Thread: Newbie considering moving to Straight

Hi all !
Very nice place here. I've been around the forum (especially newbie's corner) since a while now, and I decided myself to register, and create my first thread !!

I was very impressed, such a good well-being sensation, when a classic barber shaved me in Italy (I live in France, and such barbers are way less common), once in my Family town, and once in Venice (what a dream ).

I want now to switch to Straight Shaving, for the potential, the unlimited capabilitiés, and this well-being, and sweetness of my skin

I'm considering buying a Thiers Issard 6/8. As I'm in Europe, I know ClassicShaving, website that is advised in the Biblical topic in this corner, sells overseas, with a rather low shipping costs.

What do you think of my choice ?
Are TI in ClassicShaving ready to shave (honed ?)

What Leather Strop do you advise me for beginning ?

I'm not shaving myself everyday, but sometimes once a week, sometimes 3 times a week, sometimes everyday. Does a Straight fit these constraints ?
Would that change the leather strop kind ?

Is there a difference to shave a one-week's beard, or a one-day's one, technically speaking, on a straight razor point of view ?

Anyway, thanks a lot to everyone !!!


By the way, very very nice website and forum !!!

Welcome,

TI razors are well regarded. Shaving on occasion or every day is perfect for a straight. A straight can shave a 4 day beard better than other razors in my opinion.

You'll need to send the TI through the sharpening service. I would order a strop through classicshaving that fits your budget, they are all pretty nice. Save on shipping and order everything you need from them.

Welcome aboard.

Since you're from France I guess the choice of TI is non-negotiable, right Can't go wrong with them, though. One thing to consider is that when importing your razor back to France you may have to pay customs & VAT. If you purchase from a european supplier that'll be already included in the price and the razor may get faster to you. I wouldn't be surprised if you can even find a TI locally to you.

But then the honing problem remains and if the razor doesn't come shave-ready you'll probably have to find somebody to hone it for you.

Ordering from CS has the advantage that it'll come shave-ready (make sure to add the honing to your purchase). In any case if I were you I'd wait for somebody from the european members to respond as well.

First, thanks !
Hmmm...concerning the VAT+customs tax, you're right !
But I'm struggling to find any website based in Europe. I guess I'll go and search locally for a Razor seller...but I'm afraid that it will be far much more expensive than CS + Shipping Costs + Tax (although no idea of the price ?...)

Thanks for your support

Bienvenue mon bon mec!
Either choice is going to be OK. You can go with ClassicShaving.com especially if the shipping isn't too bad. I would definitely recommend that you start with a well honed razor, so that you can be sure it is ready for your first try. TI razors are considered some of the finest - I am sure that you'll be happy with it. There are several Belgians that are active in the forum who can help you as well.
Bonne Chance!

http://www.en.nassrasur.com/ This is a link to a German board about straight razors that may be of some help. Don't forget to keep us informed at SRP how your quest is going.

just started a week ago, you definately want a honed razor. i found its good for every day, and it will remove a full beard easily, almost too easily as my beard line is shrinking. i started with a paddle strop which looks like it will be fine for quite awhile though i wil be picking up a hone and full sized strop down the road. i bought thru shavingshop.com

I'm in the UK and I've used Classicshaving several times for razors. Their shipments usually get intercepted by Customs and so usually I get charged VAT, damn them and their 100% honest declarations!

One thing I noticed though, if you opt for the Classicshaving sharpening service, the razors come via Lynn Abrams. Now I'm not sure if it's the handwritten labels that Lynn writes, or whether he's 'economical with the truth' on the customs declarations, but packages from him often come in 'under the radar'. So if you opted for the sharpening service, it's possible it'd be cheaper then just getting the razor alone from Classicshaving + import duty. If you see what I mean.

These guys also sell Thiers Issard razors and are based in Europe, however their razors are not hand honed so can't really be called shave ready. You could always buy a razor from them and get it sent to forums members LX_Emergency or Bruno who both live in Europe and do honing.

For strops, my personal recommendation would be one from Tony Miller, he has loads of fans on here.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

Hey thanks a lot for all your advices.

I'll buy my TI at ClassicShave.
If I ask prehoning service as well will it go through the expert hands of M.Lynn Abrams ? Or should I receive it, and send it back to him?..

I was considering as well buying this strop :

http://www.classicshaving.com/catalo...944/196039.htm
"DOVO Prima Rindleder Strop"

What do you think of this ? With a Thiers-Issard "Evide Sonnant Extra" Black, 6/8
Thanks a lot for your great help !

If you order the razor + sharpening from Classicshaving (you have to add the sharpening service as an extra item), the razor will go from them - to Lynn for honing - then from Lynn directly to you.

Classicshaving used to charge an extra "split order fee" (I think to cover 2 lots of postage) of about $4.50 for people who did this, but on the last couple of razors I bought they didn't charge me any extra, I'm not sure if they dropped that idea.

Best thing is to just place the order and if they want to charge you the extra they'll send you an email.

The razor you mention should be fine, though I've not personally tried one. I'm not sure how much your budget can stretch but if you can afford one of TI's 'Silver Steel' razors it'll be (probably) a much better razor. I've had 4 or 5 and they've all been superb.

The strop you mention is fine, sure. But IMO you'd be far better off buying a strop from Tony Miller. His strops are considerably better made than Dovo strops, and very comparable in price. His site doesn't list shipping to Europe on the checkout, so just send him an email or PM saying what you need and he'll send you a Paypal invoice.

HTH