be for my son in my mind. I can't say enough about how beautiful it is and how easy it is to use. All aspects of it are top quality and well thought out. The workmanship is beyond what I expected and far exceeded my old Jemico. Again, Knowing if I want to replace any part of this strop can be done makes it that much better. If I were to nick the Latigo all up, ugh I hope I don't, I could simply buy just that piece of leather from Tony and remove the hardware to release the old and replace it with the new.
With all the options added the total came to $160. Tony expressed his concern to me about having a strop in that price range. We spoke through email about it and the short story is I explained how some or many of us here like custom pieces that meet our individual needs. Not many companies can do that anymore. Price on a quality custom piece has to be higher and it is expected. So if you feel as I do then send Tony a PM and let him know.
On a personal note. Tony thank you for your time and skill and attention to detail in creating a perfect balance of beauty and function !
Below are some pictures showing the details of this amazing strop



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I currently have several vintage strops that have canvas strops and one is labeled linen
so they got me the dual leather. It should be arriving for an early party due to my son's availability on 1/24, but the strop should be arriving soon. I'm sure Carrie will want to check it out when it arrives but I will have to wait.




You should see what they got me for Christmas here:

I officially have the fever.
