Thread: RupRazor El Toro

This review is from the perspective of someone who has been straight razor shaving for about a month. So, I don't have a lot of experience with other strops to make a lot of comparisons. I can compare to only one other, a pretty nice Latigo. So keep my limitations in mind while reading this.

Story: When I started I knew I wanted a practice strop and didn't want to commit myself to a fortune in equipment so I opted for the RupRazor Filly. After some experience I went and bought a more expensive strop and was very pleased with that -- for a while. I started to realize I liked the feel of my trusty old nicked up and abused Filly over the newer, fancier, strop, which ended up not getting used at all.

So, I decided to get another RupRazor strop made from the same leather but up a step or two in price. I opted for the El Toro, 2-1/2 inches wide, with an added 2 inch canvas strop and D-ring handles. This was $60, including shipping. It is exactly like the one pictured here:



The strop came today and I was not disappointed. It works and feels just as I had hoped. I think the draw is smoother and more consistent than the Latigo. I can also get a really good feel for how well I am keeping the blade flat against the strop. The leather is suede-like and I think that accounts for its feel against the blade.

Quality: The leather is "9oz top grade full grain cowhide tooling leather" (from the RupRazor website) and seems pretty sturdy to me. It lies as flat as a board. The D-ring and hanging hardware are held on by folded over leather which is held together with screws (much as with my other strop). The hook used for hanging is plenty sturdy enough, but not quite as substantial as the one on my other strop. I would say this one is well engineered but not over engineered.

I like the 2-1/2 inch width and to top that off this is a no-cost option over the standard 2 inch width! (When selecting this option the drop down shows a $10 surcharge but both the text and the final total don't add it in.)

The use of a D-ring handle makes this a little easier to roll up (for portability) than a strop with a leather handle. I find the D-ring just as easy and comfortable to hold as a fancier leather handle.

Craftsmanship: This strop leans more towards the utilitarian than the fancy end of the scale. This is not a bad thing; kind of Zen-like; straight to the point and nothing wasted.

My ratings:

First, as a matter of principle and because of my lack of familiarity with much else I can't give anything a ten. But because I really like everything about this strop I go for 9.5 except in one area: 9.0 on durability because the hanging hardware doesn't look quite as substantial as on other strops. But 9.0 is pretty darned good! Compared to other light-weight hooks I have seen in pictures this one looks solid.

If cost was a bigger issue for me I would be pretty happy with a fresh Filly.

I was looking for a new strop and after some research and reviews, I went with the El Toro. simple and light d-ring is great for control of tension, feed back very smooth and fast sounds great too finins in soft and like a very short velvet comes with a pumice KenRup has quick delivery.