Thread: Been almost a year and a half

Well I've been straight razor shaving for almost a year and a half. It's been kind of a roller coaster of learning (ongoing of course).
I started off with a new dovo from straight razor designs along with a strop, mug and brush (it was a kit).
It didn't take me long to go wayyyyy overboard and aquire stones hones a couple different strops another brush and soaps galore.I also picked up plenty of eBay razors and even bought another new razor.
ok what I've learned. I think sticking with one razor to learn is probably not a bad idea in retrospect. I have a couple of bigger blades and curved ones to this day I just can't get the right angle with and while they seem sharp.. when they hit my face they sure don't seem like it and generally I end up switching mid shave to my more trusted razors. The ones that seem to work for me are the 4/8 and 5/8 when the 6/8 and up are some of my cooler razors they just don't give me the easy effortless shaves.as far as grinds the hollow grinds seem the easiest to shave with and maintain for me.
Strops. Go inexpensive at first or be prepared for heartache. I've learned to repair mine so they are servicable. This is the art that is going to make your shave the best outside of shave techniques. I do have green crox on a couple and frankly that stuff rocks.
Hones. I have a set and a couple finishers. I don't use them much mainly because I have two small rugrats running around and zenlike work is a myth at this point and time. I know I am happy with what I have and when I get back into honing in the future I will be pretty well set up to got from dead dull to shaving sharp.
Soaps I think I found my sweet spots with soaps. And that is buying the small sample sizes. They give me about 5 shaves per container (or more) and allow me to sample a wider variety of the various makers. I don't order a bigger container of anything (although I have a few) just because I really enjoy the freedom of choices.
Brushes. I have three. A Simpson that came in my kit. A small Simpson that is amazing for samples and a generic boar I picked up at Walmart when I forgot my bush when out of town. They pretty much cover my needs at this point.
Well I wish I could cover all the things I've learned but this post would turn into a book ! All I can say is enjoy the journey it's a fun one !

Thanks for the summary! I'm newer to this than you, but I have mostly settled on soaps, razors, and brushes. I definitely prefer 7/8 razors, but I haven't tried anything wider. Yet. Quarter hollow or thicker.

For brushes, badger works for me, and I have a nice Thater, so I'm set there. Tried a couple boars but wasn't into them. Not interested in synthetics.

I prefer cream to hard soap, but I have a nice selection that allows me to use different scents most days of the week. Haven't seen much else tempting enough to want to add everything, since I like to coordinate soap/cream with the balm and cologne or splash.

I didn't mention strops. I have one from SRD that was my first, and it's great. Made my mistakes without any damage worth mentioning, but I am going to start using it for my weekly refreshes, diamond on one side of the felt and crox on the other. I have a new strop in process from Westholme, cordovan and linen, and I suspect I will stop there.