Thread: Hello, everyone!

A pleasure to formally meet you all today. I'm a long-time lurker of the SRP, and now a first time poster. I figured I'd give a bit of a background of my straight razor experiences and aspirations. I think it is amazing how much information has been gathered here, and would like to personally thank everyone from the famous Lynn, to the mentors, admins, and mods, to all of the regular joe posters for making this a professional place where we can talk about straight razors. I currently use a carbon steel Dovo Bismarck, full hollow ground, that I have had for a few months now. I'm proud to say that I've gone over 2 1/2 months without a nick, and still going strong as of this morning! I use a 3" black leather strop with canvas on the other side before each shave, and love experimenting with the number of strokes on each material. My brush is a ebony handled (to match the scales of the Bismarck) Rooney brush made in England, with their highest quality silver badger hair. I also have a Norton 4000/8000 water stone for touch-ups and putting a decent finishing edge on the razor from the factory (although I DID need to use the 4000 side in conjunction with the 8000 side in a honing pyramid when I bumped the blades edge against the faucet...ouch!), however I'm currently looking for a nice barber hone with a grit of 10k or higher for a nice polishing edge. I started shaving with Col. Conk's amber scented glycerin soap out of a steel bowl, but when that ran out, went over to a nice triple-milled sandalwood soap in a nice wooden bowl from the Art of Shaving, and all I can say is...WOW! What an amazing difference in lather quality! Col. conk is good, but compared to the triple-milled? To me, there's no contest. I'm proud to say that it was well worth the cost, and will continue buying triple-milled. So far, out of all the scents, sandalwood is my favorite.

I'm happy to say everything about straight razor shaving that could be praised is 100% true, and I am a proud owner of Lynn's DVD guide all about straight razor shaving. I have been shaving with a straight for a total of 5 months now, and couldn't be happier with it. Truly, there is something almost magical about the Zen-like morning ritual of preparing for the shave. The process of shaving itself? That's what it all boils down to for me. Nothing feels like a baby's bottom smooth shave. I'm a college student that commutes from home, but always makes sure to have extra time in the morning for my shaving "ritual". My friends all think I'm nuts, but I always remind them how I'm still standing after all these months of shaving, so it's not nearly as dangerous as it's made out to be. Anyway, enough rambling, time to jump into some more forums!

-Prussian

Welcome to SRP! I guess it's a belated welcome since you've been lurking for a while, but none the less, glad to have you here.

Welcome to the forums officially

Welcome to SRP. Sounds like you are doing fine. A morning shave is nice way to start the day but I shave in the evening when the shave den is not in high demand and I can really relax and enjoy my shave. I don't feel I need to shave the following evening but the next morning is just about right. Give it a try some weekend and let us know what you think.

Ask questions as you go but having 5 months at the sport you are well on your way.

Originally Posted by Joed

Welcome to SRP. Sounds like you are doing fine. A morning shave is nice way to start the day but I shave in the evening when the shave den is not in high demand and I can really relax and enjoy my shave. I don't feel I need to shave the following evening but the next morning is just about right. Give it a try some weekend and let us know what you think.

Ask questions as you go but having 5 months at the sport you are well on your way.

Thanks for the welcome.
I am not a stranger to evening shaves, but I like to use straight razor shaving as a motivator to get myself up in the mornings. I don't drink coffee, so there are those days when I need the extra motivation! Haha

Originally Posted by Prussian

Thanks for the welcome.
I am not a stranger to evening shaves, but I like to use straight razor shaving as a motivator to get myself up in the mornings. I don't drink coffee, so there are those days when I need the extra motivation! Haha

LOL, I know what you mean.

Originally Posted by Joed

LOL, I know what you mean.

Say, do you have any expereience of information about Raven barber hones? I have a thread in "Hones" that asks some relevant questions. There's a link to some pictures of one, but please ignore the price point, as I don't mean to have anything priced. Just asking about quality and general barber hone questions.

Welcome to SRP Prussian. Always nice to see a member who is genuinely enthusiastic about the sport and art of straight razor shaving.