What I'm considering for my SR starter pack. Comments?

Here's what I'm considering as a starting kit for my straight razor career. I've done absurd amounts of research and watched nearly every honing video on YouTube. I've been shaving with a DE for a few weeks (I know, pretty soon to go to a str8, but I've seriously got a bad case of RAD.) :chop:. I'd just like to move on to something that may be more fun and give me a smoother WTG shave (ATG tends to give me ingrown hairs.)

- Dovo best quality carbon steel 5/8" (either hollow ground or half hollow) (About $100)
- General Edge Natural Wood straight razor (costs $3.99 on Amazon) to practice stropping and honing... NOT to shave with.
- Fromm Razor Strop 2 1/2" X 23"
- Norton 4000/8000 combo waterstone
- 320 grit wet/dry sandpaper for lapping said waterstone (maybe some higher grit sandpaper to smooth out the stone)
- Fromm strop dressing

Any suggestions?

okay, The dovo your looking at is great, i have the same. Its easy to hone, give a great shave, and because it has a round point it is less dangerous. For a strop i would use The Filly, its like 22 bucks, its for fresh starters. The norton combo stone is also great and i have the same.

oh and for you i would might want to start is a half hallowhttp://ruprazor.com/store/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.f lypage&product_id=22&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid= 32
also which site are you looking at for the razor?

Also your very smart, on the 3.99 razor to practice with. When i first started i got a crappy razor, and strop, and after 3 weeks of honing i sent it to a pro honer. Then i came to SRP and found out it was a crap blade. I lost about 80 bucks, but i got very good at honing

MisterSensitive,

The Dovo "Best Quality" is a great starter razor.

If I were in your shoes, I would opt for a straight razor/3" strop set from one of the online vendors who advertises here at SRP. The combined cost probably will be equal to or perhaps slightly less than buying these items a la carte.

Forget the General Edge razor for practice. You can get a dinner knife from the kitchen drawer to practice stropping. Use the money you save to invest in the razor/strop set.

I would also postpone purchasing the Norton 4k/8k and the strop dressing for now. You won't need either of them for awhile. In fact, you may never need them if you can get a barber's hone, such as a Swatty, to refresh your razor every 6 months or so. Barber's hones can be found either in the SRP Classifieds or on ebay at a relatively low price.

I've been shaving with a straight razor for nearly two years. I didn't purchase any stropping paste or diamond spray for over a year. I only recently purchased a set of waterstones for honing. Use the money to buy a decent brush and some good shaving soap and/or cream instead.

Just my 2 cents.

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Originally Posted by jhenry

MisterSensitive,

The Dovo "Best Quality" is a great starter razor.

If I were in your shoes, I would opt for a straight razor/3" strop set from one of the online vendors who advertises here at SRP. The combined cost probably will be equal to or perhaps slightly less than buying these items a la carte.

Forget the General Edge razor for practice. You can get a dinner knife from the kitchen drawer to practice stropping. Use the money you save to invest in the razor/strop set.

I would also postpone purchasing the Norton 4k/8k and the strop dressing for now. You won't need either of them for awhile. In fact, you may never need them if you can get a barber's hone, such as a Swatty, to refresh your razor every 6 months or so. Barber's hones can be found either in the SRP Classifieds or on ebay at a relatively low price.

I've been shaving with a straight razor for nearly two years. I didn't purchase any stropping paste or diamond spray for over a year. I only recently purchased a set of waterstones for honing. Use the money to buy a decent brush and some good shaving soap and/or cream instead.

Just my 2 cents.

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Sounds like good advice. Thank you. It might be easier for me to make the decision to jump in if I don't have to fork over as much dough at once.

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Forget the General Edge razor for practice. You can get a dinner knife from the kitchen drawer to practice stropping. Use the money you save to invest in the razor/strop set.

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+1.

It's easy to get a "practice razor" that's too dull to shave with, but is sharp enough to nick a strop.

Either practice with a really dull knife, or accept that your first strop will get nicked. [I'm in the second category, FWIW.]

Charles

I have a Rup Razors strop that cost me around 20 and the thing is great. Also don't buy a cheap razor to practice honing you'll only get angry when it doesn't take an edge. You may think about getting a cheaper vintage from the classifieds or one from whipped dog and practicing on it.

$100 sounds high for a 5/8 dovo best quality.

I think they usually run ~$70 shaved ready

I will chime in and agree with getting one from the site here, then you can be pretty darn sure that it is really shave ready and probably tested by one of the members to make sure.

You can get a complete combo: razor/poor mans strop kit freshly honed and shave ready at whippeddog.com for around 50$.

m

I just did a quick look. Bkratchmer and Holli4pirating have some nice razors on their sites right now in the $33-$50 range also.

For sure you don't need the hone and paste+paste strop yet, when you get a shave-ready razor, even then it's ok to send it back for a honing after half a year and will be cheaper to start with and less to think of and you can focus on shaving! Spend the extra on a nice badger brush and some quality soap/cream.