Our knife strop is amazing.
Used with a little metal polish on the surface of the leather, it can take a knife from 'sharp' to 'shaving sharp'. See how.
It takes less than a minute to achieve this.
It's easier to use than a whetstone. And it's not messy.
Our strops are handmade in Yorkshire by Dan, the same craftsman who makes our chopping boards. Dan had some strips of end-grain, sustainably source American Black Walnut left over from making our chopping boards. We have upcycled these into a quite incredible product.
The leather is also from off-cuts - from making our knife blocks. Our friends Jack and Rory at Billy Tannery produce this top-quality leather in the UK from goatskins that are leftover from the food industry. These are otherwise burned or thrown away.
However, we are always chasing perfection.
We found a way to make our strop even better.
When Billy Tannery announced they were producing goods from vegetable-tanned Parkland deer, my ears pricked up. The UK deer population is at its largest now than at any time since the last Ice Age. Billy Tannery started working with Deerbox, an award-winning supplier of wild venison based in Wiltshire. Producing this venison was resulting in waste deerskins and Billy Tannery now have a complete range of beautiful products made from it.
Deer are larger than goats and their skin is thicker. The deerskin is softer and carries metal polish better. It also deforms more (is more spongey) than goat leather which controls the pressure between the knife and the surface better. It works better.
If we can find a way of improving our products, we will do it.
TOG X Billy Tannery Parkland Deerskin Strop available now.
We have numbered them starting #PD0001.
