Economics

I'm trying to get an idea of what is involved with the economics of straight razor shaving. It seems to me after reading a little that straight razor shaving is more of a hobby rather than a simple means of shaving in the morning, for most on this site. I say that because I'm seeing people with multiple straight razors. I've seen honing videos with people that have like ten honing stones. And the razors, brushes, hones..... all come in very expensive versions. All this is well and good, if that is your hobby thats fine, but I want to know what is the cost of straight razor shaving minus the frills.

Its seems to me I need to buy one razor and that should last me my entire life. That goes for my two honing stones (what I've so far gathered as to how many stones you need 250/1000 & 6000/8000 grit), my strope (what do you need paste for?), and not that I need it, but my brush and bowel should last my entire life to. All I see I need to continue buying is shaving soap and aftershave care products.

Base on that assumption an initial cost of say 300 should be good for fifty years, which if I shave five times a week should be pennies a shave. Now I know I'm wrong, each straight razor has a life and there is probably more I'm not taking into account. So what does it cost if your just conserned with getting a good shave with regular equipment your maintaining?

Dovo Best Quality from the Art of Shaving $80
Strop from the Knife Center $40
Hone 8000/4000 from Knife Center $80
That’s ….. $200.

All else is a sunk cost as you would use it shaving otherwise but, to start off you could easily get all you need for a year for about $100 to $200 as per taste.

The “consumer surplus” derived from the pleasure gained from shaving is dependent on individual factors.

If you intend on shaving for 50 years 5 times a week that’s 52x50x5 or 13,000 shaves. $200 divided by that many shaves is $0.015 a shave. And yes you should be able to use the same razor/stone/strop all your life but if not just add a penny or two for arguments sake.

I can’t take off the cost of disposables as I don’t know how fast you go through them or what quality you use.

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Originally Posted by Knife

but my brush and bowel should last my entire life to.

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:) I'm sorry, but this is one of the best typos I've seen in a while!!

On to business. You can get started for less than 300. You can also get started for a whole lot more. One of the difficulties judging either way is that it takes a little while for your skills to develop. There are some initial costs, and perhaps a few more depending on how long it takes you to get up to speed.
For instance:
You might chop your strop in half, that'l cost you.
You can decide to have a professional honesman hone your razor, that'l cost you
You might roll your edge over and need re-honing by your chosen honesman. That might cost you.
You might instead buy hone(s) for yourself, that will definitely cost you, but it's what I did.
You might whack your razor on the sink, you better believe that'l cost you.

What I'm trying to say is that in the complete absence of mistakes you can certainly acquire what you need to start for less than 300 and be shaving happily for your natural life. The problem is that you are probably going to make mistakes. Starting with less expensive (good quality, not cheap) will help you save some initial costs should you choose the straight and narrow path.

as an aside, there are several reasons to get more than one razor, even if it's only two. Some people advocate letting a razor rest for a day, etc.
Keep searching around, you can find plenty of money saving tips from like-minded people!

SRP has one heck of a starter kit for $164 that includes a Dovo razor honed by Lynn himself, strop, brush, soap and some other small stuff. That can't be beat really...

If you ever get into wet shaving you will ask yourself "why did I wait until now?". Even if you didn't care for it, you could sell your strop and razor, keep the other stuff for your every day cartridge shaving...but once you are bitten you are done for...

Welcome to SRP.

First of all, you have to understand that shaving forums attract a certain OCD type, oops, I mean hobbyist ;). And we certainly enjoy showing off our toys, along with latest & greatest finds....

But, CAN it be economical? Absolutely, 1 blade, 1 strop, 1 brush, 1 soap/cream, 1 barberhone/pasted strop and 1 aftershave (optional) are all you will ever need if that's what you choose to do. It's just that there's no fun in that :roflmao

You can definitely make what you've outlined work, but I would advise, at the very least, a second razor. Two reasons...
if you opt not to hone your own you can still shave while one is out for honing.
If you opt to hone your own you should have one to establish a base line with. I.e., you want something in shave ready condition while you're honing so you can compare.

As to the brush and bowl they last you. Brushes do detiorate. Also, you have badger (multiple grades), horse, boar, and synthetic to chose from so you may end up experimenting to see what your face likes best.

Thanks guys, I'm sure once I start I'll want really nice gear and get more fancy with it, but right now I'm trying to avoid buying replacement blades all the time. And its not even the cost, but I use the replaceable razor til I feel I need a new one which means a few rough shaves at the end. The alternative or at least what I thought was the alternative (now confermed) I could be saving boat loads of money buying just one razor, haveing a perfect and better shave everyday, haveing fun doing it, and I'm not an environmentalist, but I do like the idea that with straight razor shaving I'm not producing so much waste.

