Thread: how much will a decent straight razor setup cost me?!

You've been given alot of helpful info allready, so I'll just say this...
No matter what it costs you that first setup will be worth every penny

If your razor is not shave-ready I am afraid stropping alone is not enough. It needs to be honed. If it is a good razor send it out, if not you can afford to practice, but you'll need hones for that.

As a new straight shaver, my advice is as follows:
1. I would not buy old beat up looking stuff on the cheap. You're new at this. Why prejudice what will be difficult at first with a beat up looking razor?
2. Buy a complete set at someplace like Vintage Blades or SRD. You can save some bucks by buying a package instead of individual pieces, and a Best Quality Dovo (for example) is a good solid choice to get started .
3. You don't want to buy the most expensive equipment to start, until you know that you like it and will stick with it. That is a principle for any new endeavor. Example: don't buy the most expensive strop; for one thing, you'll probably knick it a few times until you get proficient at it - so spend 35 bucks instead of 85 to get started!
4. So my answer is about $150-180, depending where you get it and what you get. Call up the above places and ask some questions, see how they treat you on the phone. Then make a decision.
5. Lastly, get a half decent cream to get started. Soaps sort of stink IMO.

Originally Posted by danielghofrani

Thanks a lot for the help.
currenty I have a vintage Kabeso razor, Williams soap, boar hair brush and a generous member has sent me strops (which are not here yet).
my razor is not sharp enough to shave, I am waiting for the strops, maybe they will help.

How do you know it isn't sharp enough to shave? If you did get it from whipped dog, you can be sure its sharp.

Here is the thing with straights many beginners don't know, it takes more than a sharp razor to get a good shave, but good technique as well. So if you give a beginner the sharpest razor in the world, they will still get a poor shave out of it. If the beginner knows that technique is so important, they will know it is their fault. If they don't known how important technique is, they will often blame the razor.

However, if their first razor isn't sharp, then there are real problems. They don't have the experience to judge it's sharpness correctly and the combination of lack of technique and a razor that isn't shave ready leads to very painful shaves.

So, I have to ask. Where did you get your razor, and how do you know it isn't shave ready?

I got some strops and a razor from Ken on this site and they are really affordable and great quality.

RupRazor - Home

I don't think you can go wrong with whippeddog, but agibble's advice is sound too. As long as you get a quality blade to start with, it will hold its value pretty well. So if you get a Dovo anything, then decide you want something better or different, you can sell the Dovo on our classifieds and not take too big a hit on it. If you start with a Kriegar or other such junk, you'll never be able to resell it.