Student Budget

Hi everyone, I'm just starting to look in to what it would take to set myself up with a straight razor kit, but I'm on a tight budget. Considering that it would cost me $50 to get a safety razor kit at CostCo, I'm willing to go double that on a kit.

I've noticed this blade in the classifieds...
Casco by Field Cut. Co. Germany – 11/16”, celluloid scales - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

and these on Amazon...
Amazon.com: Fromm Straight Razor #72r * 5/8" Round Point: Health & Personal Care
Amazon.com: Fromm Straight Razor, 5/8": Health & Personal Care

I've noticed Fromm is not in the list of Brands to Avoid, but then again I don't know much about any brands at all.

Asides from the blade I haven't done much research yet. I think that in a severely limited budget I should be trying to get the best blade for my money and then be worrying about the other items in the kit, no?

Thanks anyone for responding and I hope I can try a straight blade soon enough!

When it comes to new straight razors, you get what you pay for.

I think a $55 straight is not a good investment. Your money would be FAR better spent with a straight from the classifieds.

In addition, if you buy that $55 razor from amazon, it will most certainly not be sharp enough to shave with. So, you'll have to buy a set of hones and learn how to use them ($115 at the absolute cheapest) or sent it out to be honed which runs around $20 plus shipping both ways.

A "shave ready" razor from the classifieds is just that. Shave ready.

Out of curiosity, what are you going to school for?

Culinary Arts, which is another reason I want to use a straight razor. The more I get to handle a sharp blade, the merrier.

The classified ad I linked to seems like a better deal to me, but since it's not a round edge, I'm a little wary of going for it as I've never handled a blade before.

Also, as far as getting a good razor first and adding the rest of the kit later, that really doesn't work so well.

At the absolute minimum, you need the following

shave ready razor
strop
brush
soap or creme.

You can go to wal*mart and pick up a VHD shaving soap kit with a bar of shave soap, a boar bristle shave brush, and a nice little bowl for $10. It's not great stuff, but perfectly adequate.

The razor you linked from the classifieds is $45 and looks like it's ready to shave.

gratewhitehuntr has a strop for sale here: NOS 24x2 1/2 two part strop - Straight Razor Place Classifieds

It's a combination linen/leather strop, and he's already pasted the back side of the strop for you.


All together, you'll looking at a total of $95, which is $5 less than your stated budget.

Later, you can buy a nicer brush, better soaps and cremes, and all sorts of other goodies, but right there, you're rockin' and rollin' within your budget.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mrvagabond

The classified ad I linked to seems like a better deal to me, but since it's not a round edge, I'm a little wary of going for it as I've never handled a blade before.

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Don't worry about it.

My first razor was a square point, and it really wasn't a big problem.

You'll nick yourself with the point a couple times, but no big deal. Frankly, I think it's probably a good thing. It forces you to pay more attention to what you're doing.

Also, the point on that one is slightly rounded from honing. Some razors come to a 90 degree angle, or even a slightly acute angle. Those are the one's you want to avoid when learning.

Well it looks like VeeDub beat me to it. But now you have an idea which way to go. Keep browsing around the site there's lots of stuff to learn; and don't be afraid to ask questions, people here are more than happy to help you out. I've been a member for a month and just recently decided what to get. That could be another way to add a little on to that budget too (just a thought).

I'm going to get crucified for this advice so ignore it....

DIY Strop? While saving for a nice one? I have been stropping on an old crinkle free belt that I lapped with a diamond hone for a while but now moved to some unpasted balsa wood I keep in the bathroom....


Although I'm not sure I'm keeping my razors at their peak for the longest amount of time but I have hones about for touch ups every so often...

(and actually that suggested strop looks pretty nice and like a good deal) though again the DIY folks with more time skills and tools can allow for other creativity... few users on here who have made their own leather strops and then we have folks like *cough* Tony.... heh

I would say +1 to VeeDubs advice. especially if your budget is $100. Can't go wrong, and that is a beautiful blade. I was shaving for 2 or 3 months on about $35 worth of equipment- ebay blade that a member sharpened for me, touch ups on newspaper (I personally think it is like low grade paste), strop on my levis, later a ****ty illinois strop that I'm gonna replace within a couple months, with the VDH shave set. HOWEVER. If you can afford the $95 I promise you it will be far more worthwhile and that is a great newb set up in my opinion. Also Kenrup is an awesome dude if you schoose to go that way, but Double Arrows are boring and Not-German (very important in my books- I love the Solingens)

The best advice I can give you is to read. Advice about SRS is only useful to a point, that is, there are as many choices as there are opinions. The more you read, and there is more information on this site that you could ever need, the more informed your choices will be. You might regret some purchases, you might 'upgrade' a couple in a few monts time - but that matters little, as long as you make informed choices rather than just bad ones.

Personally, I would go with a razor from the classifieds, if I was in the states I would get a Filly strop (I'm in the UK so bought a vintage ebay effort that I wouldn't trade for anything) I would get a cheap brush and a batch of 'sample' soaps.

Say the razor costs you $40, the strop $20 - gives you plenty of change to mess about with the stuff you can *in my experience* go with the cheaper end of the market.

Incidently, I'm a student and I got everything I needed; razor, strop, brush, 3 creams, a soap, nivea aftershave balm, preshave oil (not strictly nessercery, but handy for starting out/not the warmest water), and a bowl for about $70. It's more than possible.

Just for clarification I don't think this was obvious but the "philly" strop is Kenrup's entry strop. He is an awesome dude.

I am also new to straight razor shaving i bought a dovo best quality a true solingen blade from www.vintagebladesllc.com setup along with a strop which ran around 120 then went to walmart and got the cheap setup mentioned above for around 8 bucks so i know its 30 dollars more than you wanted but you can be sure it will be shave ready lynn abrahms personally hones all the razors he is the founder of this forum anyways any problems you may run into in the future he is very helpfull.

Honestly, the cheap Dovo's are good and all, but they're boring and I think you'd like a nice vintage blade with character... like the one you picked. If you wanted a decorated Dovo (at roughly the same pimped level) it would cost over $100 for the razor alone.

Your going to have to take my opinion with a grain of salt because I'm the seller of the razor you linked.

You have been given great choices so far, no bad advice at all. If I were starting out again, I would not hesitate to buy from any of the vendors listed. HOWEVER, after toying with Fnord's DAs, I must regret that I must warn you to stay away from those razors. They are $10 for a reason.

The reasons include: poor grind, weird spine shape, slight smile with a straight spine, difficult to hone, really really really really really cheap scales. Unless all your going to do is send the razor out for honing and use pastes to upkeep it, the DA is not for a beginner. The thing is not easy to learn to hone on, and while it does take a good edge, it requires some advanced techniques to get around the slight smile, the poorly ground spine and the poorly ground shoulder. In sum, buy something else.

That said, I'm not sure if Ken regrinds the DA or just fixes up all the glaring problems, but personally, the problems are too many to bother with unless they are all fixed. But at that point the razor is going to cost over $100; and TBH, I am not entirely sure the steel is worth the investment. Can't comment as I will not have a DA for long enough to do some serious longevity tests. But thats my warning, take it with some salt.


As for the Casco, its a good little razor. Spike points can always be tamed, I've started taking off the very tip because when I stropped on my 3" spikes would spike it, and thats annoying.

Either case, the spike and round will still hurt if your careless. The spike just requires a little more care; which may be a good thing because its when you get ****y that the razor bites.