Thread: The high price of buying a straight razor kit ????

You'll only really need a good quality shave ready razor and strop to start with. 100 USD will do for that. Decent barber hones can be had for 30 USD if you want to hone your own.
Any supermarket brush and any shaving soap or cream will get the job done. For many years I have used Palmolive shaving cream and an Omega boar brush. I never used a bowl or scuttle. Just a sink with a plug.
Any after shave cream or balm will do as well.
I started off with a 5/8 Heljestrand (easy to hone) and loom type strop. And an Arkansas surgical. I wouldn't recommend an Arkansas as they are slow.
Everything more expensive than can be classified as luxury, not necessity.

I agree with your comments Utopian
A full hollow May last just as long as a heavy grind

The barber hones work but the lap count I found when using them especially on my early straights mostly heavy grings (not full hollows), is what loses the appeal for them, let alone to try doing repairs with them.

I say Don't look at the hones because it can be another whole potential money bucket if you are after cheap
But I also too do like flat bevels on all my str8s

By frowning bevel I just mean a frowning edge from the pasted strops worn wear

To clarify
The purpose of the original post was not a budget setter because there is a multitude of lower cost options to suit any budget,
but it was more just to highlight that even if you go to the higher end of a kit, it is still a cheaper more thrifty option and you are going to be way ahead in the long run if you stick with it, compared with the disposable options.

My only issue with the OP's position is that in my observation most beginners really need to experience different grinds to determine their preference (size and weight are other considerations as well). I feel the same way about brushes; a new user should have an opportunity expose themselves to badger, boar and synthetic to determine if a preference exists. One kit for life, no matter the cost, is to me selling wet shaving short. I understand wanting to caution against RAD, SAD, etc., but that's like telling a child he can only have one M&M. Most children will disobey just as every newbie I've worked with very quickly develops the "disease" and fully submerses themselves in the "hobby". My best advise is moderation in all things including wet shaving. Unfortunately I can't seem to follow my own advise.

Learned this the hard way. I got a clearance special on a shaving kit from Colonel Conk. The soap was mediocre. The brush is constantly shedding and last light dropped a huge chunk of hair. But hey, at least I still have the brush stand (which I had to modify in order for it to hold the brush).

Originally Posted by doc47

My only issue with the OP's position is that in my observation most beginners really need to experience different grinds to determine their preference (size and weight are other considerations as well). I feel the same way about brushes; a new user should have an opportunity expose themselves to badger, boar and synthetic to determine if a preference exists.

I disagree. When starting wet shaving, the less variables the better. I'm taking about a high quality (not necessarily expensive) set-up, of course.

Get one quality razor (or maybe two, but only in case you completely mess up your edge on the first one).

After six years of this, I still don't notice all that much difference between grinds (apart for near wedges), I doubt a beginner would notice at all or could ascribe certain results to the grind in question; I know I couldn't.

A strop with interchangeable hardware is ideal, otherwise a decent starter strop is the way to go.

The same for soaps/creams; one high quality product to get started (Castle Forbes springs to mind), rather than an array of mediocre (or worse, outright bad) products until you consistently get good shaves.

Then, by all means try out different kind of stuff, but having a good benchmark will likely prevent a lot of frustration. And it also prevents you from a load of stuff you don't need/like. Also in case you feel the whole wetshaving thing is not for you.

tl;dr: Get quality stuff (one of each), and stick with it until you're good at it.

Best regards,

Pieter

I like the concept of the OP's lifetime budget. Sadly, RAD, SCAD (soaps and creams) and HAD kicked in for me, and I've probably blown that budget just this year.

It reminds me of fly-tiers who plan to "save money" tying flies. You can spend hundreds, even thousands getting outfitted for that, but it's all fun. You can't take it with you!

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

I like the concept of the OP's lifetime budget. Sadly, RAD, SCAD (soaps and creams) and HAD kicked in for me, and I've probably blown that budget just this year.

It reminds me of fly-tiers who plan to "save money" tying flies. You can spend hundreds, even thousands getting outfitted for that, but it's all fun. You can't take it with you!

Well, fortunately I didn't get into straight razors to save money. I did it so I could get a comfortable shave and not have to deal with anymore razor burn and ingrown hair. That alone has been worth every penny I've spent on straights, which at the end of the day even with all the stones and straight razor related paraphernalia I've gathered over the past few years, is probably still less than I'd have spent on Gillette and their multiblade cartridge junk.