another college student. looking for some beginners advice.

hey guys new to the forum. love it though a lot of helpful information. i am currently shaving with a Merker double edge that i bought a while ago at the art of shaving which i am pretty happy with, but i would love to explore the history of shaving and possibly take a plunge into the straight razor world. i have been looking at a lot of the beginners articles. and i was wondering if anyone could possibly direct me towards a good beginners straight? as for brands of what type of thickness or type of blade or point? all would be very helpful. as for a budget id like to stay realativly low to start i dont want to destroy a very expensive razor. but as for equipment i have a beaver brush, creams, after shaves and oils all from the double edge but as for the actual blade and using one i am kinda of clueless. anyhelp would be awesome. THANKS GUYS and gals.

Charles has made some excellent points.

If I were starting again, I'd want to most likely go with a 5/8 middle of the road size. Hollow ground. I'd also do a round point, because the squares can be a bit tricky when learning. Other's will say different, buy IMO there is so much going on when learning to use a straight that a 90 degree sharp point is one variable that I can do without.

There's always later.

Good luck....oh, and check out classifieds. They have some pretty great stuff.

I think Charles nailed it. I'd add:

Get your homework done.
Wear rubbers.
Avoid getting short-sheeted.
Don't eat those eggs at Breakfast.
Streaking is so "old school".

I sent a pm to you about an upcoming Get together. Just north of you in Kenosha Wi.

Welcome to SRP!

+100 to what Charles said. VERY sound advice there. I have read (but have yet to experience for myself) that wedges are a good option for beginners as the blade is less apt to flex and bite the skin. However, I've also discovered that finding wedges, or near wedges, on any kind of budget can be pretty difficult (they can be found cheap from non-reputable sources, but we don't want that starting out).

I want to know, as a new guy myself, where did you pick up a beaver brush? How does it compare to a boar/badger/horse hair brush?

i picked it up at the art of shaving. its a great place to go. kind of pricey. though but they do have a professional barber that does straight razor shaves and haircuts. that is where i had my first one and got me addicted. compared to a boar brush that i picked up at Walgreens it is out of this world. it applys a wonderful layer of lather. but there are many places that offer them i picked my up for 50 bucks but u can get one from anywhere from 35 to 300 depending on what you are willing to spend. but the basic brush is still wonderful

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Originally Posted by krism

i picked it up at the art of shaving. its a great place to go. kind of pricey. though but they do have a professional barber that does straight razor shaves and haircuts. that is where i had my first one and got me addicted. compared to a boar brush that i picked up at Walgreens it is out of this world. it applys a wonderful layer of lather. but there are many places that offer them i picked my up for 50 bucks but u can get one from anywhere from 35 to 300 depending on what you are willing to spend. but the basic brush is still wonderful

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Yeah, I don't even shop AoS website...it would just depress me. My family lives just North of Chi-town, and that's where I lived through my HS years. Maybe the next time I visit I can find an AoS store to go to. There sure aren't any out here in rural Iowa though!

i can tell you where two of there are. there is one in site the wood field mall and also another on grand and Michigan ave.