Thread: Next Newbie Question - Blade Material and Cost

Originally Posted by ziggy925

I should mention that Rup Razor sells some very inexpensive razors and kits with strops. Because they hone all their razors before shipping, one of theirs would also be a good starter. I think they are called Gold Dollar razors. I have one of these and a Dovo, and I like the Dovo a little better. Rup's strops are also excellent.

Before getting a Gold Dollar razor, check one of the "permanent threads":

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ar-razors.html

Charles

Welcome to SRP and to a wonderful, self-care activity. Traditional wet-shaving turns a daily chore into a daily delight. All the best.

Your post didn't give much information on your background or history with wet-shaving. If you've only shaved with a mega-cartridge, allow me to suggest you purchase a good DE razor and an assortment of blades. Work on your beard prep skills, developing a lather and a no-pressure touch before going to a straight. Mantic59 on youtube has a great series of videos (super production values for the tube) which will help you get started. I'm into SR shaving for just over 2 months and still use my DE for touch up or when pressed for time.

Originally Posted by leadduck

After viewing this site, I would never recommend it to a newbie. The seller acknowledges that they are not shave ready and some of them will need considerable work if they can ever be used. As others have said, I would stick with SRD or the SRP classified.

You are looking at the wrong razors. He sells some razors just for newbies to practice honing. Others he hones up himself to shave ready condition, but doesn't restore them in any way beyond that. This keeps his costs down and lets new people try their hand at straight shaving with decent razors at a very reasonable cost. I highly recommend whipped dog for anyone wanting to test the waters without spending 100 bucks on a razor.

Edit: Also, for the OP, straight razor designs has a holiday special where if you buy a razor from them, you get free honing for as long as you own the blade. This is a killer deal, and if you don't mind getting a full price razor to start out (I did with no regrets) then you really shouldn't pass up this opportunity. Even when you want to start honing yourself, it will be invaluable to have a razor honed by a professional to compare your own work with.

I just wanted to mention that I bought my first razor off ebay and couldn't be happier. It was very affordable and a quality brand name that I picked up from the list on the wiki.

The key for the search I think is to use the term shave ready. I'm looking to buy a second razor now and My first search of the day is usually 'shave ready straight razor'. I feel like anyone who sells the razor as shave ready will likely be more experienced in dealing with and explaining the razor they are selling. Also I like to think that they care about the cause more than someone who is selling off old junk that they had laying around. These razors aren't usually very pretty (well the scales anyway) but the blades are often polished up and not rust marked everywhere.

My purchase randomly ended up being from a very helpful member of this forum which also leads me to mention that I believe there is a list of forum members names and their ebay names in the auction talk section of the forum. lately when browsing ebay I can pick out people selling that I think are from the forums from how they list the item and sometimes name similarities.