Thread: what was your first setup?

My actual first razor was my grandfathers. However, it was not the first I shaved with. My second was a cheap Pakistani blade I picked up to carry in my haversack. Never used it. I bought it to have something to talk with visitors yet and never thought about actually shaving there.

I've only been shaving with a straight for 1 month now. The razor I'm learning with and strop were found on a small vintage site about 1 week before I found this site. The razor is a restored Smith Brothers 4/8 with black scales and a new black leather case. The strop was made by the restorer and is black leather almost 3 inches wide with a brass piece to hang it on the wall and a leather handle --(all for $40). It was advertised as shave ready and as far as I know it was, at least it works. I found a Boss razor hone and made a scuttle out of a soup bowl I wasn't using and stainless steel 1 cup measure. The brush is a VDH Boar bristle from Walgreens and soap is VDH from Walmart, glycerin and styptic pencil from Walmart as well. Haven't needed bandaids yet.

I do civil war reenactments and Smith Bros was around in 1860 so this will fit perfectly. I just need to find a mirror I can use in the field and then I'm set. For now though it works great in the bathroom. Oh, I have nicked the strap already and repaired it a couple of times... I've nicked my neck and face too, but they repair themselves...

My first razors were brand new Gotta 120's 4/8,5/8 & 6/8. IIRC only one had a straight spine
Strop was a Black Beauty made here in NSW. Still have it but replaced the leather straps. Hones were 1 Washita & soft, medium & hard Arky's & 1 Black hard Ark. Bought a waterstone made by Lapport after a few months. Will freely admit I was really in the dark for a long time.
You new guys got it easy thanx to Lynn & SRP

A 5/8 full hollow German razor in chipped scales, marked "Pride of the West" on the blade, and a big old Sheffield wedge that smelled like cat pee; an Illinois Strop 127, some Crabtree & Evelynn sandlewood soap, and a Kingsley badger brush.

Oh, and a 1k/6k hone. There were a Frictionite and a coticule in the house, but I didn't know them from a brick until I started reading SRP.

Originally Posted by roughkype

and a big old Sheffield wedge that smelled like cat pee;

Now there's one to tell your grandchildren!

Let's see, Dovo Bismarck Red 6/8th's, Rooney's finest badger and a Herold Solingen 2" w strop and I believe Castle Forbes Cedar & Sandalwood...

A full hollow 5/8 "Blue Ribbon" something for a Hardware store I picked up at a antique store on a whim. I believe it is stainless.

An assortment of wet/dry sandpaper.
1/2" wide Spyderco Medium and Fine ceramic sticks. (from a "Sharpmaker")
A leather strop made from a Cinch Strap (horse tack)
Cardboard
Some generic buffing compound from hardware store.
VDH Boar Brush
"new" Williams Mug Soap.
My roommates having the cell phones handy. Not to call 911, but to take pictures of the carnage they thought was at hand.


Shaving off those edges wasn't unbearable. Heck, once I learned the importance of pressure and a few "tricks" with the spyderco sticks they weren't bad at all. I'm a firm believe that you can coax a much finer edge out of a stone than it's label indicates. Getting some proper CrOx was the real ticket.

I miss college. Good Memories.

razor, strop, brush, soap, i'm pretty sure that's about what it was.


the razor was a vintage razor cleaned up a bit and honed by a member (josh earl).
the strop was a simple leather strop made by a member (tony miller) who sold those as an inexpensive cosmetically challenged addition along with nice looking strops. plus a canvas piece from a vintage strop the leather of which had rotted.
the brush was badger made by vulfix, i think silvertip, from another member
the soap was williams mug soap from the nearby cvs.

only the soap was brand new, which was an advantage - the razor was honed and tested, the strop was already broken in, so it worked better than new, the brush was also broken in and had most of the animal funk gone.

then i only had to learn to make lather, strop the razor, and shave - each a pretty decent challenge I must say, but in few months i got the hang of them

I've only been shaving a week with a straight (and have already got RAD bad). To finish off, I'm using my Merkur 34c DE razor that I have been shaving with up until now.

Out of my small collection I have already made, I have only shaved with a Giesen + Forstoff Timor Special, but have a few other shave-ready razors waiting to be tried. (I'm waiting until I have built up an "expectation" of performance with one before I try the others.)

My strop is a 3" Neil Miller Buffalo hide.

I am using the same Vulfix super badger brush I have had since starting shaving with a DE (sorry, can't remember the model). I only have one other brush -- a Simpsons Wee Scot that I recently bought for travelling and have yet to try.

When starting DE, my first soap was a TOBS sandlewood, which I have recently PIFed as I can't get it to lather in my hard water area. Mostly I shave with Body Shop's Maca Root shaving cream. But I am out of it at the moment, and have an assortment of other creams to try before I can justify buying more. My first straight shave was with the TOBS lavender cream. I am sticking with that until I finish it off to bring down the number of tubs in rotation.

I use a little wooden bowl I got from Muji for lathering.

Originally Posted by Soilarch

A full hollow 5/8 "Blue Ribbon" something for a Hardware store I picked up at a antique store on a whim. I believe it is stainless.

An assortment of wet/dry sandpaper.
1/2" wide Spyderco Medium and Fine ceramic sticks. (from a "Sharpmaker")
A leather strop made from a Cinch Strap (horse tack)
Cardboard
Some generic buffing compound from hardware store.
VDH Boar Brush
"new" Williams Mug Soap.
My roommates having the cell phones handy. Not to call 911, but to take pictures of the carnage they thought was at hand.


Shaving off those edges wasn't unbearable. Heck, once I learned the importance of pressure and a few "tricks" with the spyderco sticks they weren't bad at all. I'm a firm believe that you can coax a much finer edge out of a stone than it's label indicates. Getting some proper CrOx was the real ticket.

I miss college. Good Memories.

You nearly make me miss having roommates!

Been at it for about six weeks now, so I'm still on my first everything:

Dovo "Best Quality" 5/8
Dovo paddle strop
Col Conk badger brush that I've had for 10 years or more
Col Conk Almond soap

I suspect this all will last me for awhile. At least until my great grandfather's Frederick Reynolds comes back from the restorer (Gemstar).