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.

As far as razors go: i went with a dovo special (about 105.00 at vintageblades)and havent been happier, however be careful for the newbie mistakes , on my 2nd shave i chipped the blade on the faucet and had to get it honed out, so i suggest not getting the best blade u can afford, also if you dint like straight razor shaving you can always sell it on the classifieds for close to what u bought it for

As far as hones: From what your describing it seems as though you just want to maintain your edge for right now , and for that i suggest getting a barber hone, go on the hones forum and just type in barber hones and you well get some info on what names ect r good.

Strops: The filly hands down its such a great starter strop for 20 bucks because you will nick your first strop, and it is really a great strop, also while im on the subject Ruprazor sells the filly with a gold dollar( that kenrup has re-pinned honed to shave readiness ) for like 60 bucks which is a great package and since he fixed the gold dollar , ive heard its a great starter razor
hoped this helped, and Welcome!!!!

Everyone's pretty much pointed out the important stuff - get a shave ready razor from a reputable place. The two options you posted meet that requirement. I have the Filly strop, and for the price I thought it was a good starting strop since I've already nicked the snot out of it.

I would say save your money on the hone. You're only gonna have one razor, right? When it comes time to hone you won't even have a sharp razor to compare to make sure you did it right. That doesn't even mention the learning curve involved.

Focus on your stropping and shaving technique and you should be good for about 6 months. Once your razor gets dull you can send it out for a honing for about $20 and have a pro do it.

Welcome to SRP and good luck!