Gentlemen,

I am a quasi-newbie, as I have been using a Shavette that was a Christmas gift from my best friend about three years ago. I used the razor intermittently, but after being finally fed up with the price of disposables I have been using it everyday for the last 6 months. I am looking to buy my first "real" straight and wanted some input from the members of this fine forum.

I initially thought about buying a razor and strop set and then piecing together the rest of my set individually, not buying the best but trying to get the middle of the road as I have been at this for a little while and then moving on from there. After researching and reading about brushes, creams, soaps, mugs/scuttles, and everything in between I became a bit overwhelmed. I am thinking that the best way to go is to order a wet set from SRD (I'm looking at the wet set of the month as I like the razor and feel its a good cost/benefit ratio for a beginner). I came to the realization that I don't really know what I like or dislike so get the set and work from there and as my skills improve and my tastes are more refined I can go from there.

Is this a good approach just buying a set? It seems like a nice savings that will also allow me to try different soaps and creams and whatnot as well which to me seems like half the fun! I apologize for the lengthy post but wanted to try and explain the last couple of weeks of research and my thinking as best as I could. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

Respectfully,

CarpediemOU