Question on first big purchase

At some point I plan on upgrading from my shavette and pulling the trigger on purchasing a quality razor along with all the related gear that goes along with it. I was wondering do vendors of these products have any sort of seasonal sales around the holidays etc that I should wait for if I'm pinching pennies? I just have don't have the benefit of time on my side knowing what is and isn't common amongst razor specific type stores, specifically of the online variety.

Thanks in advance for your feedback :)

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.

Definitely recommend the vintage route. I have a nice Wester Bros. 5/8 that I honed and test shaved recently. Pm me for details.

+1 to the keep it simple, look here at the Classifieds second when you are getting started.
The Vendors that support the site are also great - so there is something of quality in every price point.
When you start out it is important to work with a great edge, it just makes the process that much easier.
And there are members who sell beginner razors that also offer multiple re-hones for the price of postage...that comes in handy.

Good luck, smooth shaving and resist the urge to plunge in to the on line auction site whirlpool for a while. (do as I say, not as I did and paid for..)

RazorCut,

+1 on the posts about vintage razors.

For a new buy, you cannot go wrong with one of the least expensive straights, the Dovo Best. (this is ca. 100 USD at StraightRazorDesigns).

This razor shaves well above it's price point. I still use mine in my rotation :)

Have fun :)

Best regards

Russ

In retrospect I probably should have gone cheaper initially. First strop got cut, second razor got broken... definitely can be an expensive learning curve if you start at the top.

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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.

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+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.....