Low Budget Woes

Hey guys!

I have yet to buy my first straight, and I'm pretty excited cause I'm close, but before I do, I have a few questions...

I'm thinking about buying a Dovo Ebony 5/8 Spike Point (DOVO Straight Razors). Would you guys recommend a spike point for a first razor, or is it really that much of a hassle? How good of a brand is Dovo? How long can this razor last if I take great care of it?

Secondly, I am not planning on getting a brush right away. I already own a couple cans of Gilette shaving gel, and I wouldn't want to waste them. I'm not so concerned with the experience right now (low budget), but I am concerned if any of the chemicals in the gel can affect the razor. Have you guys heard/experienced any kind of this damage? And should I invest in some real shaving soaps? What is so great about them?

Lastly, I would like to know if any type of fine leather would suffice for a stop. Like I said, I'm on a budget, and I'm thinking about buying something from the leather shop and making it into a strop. Should I do this? And if so, what type of leather? Soft? Smooth? A combination?

I know its a lot of questions, but the help is much appreciated! Thanks guys!

I'm fairly new to all this (just about a year now), but I'll offer a few opinions.

I love a spike point, and I have since I first started with a straight. Granted, there's some risk involved, but I just can't get round points everywhere I want to with the same ease. In particular, I find touching up around my nose, and my XTG from nose to ear make excellent use of my spike.

Second, I would consider the brush and soap to be more important than the straight, to start. Now, you don't have to expensive, by any means. You can get a decent badger brush quite inexpensively, and it's well worth it. Likewise with soap. A nice glycerin (like from Mama Bear Soaps) or a triple-milled like Mitchell's Wool Fat is well worth it. The primary reason to use them is the glide they provide under the razor, and the protection they give the skin (MWF is wonderfully in drier conditions, for example). I'm also a big fan of the fact that most soaps (though not always the creams) have a minimum of horrible chemicals like parabens in them. The canned goo is built on those chemicals, and it can't be good to put all that on your opened pores and razor-exfoliated face.

If you're on a low budget, I would suggest buying a used, shave ready razor from the classifieds and spending the rest on brush/soap/strop.

For the strop, the primary goal is SMOOTH leather. Now, don't confuse that with SOFT. Most stops are reasonably stiff (especially at first), but the stopping surface must be very smooth. I personally went for a 3" latigo strop for my first, but I'm sure others will chime in with cheaper options.

Best of luck.

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I'm thinking about buying a Dovo Ebony 5/8 Spike Point (DOVO Straight Razors). Would you guys recommend a spike point for a first razor, or is it really that much of a hassle? How good of a brand is Dovo? How long can this razor last if I take great care of it?

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I hate spikes, have ground-down ("muted" or "neutered") all my spike points. This is a very personal opinion.

Dovo's are fine. Take good care of it, it'll last years and years and years . . .

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I'm not so concerned with the experience right now (low budget), but I am concerned if any of the chemicals in the gel can affect the razor. Have you guys heard/experienced any kind of this damage? And should I invest in some real shaving soaps? What is so great about them?

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I've never heard of complaints about incompatibilities between shaving cream and steel. A brush (_any_ brush, doesn't have to be expensive) and soap will give you nicer lather than a can, especially if you make it in a bowl floating in hot water to keep it warm.

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Lastly, I would like to know if any type of fine leather would suffice for a stop. Like I said, I'm on a budget, and I'm thinking about buying something from the leather shop and making it into a strop. Should I do this? And if so, what type of leather? Soft? Smooth? A combination?

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Smooth, fairly hard leather seems to be standard for strops; you don't want something really soft. After all, the strop has to straighten the bent steel on the edge of the razor.

If money is tight, take a look at Whipped Dog Straight Razor Sales . He (Larry) runs the "bargain basement" of decent vintage razors, strops, and gear.

Charles

Wow thanks for all the advice guys!

Great to know theres such a big and supportive community out there!

+ 1 on the advice for the SRD recommendations for the reasons stated. Welcome to straight razor shaving. Enjoy.

Scroll up to holli4pirating's suggestion then locate his signature line. Click the link to his website.
Just a suggestion from a satisfied customer.

BTW Dylan liking the new avatar.

VDH brushes are cheap and everywhere. I've heard a lot about frank's shaving brushes. Another option would be to make your own brush from the golden nib knots. (Search for it).

Spend the money on a decent strop. It is the one area that I regret not spending money. Cheap is cheap. 'Nuff said.

Soap? $5ish for c o bigelow isn't that bad; but CarrieM has great product, price, selection and it will go a long way.

Just some thoughts.

-G

i would recommend a round point instead of a spike. much easier to learn and use.

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Originally Posted by griff94

Would you guys recommend a spike point for a first razor, or is it really that much of a hassle?

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it depends on your dexterousness and depth perception. square point is more precise and you always know where the cutting edge ends, which to me translates as safer to use. but some people are less careful, or can't judge well distances, so a cushion from a round point is safer for them.

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Originally Posted by griff94

Secondly, I am not planning on getting a brush right away. I already own a couple cans of Gilette shaving gel, and I wouldn't want to waste them.

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The chemicals in the gillette cream shouldn't damage the razor, but you probably want to get a decent brushless shaving cream (i've used a couple that were quite good, but don't remember the names off the top of my head). the canned stuff will work, of course, but a real cream will be much better and you increase quite a bit your chances of actually learning how to shave with a straight razor. throwing away few cans of gillette gel is about $10 loss, giving up on straight shaving is probably about $50 loss. it makes a lot of sense to get good cream as it's definitely not going to be a waste one way or another.

I had a can of Nivia Gel in the can and thought I would give it a try to see how it compares. The Nivia Gel was my current favorite before I went to DE and straights.

So how did it compare?

It didn't. If felt cheap and stiff and felt like it was on top of my skin rather than in my beard protecting my skin.

Don't think I'll be trying any canned stuff again.

--Shoki