Now lets get to brass tacks, I had been wanting to straight razor shave (is it called wet shaving?) for a while now and out of impulse I've already bought a twenty dollar straight razor, thinking it would be "shave ready". The thinking was I would pay twenty bucks to see if I like shaving like that and then spend the extra money after I knew I did. At this point I want to see what I should do to figure out if I even want to shave with a straight razor, without spending alot of money. Should I send it out to be professionally honed, buy a hone (is one combo stone enough?), or maybe theres a throw away cheap straight razor approximation thing our there?

Did you look through the "razors to avoid" in the Wiki? If your razor isn't on that list I would send it out to a pro the first time around.
I've got a Dovo shavette and it isn't bad. However, had I discovered SRP before I got it, I wouldn't jaw gotten it. I would have purchased from whippeddog or holi4pirating (if I couldn't find something in my budget in the classifieds) Both fellows sell well honed blades at very reasonable prices. I've got blades from both and am quite happy with them.

The bare minimum is brush, bowl/mug, soap/cream, strop, styptic, and razor. An aftershave splash or lotion is highly recommended but if you want to be hardcore you can skip it or just use a light lotion like cornhuskers.

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Originally Posted by str8fan

Dovo Best Quality from the Art of Shaving $80
Strop from the Knife Center $40
Hone 8000/4000 from Knife Center $80
That’s ….. $200.

All else is a sunk cost as you would use it shaving otherwise but, to start off you could easily get all you need for a year for about $100 to $200 as per taste.

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I think this is pretty good. Esp the comment about 'sunk cost'.
(I personally now have a TON of that...:hmmm:)
But - Add Brush and Bowl/Mug for Shaving Soap.
And, indefinately, the soaps & creams themselves.
I would point out, esp soaps, even though some can look expensive, they can go really really far, and last quite a while.

Maybe add price of second strop right from the get-go? (If you're like most, or many - I can't speak for everyone, you may as well just write the cost of the first one off right now. :))

Actually, I've gotten several good deals on razors over the past few months. If I were to resell them, I would be shaving basically for free. I'd bet there are many who are in the positive category after many years of buying/selling. But then you get into the cost of your time, which is probably more valuable.

I just got home, my razor has no name on it? I guess that's bad huh? It was made in china and it's stainless steal, should I buy a new one?

If I'm more than likely going to like straight razor shaving, I might as well just buy a hone and sell it if things go ary?

If you're uncertain, you can go without the hone to start....then, if you don't like it, sell off the rest - and you are not out the hone.

I say this because - you can get a razor pre-sharpened by a pro here. Then shave with it several times - you'll know soon enough if all of this is for you or not. If not, then you didn't waste money on the hone.

(That is to say, while the hone may be 'min necessary' it is not an IMMEDIATELY necessary......)

Just one approach?
It's a worry though - I can understand it! "What if I spend this money and I decide against it?" Ughhh...

...one way is to wait on the Hone. Put the toes in the water first?

The cheapest way I know to get started is with:

www.whippeddog.com

"Shave-ready" razors are around $35, a "poor man's strop kit" (which includes a pasted strop) is $19.

Razors in the "Classifieds" on this website are often in the $30 - $40 range.

You can maintain a razor almost indefinitely (once it's sharp) with a barber hone, about $20.

Once you start "experimenting", of course, all financial projections are meaningless. . . . <g>

A good new stainless-steel razor from Dovo or Boker or TI costs about $150. What did you pay for yours?

Charles

Bummer about the no- name razor. From what I have read they are only good for scrap metal or practice honoring. But if the spine isn't straight, a common problem with cheap razors, practicing on it could be more frustrating than beneficial as a positive learning experience.

Impatience unfortunately catches most of us in the beginning. My first strop was a nameless POS. That actually dulled my first professionally honed razor. If I had read more first I would have bought a starter razor here, a much cheaper but equally effective brush, a better strop fore the same amount of money, etc ....

To make a long story short plan on loosing a few bucks to experimentation if you're not good a taking advice, or good at editing the mountain of advice out there.

Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Knife

I just got home, my razor has no name on it? I guess that's bad huh? It was made in china and it's stainless steal, should I buy a new one?

If I'm more than likely going to like straight razor shaving, I might as well just buy a hone and sell it if things go ary?

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I have plenty of stuff that's been made in China that isn't horrible but I wouldn't dare touch a razor made in China to my face.
Carbon steel is going to be your friend.
As others have said, whippeddog is a good deal. If you get in to it or just want to get quality stuff to start with I highly recommend the strops from Straight Razor Designs. If you nick one up the leathers are replaceable.

My wife was made in China, and she's pretty awesome!

Hey Knife read my post on why here http://straightrazorpalace.com/begin...o-shaving.html

It's not the best writing in the world but it'll give you an idea of my "start."

This is just my opinion but i believe you can start off with one of everything but you really should have two of, well most things.

