Thread: Newby Kits

I just bought a set from Tony, and it was an overall great experience-- no negatives in the least.

I think that maintaining an availability of startups with vintage blades is a wonderful idea that can get a newbie into straights for a little less money, but it really is sort of a charity effort on the part of the participants. It's a lot more work to find the blades, dump the really bad ones, restore the OK ones, hone them up, and make them available at a low price. I would think it would be very much a labor of love, which doesn't really seem like it would be a good business decision for a commercial vendor. Much easier to buy dependable new razors wholesale, hone them, and sell them.

Yet again I am blown away by the dedication, and hard work some of you gentlemen do, to help out noobs, and keep this art alive and growing.
Great Idea on the starter kits, too bad it was not around two months ago, at least I had all your comments to help me through. Thanks.

If it's the business you may be concerned about, I would suggest trying to make sure the kits are of high quality and contain the full array of basic needs as well as one or two bells/whistles. However, make sure that you yourself either offer items complementary to those in the kits, or are of better quality for more advanced users. Also request that the kits come with information, either posted, emailed, or printed and included, about all the vendors participating in the kits. This information should include the basic who/what your business is and what it sells, as well as specific care & use instructions for your product, how to contact you with questions and orders, and possible upgrades once the buyer has decided that they like what they're doing now, and wish to continue with the hobby/art/addiction. Hopefully this will serve to encourage repeat business, and promote your other products.

I would like to extend a huge thanks to all the vendors who are making this happen, you are creating a much easier, and safer way to enter to the world you have created here. Much obliged!

I will be taking the time to put together as much information for the newby as i can and I will be including the papers they send with each item, information about each vendor, and some suggested upgrades for the future. I had thought of most of that but there are a few things I did not consider such as suggested upgrades and including more information that i will collate from the forum and my own thoughts.

Setting this up is going to talk alot of time and effort and has already taken a significant outlay on the part of myself and the vendors but I chose these people because they have long been around helping this place and the members here. When i called them they all enthusiastically agreed to help. And so it is my hope that people will see the desire of these vendors to give a newby a leg up with a good start and frequent them. So if this happens, which since SRP has the greatest group of guys (and girl(s)) I am sure it will, everything will work out for the best.

And now for the sticky question. What makes these different and are they better or worse than the kits at Vintage or Tony. Well they are neither better or worse. They are different. Both sites have kits that will get you started with various options. Neither offers a vintage razor though and none of them use the full range of the products from this group of vendors though they do offer some really nice stuff. Going with a kit from Vintage Blades will give you awesome stuff especially if you upgrade it and the kits from The Well Shaved Gentleman will give you all you need including a good sharp razor and some butt kicking strops. But here you can try all my favorite places at one time. So if you want a kit with a new blade or you just can't wait to snag one of my kits go get a kit from them. You won't regret it. If not then wait it out till I get this all ironed out and get one from me. You won't regret that either.

Oh and I do want to add in the interest of full disclosure that these kits are made from items that I have bought. So the vendors are generally making some money but they will lose sales of kits and have to do more work. They are also doing special things to get this done well like Tony putting SRP on the strops and Jim working to get a special brush made. Colleen is making special little 1/2 oz soaps so that you can try 2 scents for the price of 1 small soap and Mama Bear and I are talking about a special scent for the samples in the future. This is what I mean by they are going out of their way for you guys to make this special.

Hi there from a complete noob. I'm just coming around to the idea of using a straight but as work has taken me to the north of Scotland and so I am not exactly surronded by shops and options.
I don't think it would be possible to avoid Straight Razor Place as a noob and thank heavens for that, a lot of sites seem to offer conflicting advice and the FAQ and forums have really helped. I really like the idea of these start up sets and can only say thank you for everyone putting in so much effort.

Ross W

I take it Lynn's DVD won't be included in the kits? Would the literature that comes with the kits point to the DVD as another suggested addition to one's starting shaving arsenal?

I did send Chris sets of stropping instructions to go with my strops but Lynn's DVD is a must have for anyone and if not incorporated into the kit is something worth budgeting for in addition to the kit.

Tony

Huh. That never even crossed my mind. I never used the DVD but learned through blood and witchhazel so when I thought what would I like as a noob that didn't even come up. I will call Lynn tommorrow since it is getting late. It would be a big help to you guys.

Originally Posted by The Topher

OK so I let the cat out of the bag in the chat so I should post it here to be fair. Hopefully starting next week I will begin offering newby kits with the help of our favorite vendors.

This is quite a nice idea. I continue to be impressed by the generosity of the folks on this site. An extremely generous man is helping me with my first one. I hope to try shaving with a straight soon.

Don

I am interested also in the kits.. a deluxe would be nice also I supose Either way I am very interested!

Andrian