Thread: Help - first razor - several questions

I just recieved a straight razor for christmas. But they just bought me a hone of some sort, it wasn't marked.

What is a good strop, that is a good value?

They gave me a c-mon caddy knife is that a good quality razor (it is the one his barber recomended)?

If I've never really stropped a razor before how bad can I screw it up if I understand the general concept?

And how much does the well shaved gentlemen's strops usually run?

What are some of your favorite cremes and aftershaves?

Thanks for the help.

C-Mon is good! Bad stropping will reflect in the shave. Lay the blade flat on the strop with the spine leading, do not strop edge first. Move the razor up the strop, roll it over n the spine and drag it back, keeping the razor flat and using just enough pressure to keep it flat! You have to strop after every honing and before every shave! Check the SRP Vendors for strops, soaps, brushes, these 3 things are basic must have.

Brands? links? Personal preferences and why?

tony miller strops, non better, a good badger brush, and shave soap from mama bear are good,or prorasso cream italy's best selling for many years

I am a big fan of the red russian type strops due to their feedback when stropping, am fanatic about the soaps from the gentlemans quarter; bay rum, leatherneck etc, be sure to get a badger silvertip brush. You said you got ahone with the razor, what kind?

Wow, lots of questions in one post. Are you interested in good value for your strop or pure quality? In therms of quality, I think that most people agree that Tony's strops are the best. In terms of value, some people find the Illinois to be rated high. When I bought my strop, I was told not to buy the best strop because it is easy to dent it as you develop proper technique. A good strop should last for a long time. I think that was one of your questions.

You can dull the edge of your razor with bad stropping technique. There are videos in the wiki and a recent post (flipping the razor or something similar) that approach some of the details. I am sure that there are other sources of info as well.

In terms of soap, it is a matter of personal preference but there is a thread going in the soap forum (best soap anyone or similar) that addresses that part of your question. You already got a good recommendation (Proraso) and if you live near a Bath and Body Works, their C. O. Bigelow shaving cream is made by Proraso.

Same thing with aftershaves. A lot of people like the Clubman Pineud others, like me, prefer Bay Rum and some like more contemporary scents and formulations.

WARNING!!!! Before you use your hone, make sure that you know what you got.

Al raz.

Hi & Welcome, There is lot's of great videos on you tube about straight razor shaving, stropping & honing that will help you. The more you learn the better shaving experience you will have-!!
Good luck

Originally Posted by stdreb27

I just recieved a straight razor for christmas. But they just bought me a hone of some sort, it wasn't marked.

What is a good strop, that is a good value?

They gave me a c-mon caddy knife is that a good quality razor (it is the one his barber recomended)?

If I've never really stropped a razor before how bad can I screw it up if I understand the general concept?

And how much does the well shaved gentlemen's strops usually run?

What are some of your favorite cremes and aftershaves?

Thanks for the help.

Everyone will have their opinion on what they like, what's best, etc...You really should visit the WIKI here, There is a wealth of information there. Tony Miller makes some of the best strops on the market today. Visit his site, His prices reflect his quality. He closed for the Holidays right now. Don and Lynn at Straight razor designs have some nice Mastro Livi Strops too. Yes, you can screw up stropping. It takes practice. you can screw up the strop too, you can cut it. There are some good articles in the forums here about Tony Miller's strops. There's one where he explains the differences between strops.

Colleens soap/shave creams are very good and very reasonable, Shaving, Bath and Body, Skincare, Home Fragrance, Brushes, Creams, Soaps If I didn't have that much money, that's the creams I'd use. Some of my favorites are Castle Forbes, Tabac, Nancy Boy, Colleens, Vintage blades triple milled is great.

Asking about hones will open up a huge discussion. there's a lot of info on the wiki. I haven't even talked about pasted strops which will keep your razor good to go without touching a stone for some time. A norton 4k/8k combo is good all around hone and will serve you well.
If you really get in to str8 shaving, then you have your Coticules, Shaptons, Eschers, Japanese water stones, DMT's, etc....Read through the WIKI, You will learn a lot.

Originally Posted by zib

Asking about hones will open up a huge discussion. there's a lot of info on the wiki. I haven't even talked about pasted strops which will keep your razor good to go without touching a stone for some time. A norton 4k/8k combo is good all around hone and will serve you well.
If you really get in to str8 shaving, then you have your Coticules, Shaptons, Eschers, Japanese water stones, DMT's, etc....Read through the WIKI, You will learn a lot.

What do you use when preparing a new blade for a shave?