Thread: Cost vs. Quality

Originally Posted by cla

Well initially I was attracted to Straight Razor Shaving because I figured that it would save me money in the long run. Also, I think that there is a level of pride that comes with owning a razor and taking care of it instead of throwing them away left and right. And I do have to admit that it is pretty cool to know that I am shaving like they did back in the day. And I wouldn't mind picking it up as a hobby.

As for the price range I am looking at, well, I would prefer to get something for under $50. As many of you point out there is a learning curve and I would prefer to make as many mistakes as possible with a "starter" SR (making the mistakes less costly hopefully). Later on I may look for a higher end razor, but I don't ever see myself catching RAD.

I do appreciate everyone's comments. Thanks all.

It sounds like you are the perfect candidate for straight razor shaving! You're going to love it...

FWIW, unless you drop the razor and cause unrepairable damage (just as (un)likely when you are new as when you are experienced), or do something really stupid (I can't even think of what right now) you aren't going to ruin a "higher end" razor any more than a "starter" razor. The worst you can really do is nick the edge on the sink or just generally need the edge re-honed, and the quality of the razor won't matter much to the honemeister who is honing it (within reason). Now, if you are going to try to hone this razor yourself at some point, then yeah, you'd want something cheap to practice on.

Where you really should be careful how "good" of an item you get at this point, because you're new, is with your strop. You don't want to get a great, expensive strop right off the bat, because you WILL nick that and ruin it's aesthetics. And if it's a really nice strop, nicking it hurts worse than nicking your face, lol.

You'll nick your face too, but that won't hurt the razor

I'm not saying which razor to get or how much to spend, I'm just mentioning that you shouldn't be worried about damaging a razor just because you're new. Unless you are particularly clumsy

Around $50 should be very reasonable to get a nice starter razor. Put up a WTB in the classifieds if you're in a hurry, otherwise, keep those classifieds hawked

Oh yeah, "I don't ever see myself catching RAD" ... famous last words. But we'll see

Good luck!