Thread: What to buy and some simple questions

Originally Posted by shooter1

Since you are only interested in maintaining your razor that will be purchased shave ready, I would get the hard balsa strop with chromium oxide here: Hard Balsa Strop with Chromium Oxide It will come with great instructions that, if followed, will keep you shaving for some time before needing to send the razor out or learning to hone if you choose.

Not a bad idea, keep in mind though - the hard balsa strop is for occasional maintenance in place of a touch-up hone. It does not take the place of regular pre-shave stropping.


As for razors and strop - my advice is to keep as cheap as you can for your first trip around the block with a straight. Why not just grab a $20-30 shave-ready razor off the SRP classifieds and the $20 Filly starter/travel strop from RupRazors rather than diving right into a $120 set?

That way, once you're ready to try another razor or two -- and if you like your first few weeks with a straight you can be sure the bug to try others will strike you -- you'll still have $60 of that original $120 to put toward other razor(s) as you experiment more to find the size/grind you like best.