Thread: what was your first setup?

My very first straight shave went something like this:

Dovo Best 6/8
Vintage Blades Black Latigo Strop
VDH boar brush
VDH soap
Nivea Sensitive Aftershave Balm

My first setup was a dovo 6/8, rup razor filly strop ,wee scott brush, castle and forbes lime, a col. conk shave mug and nivea aftershave balm.
My current setup is a 5/8 dubl duck satin edge, tony miller heirloom latigo and linen strop, wee scott brush, caraceni cream, the same mug and Al's bay rum aftershave balm.

I notice a trend among first razors purchased...

Razor: Dovo Best Quality 5/8
Strop: SRD 2" Latigo
Soap: Col Conk Amber Glycerin
Brush: Col Conk Best Badger (still love this brush)
Aftershave Balm: Jack Black Post Shave Cooling Gel

I remember hating the Conk soap so much, that I went out that day to score some Bigelow/Proraso cream. Now that I know how to properly make lather, the Conk stuff really isn't that bad.

Hello and welcome to the SRP forum. It sounds like you have a good setup to start off with. It will last for quite some time . It is better than my first setup. My first straight razor was purchased before I knew about the SRP . I purchased a 6/8 Mehaz razor that was marked Soligen Germany on the tang. After sending it a fellow member of SRP for honing it was suspected the steel to be from Pakistan and of poor quality. It took a great deal of effort to hone it to shave ready. I also had a 2.5 inch Ilinois 835 strop, a cheap Everready boar brush, a cake of Colgate shaving soap, and a cheap shaving mug. I have learned so much since then and have acquired several razors, brushes, hones, etc.. since then. It has been a great journey for me. I still am learning .

DevilPup,

My first setup when I first started shaving with a straight in the early 1990s was:

6/8 Gong razor, an old English cotton/leather hanging strop, a boar brush and an Old Spice shave stick. The razor was honed by on old barber I knew on what I now know to be a coti.

After the old barber died, I switched to using cartridge razors until 2008 when I took up wet-shaving again.

Have fun !

Best regards

Russ

My first razor was a Filarmonica shavette from my barber.

But my first real setup:
Razor: W.M. Elliot full hollow 9/16 w/muted square point
Strop: Dovo cowleather strop w/ canvas webbing
Creme: The Body Shop Maca Root cream
Brush: The Body Shop synthetic

first razor: artist club dx.
first brush: vdh boar
first cream: tobs almond
first aftershave: old spice

i had been using williams and the van der hagen for years with a mach3.. and probably been using old spice since i was a toddler.

My first was a Dovo Best Quality 5/8 full hollow, SRD 2'' strop, MWF and best badger brush.

That was last June. Now I've bought 35 more razors and sold 17 of them. Eventually the collection will go back to 14 but I'm having a hard time deciding which ones to sell!