Thread: Newbie, in need of gear

Happy Birthday & welcome to SRP!

There's always plenty of shaving gear for sale in the classifieds.

That's your best bet. You'll be able to acquire everything you need at reasonable prices. When looking for a razor, you should be aiming for shave ready, so check with the seller. A bit of history behind them helps, but is not essential. Basically, the way i see it is an active long term member is more likely to know what is expected of shave ready than one who's been with us a month. This has a few exceptions, as we do get new members who have plenty of experience behind them!

Have a look in the classifieds & get an idea of what it'll cost you.
Ideally the razor will be 5/8-6/8 & shave ready. Round points are usually recommended to beginners, but any is fine if you're careful. A decent, but inexpensive strop (You absolutely WILL damage your first) & a brush & you're away.

Members Kenrup & Tony Miller spring to mind for a good quality, inexpensive starter strop.

Some members recommend practising stropping with a butter knife or blunt object, but to my mind this serves no purpose. The feel is entirely different & there's no indication of when you are making errors. You're better off with the real thing, & just taking it steady. Speed will come when technique is there.