Originally Posted by
Wayne1963
Scout, if straight shaving is your goal, I would suggest you skip the DE phase. You'll have a steep learning curve, BUT, you'll spend a lot less money. Take this advice from someone who took the DE then straight route. I must have spent hundreds of dollars on DE razors. Don't get me wrong, I still use and love my Edwin Jagger, Merkurs and Ikon. If I could go back in time, I would get two economical straights off the classifieds here, and use one till it needed to be sent out for honing, then use the other till it needed to be sent out.
If you still want to go DE first, I always recommend the Edwin Jagger DE89 razor. It is downright gentle, yet still effective. Get a "sampler" pack of different blades...all major vendors have "sampler" packs. Every wetshaver is different in the blades that they prefer. Get about a $20 boar brush from Semogue or Omega...save that expensive badger brush for later. If you're gonna use a bowl, don't shell out big bucks for anything fancy. I use a goblet shaped candy bowl from Wal-Mart...about 2 bucks it cost. Hope I've given you some good advice.