Starting Off

[IrishShaver]

Hi guys,
Started to make my list of everything I'll need to begin straight shaving,

Dovo xl russian leather strop DOVO XL LEATHER STROP - Knightsshavingshop.com
Dovo Straight razor 5/8 full hollow ground cut throat razor


I have a brush and soaps from shaving with a safety razor and the Knights Shaving Shop is close to my workplace so proximity makes it first choice for me. They have a Honing stone "Dragon's tongue" Dragon's Tongue Honing Stone - Knightsshavingshop.com not sure if its any good.

If I've left out anything obvious or if you have some better equipment suggestions please reply.

Thanks guys

[hrfdez]

I'm in the same boat, just getting the essentials to get started on this new chapter. Wish you good luck and as a fellow beginner I'm also interested on recommendations.

[10Pups]

Separate your wants from your needs. First, it is a good idea to get the basics you will need. Shave ready razor, brush and soap, strop. The better quality you get and the slower you attack the learning curve the easier it will be. This will get you shaving.
After that if you wish to get into it more you will have learned a lot that will make your choices better. Honing for example is not that hard but if you don't start out knowing how to strop and what shave ready means then you have added more obstacles than necessary to your learning curve. Many just jump into everything at once and that is pretty much what I did but it worked for me. I did not skip any of the steps I mentioned but I did accelerate the process by learning what I could and making purchases before I needed too. Luckily I read the right stuff and picked it up without too much hassle. I still use all the primary purchases I made except for the original learning kit that cost me 40 bucks. 40 bucks in and of itself should have been a warning but I hadn't found SRP yet :<0)

[DoughBoy68]

When I first got into this sport/hobby 8 years ago I did everything backwards. I was disabled, unemployed and on a very tight budget. First razor I bought had busted scales so I had to learn to make scales first. Really couldn't afford to send the razor out for honing let along buy hones so I used what I had which were not for razors, had some very rough shaves. So, learning to shave and strop came last for me. Been a long hard learning curve, made a lot of mistakes, would not recommend anyone doing it like that but with the help of these fine gentlemen on SRP I made it.......Thank You All!

[criswilson10]

I'd hold off on getting the dragon's tongue. It's a good stone for sharpening (usually about 6k-8k), but you would do better with a finisher like a 12k or higher.

[eddy79]

Looks like they are saying that the razor comes shave ready from factory which is unlikely so honing will need to be added. Unsure I would trust honing by someone who considered factory shave ready usable so would look elsewhere for that. As said a synthetic high grit hone is a better buy from a learning point and will make upkeep easier.

[quicksilver]

+1 to what has been said about holding off on the dragon's tongue hone. I would use that money to pay for a professional honing after a few months of shaving so that you can understand what your razor is like at it's best. After that, if you still feel like you want to get into honing, i would more recommend one of the norton 4k/8k combo stones or if you really want the best go with the naniwa superstones.