Thread: The JimboRoo

Feedback

The first thing I noticed about Jimbo's kangaroo leather strop is the consistent, mild draw that is present along the entire length and width of the strop on every kind of shave ready razor I have. The full hollow does not get bogged down in the strop and yet the wedge has nearly the same feel. The feedback is neither overbearing nor subtle. The leather is effortlessly pulled taut without any noticeable springiness or stretch and really does put a nice smooth edge on a blade.

Speed

The strop feels somewhat slick even with the moderate draw which is an odd sensation. This seems to allow for high stropping speed without sacrificing the great contact with the razor edge. I haven't been counting the number of laps I've been using, but either because the strop is so light and easily pulled tight or because I am stropping faster or because the strop is just more efficient, I can tell the razor is good to go before I am ready to stop stropping!

Durability

I have nicked one end of the strop a few times over the last few months. It is a curious experience, as the poked leather does not seem to want to peel away or flap up like my latigo strop always did. Rather the cut seems more like a very thin and very shallow crack in the leather. I have not attempted to rub these nicks out and since they are at the end of the strop they do not affect the stropping.

Other than that my strop looks better than it did the day I received it and shows no signs of wear on the surfaces of the leather and no fraying along the edges.

Portability

Due to the thin and lightweight leather and the simple design, the strop can be easily rolled up and carried away.

Size

16" stropping length
60 mm stropping width
1 mm thickness per leather strip

This strop would be killer in an 18" stropping length version

Craftsmanship

Jimbo's handiwork is not to be sneezed at. It has a definite home-made feel without the sloppiness you might expect of a kindergartner. This one has welded D rings riveted into both ends, and is actually two separate attached strips of leather allowing two treated stropping surfaces.

Other Comments

Original review can be found here: http://www.straightrazorplace.com/fo...-jimboroo.html

Firsthand information about the making of the strop in this review may be found here: kangaroo

Thanks Jimbo!

I received this strop as a gift. It is my favourite travel strop, because it is so soft it rolls up well. The feedback is tremendous, as seems to be the durability. Nick resistance is unsurpassed. The only thing I would change is size - it would be truly perfect if it were a bit longer and wider. In any event, this is an awesome strop, and I am thoroughly grateful I got one for free. Thank you, Jimbo!

P.S. There is now an easy-to-follow howto available: Making a (very) home-made strop - Straight Razor Place Wiki

the kangaroo leather my strop is made of is very strong. It is also somewhat flexibile. These are great qualities, but-

I've revised the durability rating. Here's why:

First, I found the strop easy to nick. (BeBerlin must be gentler with his Roo than I am) I'm no expert, so I can't say for certain but I know if I recommended this to a new stropper, I would mention that I found it easy to nick. The surface of the strop just feels very fast to me, and maybe it's just relative to what I'm used to. Now, I am used to it and love it. I never nick it anymore. Another reason I mention this is that nicks in this leather do not seem as easy to fix as in cow leather. The damage is just different - the leather seems to prick away from the surface

Second, the strop is very thin. Of course, this has many advantages: to me mainly its light weight. However, I found my strop somewhat twisted and bowed one morning. It would not return to its normal shape on its own so I ended up trying to flatten it back out. It flattened fairly well, but I couldn't figure out how it happened. I thought perhaps I splashed some water or bay rum splash on it, but I thought I would have noticed. A few days later I noticed my strop was pinched in a drawer in the sink counter. Apparently my toddler likes to open and slam that drawer and that is where my strop hangs :gah: One of my strap's straps is still bowed from that incident.

I guess the moral of the story is that the strop has held up fine over the past year during normal use, but it doesn't handle abuse as well as a nice, thick latigo