Straight razor and strop as a gift... Have no idea what I'm doing, any advice?

Hey, how goes it?
So, please bear with me while I explain where I'm at...
Its mine and my husbands 3 year anniversary coming and being the traditionalist that I am, I want to get something leather and a strop seemed like a superb idea at the time! However, having dipped a toe in the world of straight razors, I'm a little overwhelmed! I now know a little too much and nowhere near enough - can anyone out there please guide me in the right direction?!
So basically, I know my other half would enjoy sharpening and honing (am I getting the lingo right? So sorry if not!) and would make the effort for a 'proper' shave if we were going out somewhere nice. I definitely think this would be his bag. But, I am at a loss as to where to start or what to buy. I don't know what my budget should be, but don't want to spend a fortune in case this could be a total dud gift (although I hope thats unlikely, I'm pretty confident). Criteria is that it def needs to be a straight and not a shavette as the whole point really needs to be the strop! Ha. But ebay seems like its a bit of a scam with probably shoddy blades, and I have no idea what I'd be buying second hand. I'd like to put a whole bunch of stuff together in a wash bag for him....
Anyhoo, it would be a completely altruistic and unselfish act to offer me some guidance, but I'd be forever grateful if one of you kind people could point me in the right direction?
Thank you!! :0)

Welcome to SRP. Happy 3rd Aniversary. For a strop, try going local, Vintage Straight Razor Sales & Restorations, Hand Made Strops, UK Razor Honing and Vintage Hone Stones. Neil is a member here and his strops are among the best out there. He might have a few razors lying around as well. Contact him and I am certain he can help you make a decision and make your husband's gift a superb one. Keep us posted.

Ah, thank you so much for your quick and helpful reply. Already learning from his website! I will drop him a mail and see where that gets me. Thanks again...

A 'Shave Ready' Straight Razor, a Strop and a Barber's Hone is the direction I'd go in your situation... With this Gear your Husband will be able to Shave, Maintain his edge and Touch-Up his edge... Honing Gear is really individualized/specific on top of expensive and you definitely would not want to front-load that type of Gear unless you were certain he would want to do that type of work. Sending your straight razor out to be Honed is probably the wisest approach initially... After that initial Gear and once you know he is into it then grabbing a second 'Shave Ready' Straight Razor would be the way to go so, when he sends one out to be Honed, he has the other on Deck.

Best of luck and hope he enjoys it... Sure sounds like a Homerun to me! :)

Shawn
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I don't know what your time frame is or how long it would take to ship to you but...

The shaving kits at Straight Razor Designs are very nice. They come shave ready. Lynn is awesome and all over the place if he needs any help. The strops they sell are very high quality and you will not have missed any needed item in your lucky husbands new hobby/preferred way to shave

There is a guy called damo in london who is or certainly was quite active here, whilst not a vendor ( as far as i know) maybe drop him a line and see if he can point you in the right direction for vendors and such.

The advice i have read so far seems pretty sound, you do need to decide if you want a vintage razor, or a new razor, personally i would go vintage, but new a brand like dovo, theirs issard, boker, ralph aust or from what i have seen my favourite, revisor are supposed to be fairly safe bets.
Depending on the vendor you might need to get the razor honed to shave ready so bear that in mind when checking out vendors. Shave ready means hand honed, not factory honed, i have to come clean and say i have never purchased a new razor, but this is the advice you will be given.

If the equipment you choose is at least entry level you will be able to resell it should your hubby not like the experience.

One thing worth noting here though, whatever strop you get your husband he is almost guaranteed to nick or cut it if he is new to the game. For that reason I would not buy him a really expensive strop to begin with..........maybe buy him a really nice one for the 5th anniversary :)

Invisible edge are UK based and sell starter kits. Their razors are also shipped shave ready.

Maybe try the classifieds here for anyone local. A site search might also come up with more information on local vendors. Good luck

I think a Strop and Razor are the only necessary items that you will need. I'd give the honing stones a miss as an anniversary gift with your hubby being a newbie. If you want to get some other items then a nice brush, bowl and soap or cream would be nice.

Best bet is a kit.

Someone already mentioned the invisible edge. I got my first razor from there and it was a great buy.

Because it's for an anniversary I would suggest you spend a little more on the razor, A razor for £50-100 will have plastic scales (handle). For a little more you can get real wood and some nice gold wash or something that looks fancy.

My personal pick would be the dovo bismarck.

Attachment 173005

It's £125 and will come ready to shave. It also is gift quality craftsmanship. IE also have it in stock.

you can find it about 1/2 way down this page.

Dovo Razors


Add a kit to the razor and you have a full gift. The traditional kit would be my pick. It only cost £8 more and for that you get a bowl and a full sized soap puck.

Attachment 173006

Shave kits & Accs.


Razor and kit should come in at about £200 and he is then set to shave.

Hones and anything else he needs can be picked up later or for Christmas presents.

I was also going to suggest Neil, and the idea of a second shave-ready razor is also a good one.

For learning to strop, newspaper is a great medium. Fold a half sheet four or so times, anchor one end of it in a bulldog paperclip, and strop away. If you nick it, no problem, and it's also not tough enough to damage the blade.

It's also good to practice the stropping motion with a butter knife before putting the strop and razor at collective risk.

Nice present, good luck with it all!