Am I obsessive or thinking in terms of the future?

So i received my first SR in the mail yesterday (Boker King Cutter). Being very excited about this new found hobby, i woke up and jumped in the shower excited because its my day off work so i know i can take my sweet time shaving. So i shaved and all and it didnt go to bad except for not being able to get a good shave (which i expected since im new to this). Well i start cleaning up and put everything away and i look at the razor and think "Ehh, a few laps on the strop wouldnt hurt." Well.... It did. I put a nice nick on the strop. Very close to the end near the D ring so i figured i could just avoid that area next time. I give it a few more laps and notice that im not that well on the return and i feel like i might dull the blade if I dont correct this issue.

So i jump online and "randomly" clicked on the classic edge site and find a C-MON and strop set for a pretty affordable price... Then i thought to myself... "If i dull the blade on the Boker, i'll have to send it in to get it honed and i dont want to go back to using a regular cartridge razor. And im going to need a new strop after im over this whole getting used to stropping ordeal." So my question is- Is 2 SR's better than 1 or am I being overly obsessive and should just keep practicing with this strop and razor?

Thoughts? Opinions? Gripes? Concerns?

1 is all you *need*. But having two is very useful so you will always have a backup when you send one out to be honed or for repair, etc.

As for the question of whether or not stropping your razor will dull it, it very well may. But for a lot of guys that's just part of the process of learning stropping technique, and it isn't at all unusual for newer straight shavers to have to send their razors in for honing more regularly.

So for what it's worth, my advice would be firstly to strop carefully and methodically until you build the muscle memory to speed things up. That is not a process that should be rushed - especially at first! And take a look through the Stroptober thread. There's plenty of useful info, videos, tips, etc there. And secondly, if it is a reasonable option for you, go ahead and get a second razor for the reasons I mention above. But if that's not an option, then don't worry about it.

Caragooner is probably right, but feel free to join the club of the Razor Acquisition Disorder.

Oh yeah...the RAD spiral is just around every corner...

Some lessons from my personal "issues", YMMV..

Pace yourself - keep it to a couple razors until you are comfortable shaving. Buy too many too fast and you may find yourself with a lot of razors that are not your first choice.
Case in point - I started with round points, my early experiments with spikes were bloody. Fast forward a few hundred shaves and now I much prefer a square point. Same goes for grind (Wedge to Full Hollow)

Good luck and smooth shaving...

2 is apparently as most would agree probably plenty for a rotation at worst 1 in use & 1 away honing (if not honing yourself etc) at any time
but the choice of more is great.:tu
Unlike MJC I started with a square points half hollow and still prefer it
but now i have a few more in the collection to choose from which cover most grinds & points with options in 4/8 to 8/8, full double hollow ground to wedges, square, round, French points as well as straight & smiling blades so far (not to mention a couple of frowns & waves in the workshop awaiting some attention)

so the choice on the day can suit my moods as some I feel more comfortable with & will shave quicker than others that are still a learning curve

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Originally Posted by 562s13

So i received my first SR in the mail yesterday (Boker King Cutter). Being very excited about this new found hobby, i woke up and jumped in the shower excited because its my day off work so i know i can take my sweet time shaving. So i shaved and all and it didnt go to bad except for not being able to get a good shave (which i expected since im new to this). Well i start cleaning up and put everything away and i look at the razor and think "Ehh, a few laps on the strop wouldnt hurt." Well.... It did. I put a nice nick on the strop. Very close to the end near the D ring so i figured i could just avoid that area next time. I give it a few more laps and notice that im not that well on the return and i feel like i might dull the blade if I dont correct this issue.

So i jump online and "randomly" clicked on the classic edge site and find a C-MON and strop set for a pretty affordable price... Then i thought to myself... "If i dull the blade on the Boker, i'll have to send it in to get it honed and i dont want to go back to using a regular cartridge razor. And im going to need a new strop after im over this whole getting used to stropping ordeal." So my question is- Is 2 SR's better than 1 or am I being overly obsessive and should just keep practicing with this strop and razor?

Thoughts? Opinions? Gripes? Concerns?

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Yes, 1 is all you need, but I find 30 helps, plus lots of different soaps, toss in a few strops, ohh ya...get stones you won't use, including a razor hone, don't forget pastes and last but not least, you will absolutely need a scuttle....:shrug:

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Originally Posted by RezDog

Caragooner is probably right, but feel free to join the club of the Razor Acquisition Disorder.

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Yeah, I'm afraid that advice was very much form the 'do as I say not as I do' category. :)

Most people can't stop at one or two. And stopping at 2 is significantly harder than stopping at 1.

If you go the route I'd also try to get a vintage c-mon in excellent condition instead of the dovo made current production. It's most likely possible at the same price point but the vintage is a whole other class of razor. Much less readily available, though, because, well, they just don't make them anymore :)

I highly recommend two razors for a beginner. Make sure your second razor is shave ready then you can compare one razor to the other and work out if one needs honing. Otherwise you may (will) dull the edge on your razor by poor stopping and as the change will be gradual you'll find it hard to remember what a shave ready razor felt like. I also recommend getting a hone early. I really don't think you can go too far wrong with a Shapton 16k for touch ups, and later on, a Norton 4/8...

