Thread: need gift asap - PLS HELP

Hello-
I need to buy a gift for my brother, and he hinted that he wanted to try shaving with a straight razor. I am on a tight budget, and I do not want to spend too much - especially since I am not sure if he will even keep at it.
Can someone please suggest some shaving kits that are less than $50 USD?
I wanted to get a straight edge razor, brush, bowl, etc.

Thanks much!

For everything $50 could be a little hard. Instead, you can still help by getting a brush and some cream and a cheap bowl from Wal-Mart. Or maybe the brush with mug and soap. Heck, that is how I started out. My lady got me a brush, stand, mug and soap for Christmas.

You can find brushes for about $30... prices differ on material, a good cream can be about $6, or checkout SRD and get a bunch of soap samplers for $19 (13 samples) and don't forget a bowl. I got mine for $2.99 at Marshall's. That combo alone will keep him busy and will probably trigger him into trying a straight when he is ready.

Yeah I gotta agree with Travis..

You could come close,

The bowl soap and brush Van der Hagen at Wally World is perfectly usable at $8.95 and it makes a great travel set for later if he stays with this..

Oh heck It's Christmas

Get him a decent strop google Illinios #127 or #827 should be about $30
The shave set from Walmart
You take care of all that...

And PM me, I will give you a "Shave Ready" straight razor to give to him, You gotta hurry though I can mail it on Monday... Won't be perfect but it will be nice...

Merry Freaking Christmas

OH BTW the rules are if he gives this up he has to come and give the razor to another newbie here... we believe in the PIF principle around here at SRP

Wow what a great offer from gssixgun. Somebodys really channeling the Christmas spirit.

For a strop, you could look around and see if there is a plain belt laying around. Make sure it doesn't have any irregularities in the surface and make sure it doesn't have any stitches.

If that don't work out, get him some newspaper

You can buy a basic beginners kit from whipped dog for around 50 bucks.

Get the following:
Razor (of course) I suggest the wade and butcher.
Strop from rup razor (filly really is the best, inexpensive strop there is)
20g of Mitchell's wool fat shaving soap $4
badger hair brush.

That is really all you need to start out. All of it will run you a little over 50 bucks, but that is as cheep a kit as you can start out with. If you aboslutely cannot get it all, then at least get the razor and strop. That is the bear minimum. Most would consider the soap and brush mandatory (including me) but if you honestly can't get them, then at least let him know he needs to get them. Oh, and direct him to this site as well. Shaving with a straight isn't so easy, and he will need all the information he can get.

I'd definitely go with Glen on this one!! That would get a really nice set up for him, since you'd have more to spend on the strop and brush!

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Yeah I gotta agree with Travis..

You could come close,

The bowl soap and brush Van der Hagen at Wally World is perfectly usable at $8.95 and it makes a great travel set for later if he stays with this..

Oh heck It's Christmas

Get him a decent strop google Illinios #127 or #827 should be about $30
The shave set from Walmart
You take care of all that...

And PM me, I will give you a "Shave Ready" straight razor to give to him, You gotta hurry though I can mail it on Monday... Won't be perfect but it will be nice...

Merry Freaking Christmas

OH BTW the rules are if he gives this up he has to come and give the razor to another newbie here... we believe in the PIF principle around here at SRP

Alright, Glen!!! Let the Christmas Spirit roll!!! You're gonna make some kid happy!!! I hope he follows all the advice given here and enjoys this great hobby/luxury.