Jumping into the deep end.

Well about 5 or 6 months ago I discovered that hacking at my face with my Quattro wasn't what shaving was all about.

I jumped into the DE deep end and ended up with a few razors, couple of brushes and some creams and soaps. Ever since I realized that straight shaving was an option I've always wanted to give it a try.

So now that I've got a little bit more of an income I'm going to jump in. At only 17 I'm loving the experience of a nice leisurely shave and look forward to it for the rest of my life.

Right now, the only thing that I'm certainly going to buy is a Tony Miller beginner strop. I've read great things about his strops and think it's the only way to go.

As for the blade, I've looked around at an antique store and have only found one that really caught my eye. It was a J.A Henckles "Emperor" razor. I have a few nice henckles knives in the kitchen, and I've read some great things about their blades so I might be picking it up but I'm not too terribly sure about it.

If there's anything that I need apart from the razor and the strop please tell me.
I look forward to many great shaves with a straight and I apologize for the lengthy post.

Welcome! Well, you already have the soap and brush, so all you NEED is the razor and strop.

Whatever razor you purchase should be "shave-ready" before you use it. If you haven't read the stickies in this forum, I would highly suggest doing that. Shave ready means that someone (probably a member here:)) took the razor to a whetstone for honing to make the sure the edge was sharp enough, stropped it, shave-tested it, and restropped it for you. If this hasn't been done, don't try shaving with it.

Yes, Henckels are great razors. If you purchase that one, you can ship it to one of our honemeisters for honing. Otherwise, feel free to watch the Buy/Sell/Trade section, as razors are selling there all the time...shave-ready and at a great price. (I've seen many Henckels go on there, too).

Good choice on the Tony Miller strop. Another good option would be to purchase one of his nicer Latigo strops that are still fairly priced, since I BELIEVE that you can buy a starter strop along with it for only $6 or something like that. Then, you'll have a practice strop and a NICE one as well.

Good luck, and keep us posted...

~Chris