Thread: Looking to purchase, but what?

Welcome, mm! Glad to have you aboard.

As far as strops, TM's starter strops are great for learning on, and should last you a long time. If you have the available cash, though, a $60 paddle-strop is a good deal, and I would suggest going for it. Later on, once you're comfortable with stropping, you can learn to paste a stop and maintain your edge much longer between honing.

The preference between TI and Dovo seems pretty personal from what I've seen. I've even seen some threads recently remarking on the lack of quality workmanship coming from the TI manufacturer. However, they are both fantastic shavers and should last you for a long time.

Again, new or vintage...it's really personal preference. If you want to look for a good vintage razor, I would suggest keeping your eye on the B/S/T section. There are always great shave-ready razors going anywhere from $35 on up.

Personally, I would wait on the hones unless you are dead set on learning from the get go. In this case, I would suggest buying a cheap razor to practice on. I always think it would be a good idea to have one of our honemeisters hone your first razor so that you have a benchmark for learning. Having a truly shave-ready razor is very important when starting out.

Hope this is helpful! Have fun!

~Chris

Thanks Chris. I definitely plan to have my first razor(s) honed by a pro I just want to make sure that I covered all of my bases regarding what to buy.

That's interesting about TI craftsmanship being down, this just makes the whole issue of what to get that much more complicated (in a good way I guess).

Best regards,
-mm

OK here is my take:

Approximate Prices:

TM paddle strop with 3 pastes $80 shipped
TI razor $120 Shipped

Total Cost $200

Better setup:

TM Paddle with 3 pastes $80
TM 2 1/2" Heirloom WITH practice strop $72 (shipping with above paddle)
BST Razor for $55 shipped

Total Cost $207

Here is the why. The best stropping usually comes from a hanging strop and I am all for good stropping since it is just as important as prep to a good shave. The paddle could be used to travel and refreshing but the everyday strop should be a hanging strop in my opinion though I know others will disagree. I can do 50 laps on that move much more effectively and quickly than on the paddle once I learned. But if you are moving to florida and won't get more money to play with in the future then get both. As for the razor, people get all caught up in Dubl Duck, and W&B, and Boker, and the dozen or so other "brands" that are in favor right now but the truth is that most of them did the job very well. My favorite is one that most others would not recognize (and no i won't tell you what it is) because I happened to luck into it. There are tons of razors that show up on BST honed for $55 or so that are worth it and if you can't find one I will do one for you once I get caught up. They will do just as well if not better than all but the best TI's

Topher (Chris),

That seems like pretty solid advice, let me know if you have anything available and in the mean time I'll have my eye on the B/S/T.

Anyone have anything good to say about these? The price seems right and I have heard good things about them. Plus I like the metal scales, they look really sharp (no pun intended). If you guys think this is good I'll pull the trigger on this today.

Thanks!

-mm

If you do a search on the forum you will find quite a few positive comments on this razor. I think generally it is considered good value for money.

Yes, those are great razors for starting out and they receive good reviews from SRP members. A member here, Mike Ratliff, actually hones those and sells them for $40.

Again, comes down to personal preference!

Is he at thewellhonedrazor.com? If so and if he has more than one what do you think about 2 of them (2 at $40=$80) plus the the two strops you mentioned earlier (the heirloom and starter = $72) for a grand total of $152 plus S&H which still leaves me with some play money plus two razors to alternate between?

If this sounds good, I'll order the razor(s) today and the strops on Friday and be up and running in a week or so.

Thanks (again).
-mm

After a little research I have read of poor balance in the Wapi's, is this something I should avoid when starting out? I have no (realistic) interest of rescaling them at this time.

Thanks,
-mm