Thread: Stropping on Your ARM...

Yes, you read it right, on your arm. My silly, silly son, who I taught to straight razor shave several weeks ago, insists on spending his money on wax for his dreads rather than a strop. He tells me he strops on his arm (inner lower). Apart from the obvious danger, is he actually DOING any good to the razor? Judging by the smattering of hairs I saw over his little face today (those I COULD see behind his ridiculously long dreadlocks) I think the Emil Kronenberg razor I gave him is very much wanting to see a REAL strop. Now I HAVE heard of people stropping on the palm of their hand, but has anyone heard of stropping on one's arm? Goodness knows what will happen when he nicks his 'strop' as we have all done....

I don't think your skin is resistant/hard enough to have an effect on the edge of the blade. So besides the huge risk, I don't think he is accomplishing anything at all.

Yes. I hand strop my DE and SE blades after I use them. I Rinse them off , then Palm Strop them a couple of times on each side.

But then again who am i to say because after stropping I store them re wrapped on a tray with a Magnet under in.

Originally Posted by Johnus

Yes. I hand strop my DE and SE blades after I use them. I Rinse them off , then Palm Strop them a couple of times on each side.

But then again who am i to say because after stropping I store them re wrapped on a tray with a Magnet under in.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish by doing this?

My barber strops on his arm.

I strop on my arm when honing, to clean the edge of slurry for examination.

It's more of a cleaning thing, than any kind of blade polishing.

Originally Posted by JimR

My barber strops on his arm.

I strop on my arm when honing, to clean the edge of slurry for examination.

It's more of a cleaning thing, than any kind of blade polishing.

Ah.....I get it now. I use paper towel. Much safer I think.

I could SORT of understand stropping on your arm ('top, hairy side') if you were on a desert island or something) but to be honest it scares the feces out of me...

Arm stropping, top then lower side, is just like stropping on linen/leather except it takes 10,000/30,000 passes. I tried it once but kept losing count and had to start over.

Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

I could SORT of understand stropping on your arm ('top, hairy side') if you were on a desert island or something) but to be honest it scares the feces out of me...

Originally Posted by ace

Arm stropping, top then lower side, is just like stropping on linen/leather except it takes 10,000/30/000 passes. I tried it once but kept losing count and had to start over.

Thank you both for the hearty laugh!!!

Take the razor back... Then shave his head and take him down to the recruiting station.. I have worked with the Aussie Infantry before, they are some of the best Soldiers on the planet... They will tighten his shot group.