Advice greatly appreciated

My husband is very interested in getting started with a straight razor. His birthday is coming up shortly, and I'd really like to help him on his way. I've done some research, and I find myself getting a bit overwhelmed with all there is to know. Is there a straight razor that you would recommend for a beginner? He is a big fan of Micarta from his other collections, so I thought that material would work for the handle. Any thoughts on that, as far as grip or longevity? And what about the blade type and length? And what about the strop, brushes, and cream versus soap? Any thoughts, suggestions, advice are most welcome and appreciated!!

Welcome to SRP. There are many ways you can go with straight razors, strops, brushes and creams/soaps. For starters it would help to know what type of budget you are looking at using.

Dovo makes a micarta handled straight razor in white and black. Be sure when you purchase the razor it comes shave ready or has the option to purchase it that way. Factories do not provide shave ready razors no matter what they say. Some of the more common vendors of straight razors advertise on this site. A few that come to mind are Coming Soon... , www.classicshaving.com , Shaving Shop - luxury classic wet shaving products - straight razors and www.vintageblades.com . You may not want to go high end unless you know that he will be using the razor on a regular basis over the new Gillettes and double edge razors but do not go really cheap either. In the WIKI on the menu bar above there is a list of razors to avoid and a list of acceptable razors. The lists are not complete but are a good starting point for the beginner. Reading through the WIKI may answer some of your questions and may even inspire some that you have not thought of yet. It's a good place to learn the sport of straight shaving and about the strops, brushes and other gear..

Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Makemyhusbandsbirthday

My husband is very interested in getting started with a straight razor. His birthday is coming up shortly, and I'd really like to help him on his way. I've done some research, and I find myself getting a bit overwhelmed with all there is to know. Is there a straight razor that you would recommend for a beginner? He is a big fan of Micarta from his other collections, so I thought that material would work for the handle. Any thoughts on that, as far as grip or longevity? And what about the blade type and length? And what about the strop, brushes, and cream versus soap? Any thoughts, suggestions, advice are most welcome and appreciated!!

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Welcome to SRP. :)

We have extensive lists in our wiki and I think these pages in particular will help you get started:
Beginner's guide to straight razor shaving - Straight Razor Place Wiki
Buying a beginner's set on a budget - Straight Razor Place Wiki
Brands of Straight Razors to avoid - Straight Razor Place Wiki

To answer some of your specific questions:

Micarta makes for great handles, IMHO. I think that you'll need to send a razor out to have them put on or get a custom razor, because the vintage blades did not have them.

Type of blade really depends on the person. I've enjoyed all the ones I've tried so far, personally. Typically we say that a 5/8" or 6/8" razor with a rounded end and a half-hollow grind are good to start with.

A strop is necessary to maintain the edge. Check out the budget guide for that, because it's practically guaranteed that his first strop will get nicked. Some of our vendors offer practice strops which are great to learn on.

You can get a badger or boar's hair brush to apply lather. I've tried synthetic brushes and, personally, did not like them. Cream vs. soap is also debatable; I started with cream because they lather easier, but I now prefer soap. Some of our vendors offer sample sizes so look for those when starting.

Lastly you can check out our classifieds and our vendor's corner to start looking for gear:
Main Index - Straight Razor Place Classifieds
Vendors Corner - Straight Razor Place Forums

Hope that helps and feel free to post any further questions. :)

A gift certificate isn't a bad idea either. Shaving gear is such a personal preference thing. :) Kind of like a ladies purse or shoes.

Hello, Makemyhusbandsbirthday:

Congratulations on selecting a worthy gift for your husband. You are thoughtful, indeed.

These learned gentlemen all have excellent ideas for you. I especially like the gift certificate idea suggested by JimmyHad. Last Christmas my daughter gave me a gift certificate to Straight Razor Designs and I was in heaven. A number of vendors mentioned here at SRP offer these gift certificates.

Oh, wish your husband a happy birthday.

Regards,
Obie

Makemyhusbandsbirthday,

As a beginner I whole-heartedly support the gift-cert idea JimmyHAD/Obie suggested.

If you want to have something box-ready I might suggest giving him a nice brush/cream or soap combo with the certificate. This can be used with a cartridge razor right away, and will start developing skills (using a brush, lather creation) that will be necessary in straight shaving. I was amazed at how much better the morning shave was with just using a brush/cream to replace the aerosol can ‘o cream.

-Michael