Thread: Absolute minimum kit to start

I'm glad I found your thread.I read in the wiki that Cyril R Salter razors were to be avoided but if yours has proved to be a good shaver then it apears that the wiki is in error.How did it shave?

I'm going to go out on a limb and suppose that it did not prove to be a good shaver since there was no followup after the last "it isn't shave ready" post from over a year ago

I'm with wildtim on this one.

Thanks for the reply. I know it was ages ago but I thought I'd try.It's still a bit confusing though since Salter appears to be a reputable company.

Originally Posted by charlie762

It's still a bit confusing though since Salter appears to be a reputable company.

That's why we need to have it in the wiki, to help warn others

Check out the salter razor reviews here in the forum.

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

That's why we need to have it in the wiki, to help warn others

It's been there for a very long time: Brands of Straight Razors to avoid - Straight Razor Place Wiki.

Originally Posted by charlie762

Thanks for the reply. I know it was ages ago but I thought I'd try.It's still a bit confusing though since Salter appears to be a reputable company.

We do have a data point that suggest at least one of these razors was at least very hard to sharpen, and may be even impossible. That's why I added the link to the relevant thread right there.

And this thread doesn't suggest otherwise - the stones they recommend for honing these razors are terrible.

In my opinion the company may sell decent shaving cream, but as far as straight razors go, they are dangerously incompetent on the subject.

Bare minimum: you can touch up with 40 or 50 laps on fresh (as in two or less day old) newspaper (the old stuff gets brittle and icky). You can strop on jeans if your strop sucks, then do a few laps on the part of your palm where the thumb muscle is to add a bit of smoothness to the jean strop. I'm assuming you had a brush and soap, but the VDH set is a charm.

If the razor is truly shave ready then all you need to hold you over until you get the other fun stuff is:

#1 razor
#2 strop (pasted or not, keep it simple with a standard hanging leather/cloth combo)
#3 good shaving cream or soap
#4 conditioning aftershave (you can just use Witch Hazel if nothing else, it can be had for pretty cheap)

If you look around and choose carefully you can get it all for pretty cheap.

I splurged a little and spent $50 for my razor, My strop was free(great grandpas) Tom's of Maine shave cream cost me $2.00 at an overstock store. I had some aftershave at home but I bought a bottle of Witch Hazel anyways for $3.00.

Grand total of $55. I got really lucky to have been handed my great grandpa's old Russian Leather strop but you can get a good strop from ruprazor for $20.

* A brush and bowl are really nice to have but you can get by without it. A brush and lather bowl will make things a whole lot easier and nicer though.

* A styptic pencil is nice to have but you can get by without on if you really had to or didn't want to buy one. They're so cheap you might as well have it since its better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have it.

I was a little late but I thought I'd try and post something anyways. Hope it helps at least a tad.

I like to go back to this thread from RayG. It's a great startup guide for new guys, as well as a guide for SR shaving cheap.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/newbi...irt-cheap.html