Thread: Complete Noob

As people have said your much better off going to The Classified and buying a used razor that is shave ready. I was told as a beginner the best size to start with is a 6/8. It may be a bit more than you wanted to spend, but buying a shave ready razor in The Classifieds would be the best thing to do. Then you need a strop, the strop I started with (and am still using) is The Filly from ruprazor.com, best strop you can get for 20 dollars. As for a bowl and soap, you might hear people say not to waste money on a cheapo boar bristle brush and spend the extra money on a badger brush, all you need is a soap/bowl/brush set from walmart for 8 dollars. For soap its best to use a boar brush, the hair is thicker and lathers it up better, and the soap that comes with the set isn't bad for the price.

as 15straightrazor said the cheap Von Der Hagen stuff works well for soap and brush but i have to put my usual brush post here haha (ive used it three times today i hope i dont get flagged for spam)

but
make your own, i made this brush with a knot purchased from thegoldennib.com and materials from Menards (im sure any hardware store would do the trick). Its total cost was about 25$ and i had materials left over to make probably 10 more brushes (excluding the knot, the knot is the most expensive part). I made the stand with materials purchased from Menards and the total cost of stand and brush was about 30$.

Brush works GREAT its a silvertip badger knot. Making a brush is hands down the best way to go imho. and not to mention you get the satisfaction of using something that you crafted with your own hands.

My standard recommendations for the first kit sources would be this:

Razor - From the classifieds from a well known member who has a history of delivering shave ready razors, or from one of the Vendors in the Vendors Corner forum. The only reason I say that is because they are known quantities, and are known to supply razors that are shave ready. If you get it from an unknown source its much harder for us to give advice if you have questions..!

Strop - Get a 3" SRD strop. They're modular so if you nick the leather, which you probably will, you can replace it for around $30. A very popular strop at the moment is the Premium IV extra long, with the webbed fabric backing. If you dont want to spend that much on a strop, I'd recommend the 3" black latigo, again with webbed fabric. I have this strop and it really is excellent.

Brush - Thater are very popular, but any good quality badger hair brush will serve you well.

Soap - Take your pick! SRD, Tabac, MWF, Mama Bears, Trumpers, TOBS, Penhaligons, Castle Forbes... Theres loads out there!

IMO, a really good way to get started and be sure you are getting quality kit is to get one of the all in one kits from SRD. I wish I'd known about them when I started..! You get a razor, strop, brush, soap and mug and you can select each item depending on how much you want to spend.

Dont paste your daily strop at all, and if you want to make a quick an easy touch up pasted strop all you need is a block of balsa wood from a hobby store and some chromium oxide. SRD sell the CrOx, and you can also get it here in the classifieds. Just paste the balsa and do half a dozen strokes once the shave quality starts to slide. Quick, easy and simple!

But leave your daily strop totally paste free, and use it before (and after as well if you want to) your shave. I do 30 fabric and 60 leather before the shave, then 15 fabric and 30 leather afterwards, and I find this keeps my edges pretty well..!

Good luck and keep us posted!