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Originally Posted by 562s13

So i received my first SR in the mail yesterday (Boker King Cutter). Being very excited about this new found hobby, i woke up and jumped in the shower excited because its my day off work so i know i can take my sweet time shaving. So i shaved and all and it didnt go to bad except for not being able to get a good shave (which i expected since im new to this). Well i start cleaning up and put everything away and i look at the razor and think "Ehh, a few laps on the strop wouldnt hurt." Well.... It did. I put a nice nick on the strop. Very close to the end near the D ring so i figured i could just avoid that area next time. I give it a few more laps and notice that im not that well on the return and i feel like i might dull the blade if I dont correct this issue.

So i jump online and "randomly" clicked on the classic edge site and find a C-MON and strop set for a pretty affordable price... Then i thought to myself... "If i dull the blade on the Boker, i'll have to send it in to get it honed and i dont want to go back to using a regular cartridge razor. And im going to need a new strop after im over this whole getting used to stropping ordeal." So my question is- Is 2 SR's better than 1 or am I being overly obsessive and should just keep practicing with this strop and razor?

Thoughts? Opinions? Gripes? Concerns?

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The thoughts are that I had the same thoughts, emotions, and problems.you're experiencing when I started. Don't feel like you are alone. That's what this forum is for, to let you know that experienced shavers have been where you are. It's rare when someone doesn't go through uncertain times while learning. Just keep shaving, asking questions, and we'll get you through.it. I'll tell you there's nothing finer than mastering the art of straight razor shaving. Later on you will also enjoy cheering someone on who is just beginning.

There's very good reasons for having 2 SR's but like bunnies if you don't pay close attention all of a sudden you'll have 5 or 10.

I stayed at 2 razors for a handful of years, with the assistance of a DE that I picked up along the way. First I screwed them up with my own attempts at honing. Then I had Lynn straighten them out and I re-learned honing working "backward" from learning to properly strop, then learning to properly refresh an edge on the Norton 8k, and only then learning to shape up an already-good bevel on the 4k. It always helped that, if I screwed up one razor, I had a second to shave with while I worked through my problem.

More recently, I found good, sound reasons to double my inventory. :)

i have nothing sensible to add here... i suffer from MAD so yeah its ALWAYS better to have more :) i just placed bids on the bay on 4 different razors which, if i win them, i have to explain to SWMBO, but hey that'll work its self out.

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Originally Posted by Cangooner

1 is all you *need*.

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In a perfect world, yes. I would have to very respectfully disagree though. Where I live, in Noobville, a suburb of Realville(quoting my favorite talk show host), I almost immediately came across the need for a second razor. The razor I had purchased wasn't shave ready, in fact, Lynn responded to me something like "that must have been a rough shaver". I was blessed with shave-ready donor in the meantime. Then I started to succumb to disorders directly associated with out sport. Put a fork in me. Done.

Now, I reserve my pro honed razor as a holy grail for measuring my other razors against.

Now, I had a few problems getting the show off the ground and had I not experienced the charity of a benevolent SRP member(there are many here ;), my learning experience would have been retarded. Also, there are so many ways of damaging the razor's edge when beginning.

Doing it over again, I would have ordered two sight unseen razors from WD. Of course, I still would have gone 'tique slumming ;)

Just my experience.

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Originally Posted by Phrank

Yes, 1 is all you need, but I find 30 helps, plus lots of different soaps, toss in a few strops, ohh ya...get stones you won't use, including a razor hone, don't forget pastes and last but not least, you will absolutely need a scuttle....:shrug:

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And there you have it...Phrank telling the brutal truth...
I was hoping we would be like Jack Nicholson in As good as it gets..."Don't be like me"
But then again, we do enjoy it or we would not be here enabling each other...

Smooth Shaving brothers...

I have a dozen - in case I need to send 11 of them out, somewhere, for something. It's ridiculous. I don't talk about it much.

I really should consider sending a few to an alternate location in case of disaster...:hmmm:

Well now fellas.. i know what i have to do. Take the plunge and explain to the wife why two is better than one in this situation. I knew i wasn't obsessed and just thinking logically. :D

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Originally Posted by 562s13

Well now fellas.. i know what i have to do. Take the plunge and explain to the wife why two is better than one in this situation. I knew i wasn't obsessed and just thinking logically. :D

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Welcome to the club, the shrink isn't in right now but he'll keep in touch with you :)

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Originally Posted by Lumberjohn

Welcome to the club, the shrink isn't in right now but he'll keep in touch with you :)

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I feel like if i speak to a shrink about this issue I am oh so logically thinking about, i would end up asking if i could practice shaving his face because i just shaved a few hours ago.

Nonetheless, being "deployed" puts a lot of time on my hands and I get really antsy and wonder when the heck my package will arrive. I checked the mail twice a day when i ordered my Boker. If order another, they will hate me.

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Originally Posted by Siguy

I really should consider sending a few to an alternate location in case of disaster...:hmmm:

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Holy Gazonga, what am I doing without an off-site back-up?!

(Walks, whistling, to the Classifieds.)