Thread: Mom buying son gift needs help

that's great, you just can't go wrong with tony

Welcome!

I'm getting into this thread a little late, so I'm not sure if you are still thinking of the #827 strop, but let me say first that it is a rough strop. Meaning that it uses the back of the leather as a strop surface. I used that same model as my first strop, and ended up returning it and getting the #127 which is the flat version. I found that the rough surface on the strop wasn't very good for learning proper stropping.

The smooth leather #127 was much better for me, left a finer edge, and was easier to learn on. On the #827 (rough strop) I couldn't really tell which parts of the blade were in contact, compared to the smooth leather strop where I could feel the drag on the razor; and got better feedback on whether I was lifting the spine or not keeping the edge in contact.

Hope this helps!

-Dave

Thanks for the welcome, hello Surrey. This info is actually what I wanted to hear, I'm glad I was lucky to get both the razor and strop from Tony so didn't pull the trigger on the 827. Thanks for the heads up though I appreciate the info.

You are off to get some soaps?

Did I mention Shaving, Bath and Body, Skincare, Home Fragrance, Brushes, Creams, Soaps ?

Colleen rocks my socks. (she runs TGQ) I am sure many others will agree.

If you are still looking for a brush and curious about Rooney Supers - they are really great. I have had a couple, always very happy. For your information, there seems to be a trend in the shaving communities toward more expensive badger - Rooney Finest, Plisson High Mountain White... I have both of these and use them all the time, but the Super is not *bad* or anything. If I had to have just one brush and it had to be a Rooney Super - I would not be complaining at all

Cheers
Ivo

Originally Posted by Eights88

So recently my 20 year old son requested a straight razor for Christmas which is great,

Hi Eights88, I would like to nominate you for the noble prize for great mothers!!

I wont be of any help for choosing the stuff you need.. I justed started shaving with a straight almost a month ago.. so I just know the basics by now..

Good luck,

Maarten

I just thought I'd toss my two cents in. I'm not sure how much research your son has done on his own, but you might also want to link him to this forum if he hasn't found it already. A huge part of what you're going to think about how well a straight razor is going to work lies in how well informed you were. I know when I first started, before finding this site everything I read made it sound like it was easy peasy with no real learning curve at all.

It's really important that you know how to strop a razor to get decent performance out of it.

Also, this may just be my own personal experience and those of my friends who took it up, but the first couple shaves seem to leave your face feeling like old, dry leather, or in some cases, old dry leather that happens to be on fire. :P

At least be sure to let him know not to get discouraged if he has some trouble at first, I think most of us did. It took me until about shave five to actually get a fairly close, comfortable shave. Also, let him know that while he has to respect just how damn sharp the blade will be, don't panic. In my experience a razor doesn't really want to cut you. He'll likely get a few little gashes, but they'll stop bleeding with some cold water or at worst a styptic pencil (which hurts worse than the cut, usually. :P) and heals up awfully quick. Just take your time, be careful and you'll be fine.

Oh, and one last piece of advice. If it takes him a really long time to shave, tell him to rinse off the soap and put on fresh, moist soap. If the soap starts to dry on you, it feels like the razor is pulling like crazy.


P.S. Best mother ever.

Some great info here, thanks very much for all of your input. I most certainly will direct him to this site. From what I have read I'm expecting him to initially have some learning curves along with small cuts and gashes. If there is any major cuts I'll just have to patch him up I'm a Nurse.

Originally Posted by Eights88

Some great info here, thanks very much for all of your input. I most certainly will direct him to this site. From what I have read I'm expecting him to initially have some learning curves along with small cuts and gashes. If there is any major cuts I'll just have to patch him up I'm a Nurse.

styptic and alum for the small stuff... superglue for the big ones! ...but hey, i'm not a doctor!

Hey, this is the son here.
It came a little late in the mail, due to the snow, but it was well worth it.
Hands down, best damn gift ever.
Thanks for helping my mom out you guys, she spoke very highly of this place so I registered.
I want to get started on my first shave with it right away, but I've got some learning to do first.