Thread: How did you get hooked?

My barber (RIP) is responsible! When I was younger and needed a really great shave for some special occasion I would go to the Barber Shop and get fixed up. Got to thinking that I should be able to do this myself so I bought a new Dovo and tried a shave with it as received. To say the least that shave was REALLY BAD. So off to the barber shop and left razor there for a few days so he could hone it for me. Next shave - not bad at all. That lead to finding SRP and a great hobby/pastime and a number of incurable AD's.

I read an article about men using straight razors to shave. I couldn't believe straight razors were still being used! Suffice to say my curiosity was piqued. It was classic, it required great skill, and not many people would think about using one. That is always a good combination to get me interested in something.

I did a lot of research. Finally found Tony Miller online and ordered one of his starter sets with a shave ready dovo. The first few shaves didn't go so well, but that only boosted my obsession. I knew I could be successful and I was determined to master this skill.

Three years later I have a nice collection started, I have never shaved with an edge I did not sharpen myself (excluding the edge that came with the first razor), and I am loving it just as much as when I first started!

Matt

I've been hooked on sharp edges since my childhood, knives, axes, razors, the point of a fresh honed fly hook, you name it. As a toddler, lurking in the doorway watching my dad shave, guess it's always been there...............

I'm with Jerry on this one. I tried many different ways of shaving, electrics were always the worst ripping my hairs out, so it was always the Mach 3s for me. I hated the thought of that plastic sitting there for so long in the landfills, long after I'll be gone even, I hate that thought. I try to avoid anything platic whenever possible. I do woodworking and try to build things I need rather than buy them. On my last trip to costco I saw the price of Mach 3s go out of my affordability, I knew I had to look for a new solution. So i decided to get set up for straight razor shaving. I'm two weeks in now and I've found it very enjoyable so far. I'm not getting the same results as the mach 3s yet, but I've got a lot to learn still, I know I'll get there.

I really like the thought that if I care for my tools and maintain them properly some day someone else can inherit this stuff and enjoy it as much as I do.

I used to get a lot of irritation from The Plastic Fantastic (AKA a Mach 3), so I started to look for alternatives.

I got a Merkur DE from Amazon and that really helped with the problem, so I kept looking around for better methods.

During this time I went to Trumpers in London for a brush and soap, and saw that they sold straight razors. This piqued my interest so my girlfriend bought me a shave there, and I spent a few weeks lurking on SRP and reading up before the shave...!

Once I had the shave I knew I was hooked and I bought my first razor and strop from them right afterwards.

The rest is history..!

I'm barely hooked, as far as straights go, I'm a novice. I'm a hooked stone collector, and have been known to buy a knife just because, but I'm working on honing my first straight to a BBS using my two virtues of stubborn and ignorant.

It may help I've gathered a hernias worth of fancy rocks, or it may not, but i'm not SHORT any..

anyway, I'm going to accomplish shaving with my own honing and then decide if I'll survive the experience done regular. no bets..

In my teens i used to use my fathers "fatboy" then as an adult i used the disposables and moved to the electrics... then my father gives me his "fatboy" and i was enjoying it again and started to look up online for more info about the razor,landed here and started to read some post then i registered and purchased a SR from the classifieds and have been in shave heaven since...

I inherited my Grandfathers shaving mug and wanted a straight to "display" with it. Then bought a replacable type straight and just had to give it a try. Found this place and it ruined me for anything else.

Zacsdaddy

You'll know you are truly hooked when you (or your spouse/partner) wonder where did all this paraphenalia come from and decide that you need to start getting rid of some of it to make more room for the other things you want to buy!

Since I was old enough to shave I'd always hated it. I tried electric razors which were horrible so I then moved on to disposable razors. They irritated my skin every shave but "What else am I supposed to use?" I thought. I got to the point where I would shave every other day or every 3 days if I could swing it. It was always a chore. Then, one weekend I was coming home from college for a wedding and realized I forgot my shaver. I needed a haircut anyways and so decided I'd try getting a cut and a shave at a barbershop. I'd never set foot in one before. Haircut was good and then came the shave.....WOW! Not only was it BBS but it didn't irritate my skin at all. From then on I knew I had to get one. I did a little research, saved a little money, found SRP, and here I am today. I love every minute of shaving nowadays, have SSAD, and I think RAD is setting in...