Thread: Question on first big purchase

Not all of the store both online and brick and mortar sell their razors shave ready. Many will go with the factory edge being shave ready. It is not. You need to check to make sure that the retailer has "hand" honed the razor to shave ready, and performed some test shave with it. If you do not buy from a place like that you will have to send your razor out to get it honed before you can get a comfortable shave. Most of the time the retailers are struggling to keep up with demand so I haven't seen many razors on sale. Accessories come on sale for sure. You probably only need a strop to go with your razor as I suspect you have the rest of the gear. Personally I'd seriously think about buying from the classifieds. There are so many deals that go through there it's crazy. Make sure your first strop is either very inexpensive or has replaceable leather.

+1 to what ReZdog said. Keep your eyes open for members posting in the classifieds. I can almost gauruntee you can find a nice, shave ready blade for <$100. Quite often there are ones listed for less.

To start with don't go crazy and buy a brand new expensive razor. Glen (gssixgun) and whipped dog and many others sell good quality vintage razors that are decent prices and you know what you are getting. Then you can see what kind of blade you fancy.

Good luck with the pursuit. I have only shaved once with a lovely new (Dovo) razor. It was a real pip of a shave, too. And no, it was not delivered shave ready - I had to set a bevel and hone it first, this done for a neighbor new to straights. I think it cost him about $250 - no charge for my honing.

FWIW I get similar shaves from my 50-100 year old razors that cost a small fraction of $250.

There are great new razors and there are great vintage razors. The trick is starting with a shave-ready razor from a trusted SRP vendor.

Originally Posted by RezDog

Not all of the store both online and brick and mortar sell their razors shave ready. Many will go with the factory edge being shave ready. It is not. You need to check to make sure that the retailer has "hand" honed the razor to shave ready, and performed some test shave with it. If you do not buy from a place like that you will have to send your razor out to get it honed before you can get a comfortable shave. Most of the time the retailers are struggling to keep up with demand so I haven't seen many razors on sale. Accessories come on sale for sure. You probably only need a strop to go with your razor as I suspect you have the rest of the gear. Personally I'd seriously think about buying from the classifieds. There are so many deals that go through there it's crazy. Make sure your first strop is either very inexpensive or has replaceable leather.

+1 to RezDog

The Classifieds are a phenomenal place to find a razor from the everyday to the rare...all from a trusted source. I've purchased a few from the Classifieds and never been disappointed. As a matter of fact, I've found some otherwise hard to find vintage blades from the Classifieds. A day doesn't go by that I don't check it.....