The Benefits Of Plain Stropping (2 replies)

Often, stropping can ruin your slicing aggression and ruin your edge. I have found that minimal stropping works best, if you have to strop. I suggest using a plain strop first, like palm stropping suggested by knife maker Joe Calton. A barbers strop works well also. I have found that with plain stropping, ie not with an abrasive paste, you can refine the edge, keep slicing aggression, and not ruin the sharpness of your edge. However, I find no stropping to be ideal for EDC use or where slicing aggression is wanted.

edit: -- Murray Carter technique of stropping on newsprint has also worked very well for me, as well as Ernest Emerson's stropping on cardboard.