Not my idea but i have to prove a point ;)

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Which is the best strop

  • The Starkie Sharp in all its glory.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    4
D

dataphage

Guest
Abstaining on this one. I have found that when the edges on my knives go the starkie will get them sharp again but isn't quite enough for my obsessive personality. If I use the starkie then strop on an old belt until the back starts to fur up and come off and then on a piece of suede they get so sharp no-one else will go near them and I can take individual hairs off the back of my arms. :naughty:
 

JakeR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 18, 2004
2,288
4
36
Cardiff
I find if you use both side's of the starkie, first the rough, then the shiny, you can reach a honed-honed edge :eek:):
 

Andy

Native
Dec 31, 2003
1,867
11
38
sheffield
www.freewebs.com
I wonder if it beats the edge I get from clarino
this is mcuh more resistance to abrasive wear so might be just the trick for harder steels like VG10. I have to ask where you got this idea from though
 

RovingArcher

Need to contact Admin...
Jun 27, 2004
1,069
1
Monterey Peninsula, Ca., USA
Sorry, I can't offer an opinion, being in a non starkie area of the planet, but will add that I use a leather belt for my stroping in the field, additive free. It does a decent job, but then, I never let my knives get dull.
 

JakeR

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Jan 18, 2004
2,288
4
36
Cardiff
This poll idea andy? Magikelly said he'd do it but wouldn't cos it would prove the starkie isn't that great (he's wrong you know). So i said "Right then, i'll do it" :wink: in a pm of course!!

BTW the starkie isn't a starkie without the magic paste. So please think of that before you poll.
 

Martyn

Bushcrafter through and through
Aug 7, 2003
5,252
33
58
staffordshire
www.britishblades.com
Jake, have you actually tried another piece of leather?

£5 quid is actually rather a lot for a 5" square of leather. The paste is also a ripoff. You can get blue buffing compount (exactly the same stuff) in a block five times the size for half the price.

OK, five quid isn't a lot of money, but I totally fail to see why it gives you the jollies in the way it does.
 

MagiKelly

Making memories since '67
So about a third for the starkie so far. Not the runaway success you were hoping for Jake. Even with the hard sell (a three page topic with almost half the posts yours) and trying to tie the stropping paste to the overpriced leather off cut.

Still plenty of time yet for more votes.

Oh and I voted for belt, I almost voted for any peice of leather but realised that Jake may try to include the Starkie in that catagory to try and save face :roll:
 

leon-1

Full Member
Jake I used a leather belt long before the starkie came out, this was prompted by a friend giving me a barbers leather strop, I have voted for a belt, I always wear one and if I wish to use paste on it I can.

In the end a starkie is a peice of leather, there is no great difference between that and my belt. My belt does not just sit there doing nothing when I am not using it to sharpen things and can be used for many other things other than holding my trousers up, a starkie does nothing else and is not really any better than a belt at what it does do.

Thanks for the quote, but that I have bought one to trial and said yeah buy one is because stropping with a belt isn't for everyone and can be quite a knack.
 

leon-1

Full Member
Sorry Jake I should of also mentioned that the "Magic Paste" as you put it isn't irreplaceable either, I have a number of polishing compounds and honing soaps that do the job just as well which includes the one for the razor strop on Axminster.

Have a look at the size of a peice of honing soap in comparison to the paste for the starkie, OK you pay double the price, but you get three to four times the amount.
 

sargey

Mod
Mod
Member of Bushcraft UK Academy
Sep 11, 2003
2,695
8
cheltenham, glos
i think that the starkie sharp is a good piece of kit when it comes to introducing someone to stropping, i use mine alot. i have also broken bits off the bar of soap? and have them stashed in various places, so i can always top my belt up if needed.

it's a shame there wasn't an alternative box to tick, for autosol/flitz &c, on the inside of a corflake box. now that's a strop. :eek:):

cheers, and.
 

mmcniven

Forager
Nov 1, 2003
139
1
55
Paisley
When a man goes on so much about something you should take notice, there must be something in it.
My starkie kit arrived this morning, i have a few knives to sharpen so i will give it a go and report back.
I already have a pretty good method for sharpening and polishing blades so i will be interested to see how this compares.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention i am sure i will be impressed.
 

TheViking

Native
Jun 3, 2004
1,864
4
35
.
mmcniven said:
When a man goes on so much about something you should take notice, there must be something in it.
Not necessarily. But in this case, perhaps. I haven't tried a Starkie, but no doubt it's good. It's just... any leather belt or piece of leather will do the job, me thinks. I don't care if my knives has a polished edge. :roll:

I try to improvise as much as possible. Don't wanna go around and look like a man from the stoneage, of course, (with stone knives, skin clothes, etc.) but I think that stropping is one of the things you do so little in the field, that making a decent piece of leather to do it with, is "rediculous". :wink:

Why do we have 2 threads running on this?? :?: :?:

Just a thought. :chill:
 

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