Thread: New Buyer

Hello all! Glad to be part of this forum. You guys seem really helpful.

My question is what is a good set to get for a beginner? My budget is about $200-300. I don't the cheapest thing, but I'm no expert so I can't blow a lot of money.

Welcome to the forum.

Basics would be a razor, brush, shave cream/soap and a strop. These will get you shaving and keep you shaving for a few months after which point you are likely to need your razor honed.

If you read the posts on this forum you will see most people tend to own several different razors. It's not that any of them are no good, but more a case of wanting more toys. I personally believe that if you buy cheap you buy twice and would therefore invest in a good strop, a good badger hair shaving brush and shaving cream. I would look at getting a modest to medium razor to get you started as you are likely to buy a more expensive razor/razors in the future once the bug bites.

Razor wise, I would suggest something honed by one of the guys on here so you start with a sharp blade and have the best chance of getting decent shaves fairly quickly. Don't be disappointed if the first few shaves don't go well, they will get better quite quickly.

Good luck and stick at it.

Thanks for the quick reply. I guess what I'm looking for is suggestions on which blade, strop, etc. I don't know what ones a really modest-to medium and such.

I am a fairly new to straights and bought a Wapienica razor which are polish/communist razors made in the 1970s but have never been used. If you have a search on the forums you will see they are generally well thought of. I'm in the UK, so not sure who sells them in the US. There is a brand called Double Arrow which are supposed to be quite good. There is a forum member called Kenrup (I think) who sells them as part of his newbie starter kits. Someone will be along shortly who can give you more info on this.

Strop wise I went for a Dovo, but have just ordered a Tony Miller strop. Do a search on the forums and you will read only positive reviews about him and his strops.

A good starting point for you would be http://straightrazorpalace.com/newbi...ght-razor.html which has plenty of links to suppliers etc..

Welcome to the SRP!

Tony Millers strops are well thought of here The Well Shaved Gentleman, Heirloom Razor Strop Company, Straight Razor Shaving Supplier
as are the Dovo strops at
Coming Soon...
and the Old Dog strops from
Genuine Honing Leather from HandAmerican

There are others as well, just do not buy anything new off Ebay.

For a first razor look at the Buy/Sell/Trade forum and make sure the razor has been honed and shave tested.

Others will chime in with more info...I hope!