Looking for equipment and advice

As I mentioned in my introduction, I've been straight razor shaving for about two years now. But I must admit, I've kinda cheated. I've been using a replaceable blade razor with very straight-cornered edges. It has worked for quite some time, but those corners require a very steady hand (I've nicked myself SEVERAL times in the last two years) and if I can give any advice from my experience, this was not the type of blade to learn with lol.

At any rate, using a replaceable blade never required me to use a hone or strop. From what I've read thus far, a hone is likely the last thing I need to be concerned with, as is a brand new razor. So I think I'd be comfortable with a 6/8, and the thickness and rounded edges of a good starter blade would be most welcome in my arsenal. So here's where I need the advice of experienced straight razor users.

With a new strop, what do I need to do to break it in? I'm reading the name of the new strop I have. My wife overheard me saying I needed to get one, and she ran off and bought the dreaded "selective professional" tools strop. It came with two straight razors made in Pakistan. Obviously, I won't even try to do anything with the razors, because I've read that it's simply not worth the time. Firstly I know this brand is advised against. However, the strop is new, and it appears to be 2 inches wide, and not including the handles and metal mounting, 14 inches in length. It has two straps on it, one appears to be two-sided leather (the rougher being on the inside). The other strap appears to be a dyed black leather material (probably synthetic) with a cloth finish on the inside. I have NO idea what these different sides are for or the cloth (if they are for anything), how to break it in, or if I should even use the thing. If someone could give me some advice here, I'd be grateful.

Finally, for a used straight razor. Obviously the top three brands offer different strengths and weaknesses. If just by a brief description of those who reply to this post, of their experience with their first used razors, it would be very helpful. Obviously I'm looking for something that is truly shave-ready, as I don't plan to try my hand at honing for quite some time, and I'd prefer to push stropping off for as long as I can (but when the time comes to stropping, I want to make sure I have the right strop, technique, and I pretty sure I will need a blade that will be forgiving of my rookie mistakes).

Thanks in advance to those who take the time to reply with some info for me, as I know most probably aren't getting paid to do this. Again, it is really awesome of you folks to have a website like this!

~Big Kajun~

Greetings....I've been here about 6 weeks, so my knowledge is limited, but I'll share what I know. I have a Joseph Rodgers 5/8 square point that I purchased for $50 through the Classifieds here on SRP. It arrived shave ready, and so far, has served me well. As far as the strop goes, you'll want one with a leather side and a linen side. Mine is an Illinois 208. $35 @ classicshaving.com. Prior to your shave, you'll do 20-30 passes over the linen side, followed by 60 on the leather side. I've recently started doing 10 passes on the linen side post shave to remove any moisture I may have missed when drying the razor. Stropping is very much a daily necessity when shaving as it smooths out any imperfections in the edge of the razor. As SR edges are very fine, they are prone to getting tweaked during daily use.

I grab my disposable straight often enough when running late, I wound up rescaling to make it feel better in hand. It works, but the real straight is a far smoother shave.

I haven't used the selective strop, but think it will be serviceable. Since you will nick it as you learn, you'll have comfort not nicking a high dollar strop.

Smooth side of the leather is what you will use every time before you shave. Hand rubbing is a good way to help it become more supple. Treatment shouldnt be required, but if you think has to have something use a little neatsfoot oil. You may consider rounding the edge off one of the Selectives to use to practice strop with. Fabric strop some use, others don't. Common to strop on fabric after shaving. The wiki has much more in depth info for this.

For a razor, many shave ready razors can be found in the classifieds reasnonably priced. If new is wanted, vendors on the banner ads at this site generally offer shave ready razors, including the founder of this site's store

You will need to strop with every shave. There is no getting around that. If you dont' like the strop your wife got you, check out ruprazor strops. Personal favorites of mine.

It sounds like you have a standard cloth/leather strop. Its a very common variety and you use the cloth side first and then move to the smooth side of the leather. I usually do about 30 on the cloth and 60 on the leather.

As per the razor, I started with a Dovos and love them. Just make sure you get one shave ready, like from straightrazordesigns or classicshaving. If you want to put off honing for as long as possible, then I'd suggest stainless steel. The steel is harder, so it will hold the edge for longer. This also means that when it comes time to hone, it will take longer and you probably want to add a couple extra strokes to your stropping, but its non big deal really.

As an uninformed purchase when I first started I bought the same strop. It is *slightly* better than stropping on a belt. It will get you by until you can get a better one, but you should look at a better one as one of your first purchases. You don't need to spend a lot. I like Illinois strops for the money, but there are other good low end strops too.

With what you have, the faux-leather is useless. Just strop on the smooth side of the real leather.