Thread: What is your advice

I have used a double edge for the past year and have managed to get the technique perfect. I managed to shave in the dark, during an eletrical outage at home with my double edges, and it came out excellent no blood no nothing. I think that the straight is the next challenge for me. I do not like the price tag on the whole set of hardware all at once $132 from a local shop. I have noticed that classic shaving sells a shavette with a disposable blade for the beginner. for $40 I get a stright to experiment with while I am learning the craft.

What is your advice about the shavette from Dovo as a starter? Would it be a better idea to go with the whole startup hardware and forget about the shavette? Is it a good idea or a bad idea?

JB!!!!!!!!

Those two are different beastes. I would go with a Dovo to start off with. You dont have to get hones and what not till later....but.....its a good investment....A one time sticker shock that will last you a lifetime

Originally Posted by IsaacRN

JB!!!!!!!!

Those two are different beastes. I would go with a Dovo to start off with. You dont have to get hones and what not till later....but.....its a good investment....A one time sticker shock that will last you a lifetime

I'm assuming that above you mean Dovo straight as opposed to the Dovo shavette about which he asking? Don't mean to nitpick, just wanted to clarify.

JB, I agree that you should skip the shavette and start with a real straight. You can get a great shave-ready razor from B/S/T here for around $40 and a beginner strop from Tony Miller for about the same price. So, you'll have everything you need (for a while, anyway) for less than $100.

And, if you decide you don't like it, I suspect you wouldn't have any problem recovering the start-up cost right here in B/S/T. But I seriously doubt you won't like it.

Yeah....i meant the straight rather than the shavette.

What he said.

If you buy in the BSt forum, you should be able to get a shaveready straight for ~40$, and a strop for less than that, new, on www.thewellshavedgentleman.com
from Tony Miller.

And the resale value would be good, so if you change your mind, you won't lose much money.

I have a shave ready Genco Old Dutch that
I'd be willing to sell you for $40. That's pretty
much what I paid for the blade and mahogany
scales, plus shipping. It's finished to a mirror finish.
Let me know before I post it on B/S/T. I can send
pictures too.

John

A Dovo shavette is not a straight razor, it is a disposable blade holder in the shape of a straight razor. They are completely different from a real straight.

Thanks all for you helpful advice. I have chosen to do business with a local shop that I have done business with before, sort of a comfort level. I am going with a black Dovo as Isaac recommends I do. Going to leave the strop and hone for a while until I shave once or twice with the straight. Again thanks all for your help.

You might want to make sure that the razor you buy is actually "shave ready" before you use it. Factory shave ready and actually shave ready are two different levels of sharpness. You will be able to get around having a hone for a while, but you will need to strop the razor before each shave. Good luck with it.

I was in your position a few months ago. I was strapped for cash and didnt even know this forum existed, so I bought a shavette. I cut myself regularly in the first few weeks, but got much closer shaves than a cartridge. I learned how to handle a straight safely, and figured out that I would probably like to use a real one.
So I got a real one, and it shaves sooooo much smoother ( Not really closer, but with much less irritation). The shavette was good for figuring out if I could actually live with a real straight but I think the process would of involved less bloodshed and time if I had of opted for a straight from the beginning. I still cut myself occasionally with the shavette, but have yet to cut myslelf on my new straight.
I didn't know this forum was here when I started, so I didn't know there were nice peeps who would sell shave ready razors for cheap, so I was pretty much stuck with the shavette for cost reasons. But, now that you have found this place, I would take the offer above, and get a tony miller starter strop, (I don't have one, but that seems to be the prescription for noobs like us).

Good luck. Connor