* You will nick your strop
so you will decide to get a second and use your nicked on for diamond spray and pastes (if you didn't nick it bad)

* you will round your blade.
So you will want a second blade while you send off to get you razor honed. 'or' you will try to hone it yourself and realize its not something that you learn over night and you will use your second blade untill you get you rounded blade right.

* your brush will wear out.
but you can get a brush on eBay for $10 - a lot of the guys use them

I use an old 'small' desert bowl lol, that cost me nothing and works great! and most people wouldn't realize that's what is it.

If 'i' was starting out again from scratch i would be getting the following in one go. (this is just me)

* 2 x 6/8 Dovo razor worth between $80-100.
* 3" premium strop from SRD with a spare felt for diamond spray.
* The eBay $10 badger brush (frank or phoenix)
* Soap from my local "crabtree & Evelyn" shop
* 4/8k hone
* diamond spray 0.5 micron
* And my desert bowel lol (it works good!)

I think that's it and that is about $350 for 'My' setup. but can get it down much cheaper then that and you don't necessarily need two razors or the hone. i would properly still get the diamond spray and the second felt for my strop if i only had one razor.

But that is just me, most of the other guys on here are much more experienced so listen to what they have to say as they do have good advice (and a little OCD).

I hope you decide to join us as you will enjoy yourself. And you find you don't like it after starting you will get most of you money back on the Dovo razors on eBay and even a fair bit for your strop if it hasn't been nicked.

Best advice I can give, is read. read. read. and then read again. Buy a decent started set like the one from SRD or get one from whippeddog, and buy a second shave ready razor from the classifieds. I learned the hard way. I made every new guy mistake and then some. Spent more money on bad products than needed. then I found SRP and things got a lot better. Now when I think back on it, it's kinda funny. But you can do it for $200 or less all told. I got a buddy started for around 95.

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Originally Posted by bondpunk

or get one from whippeddog, and buy a second shave ready razor from the classifieds.

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Agreed, you can always rely on the classifieds for a cheap razor!

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Originally Posted by Knife

Its seems to me I need to buy one razor and that should last me my entire life.

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:rofl2:

Fine, here's your ten characters

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Originally Posted by JohnJ

:rofl2:

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Oh be nice to the man :p there was an awful lot of people "in the day" who had one razor, one strop and that's about all. The absolute minimum to do this really is quite modest, it's all the other things that push the price up. Not that most of us seem to mind.

If by "all the other things", you are referring to our racoon-like impulse to hoard shiny things, I agree with you 100%

Yeah, that'd be the one :rofl2:

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Originally Posted by JohnJ

If by "all the other things", you are referring to our racoon-like impulse to hoard shiny things, I agree with you 100%

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mmm shiny :)

aah, I mean, I have no idea what your talking about :D

I think if we transposed the word "racoon" for "magpie" it should translate for us Aussies. ;)

I got this off of Amazon, 11.99

Professional Quality Straight Razor 210582WD by General Edge

Its got a straight spine, should I hone it and try shaving with it?

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Originally Posted by Knife

I got this off of Amazon, 11.99

Professional Quality Straight Razor 210582WD by General Edge

Its got a straight spine, should I hone it and try shaving with it?

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You can if you want, but I wouldn't, a razor that cheap almost certainly comes from China or Pakistan and there's usually a reason for their cheapness (ie they almost always only look like a razor, they don't behave like one). Why don't you read some of the Stickies at the top of the Beginners page or take the other advice given in the thread? You're over 30 bucks to the bad so far.

If you are really there for the economics and the economics only, I'd suggest a double edge. Sure, the blade are disposable but they are in the range of 1/10-1/20th the cost of modern cartridge. For the price of strop/ hone/ paste you can get quite a few year of blade that you know are well sharpened.

If you like the idea of straight razor, you probably need to accept it cost a bit more. There's a LOT of thing to learn at the same time and I believe it's worth to start with a safe-bet sandbox where the only unknown is your shave technique. Then try to master stropping before adding honing in the equation.

If you want to challenge statistic and find the perle-rare of cheap razor, that's a valid hobby per se. However I'd suggest you to get a cheap razor from the classified or there Categories . It may not be the most beautifull thing in the world but it's 30$ for the knowledge of what does a shave ready edge feel/look like

I just want to let you guys know I'm not planing on just getting the bear minimum. I'm just asking the question so that if it ends up I don't like it as a hobby, will it still be a way I can save money doing. I don't want to get a double blade because it is still about the fun factor for me. I'm going to get the razor strop kit at Whipped dog, which is shave ready and get a hone later once I've determined I like it, it's only 40, so what the hell. I'll let that function as my "compare" blade later on when I get a real nice razor, once I know a little more and better decide on what I want. My latest query is this hollow, half, fraction consideration, but I'll learn that later.

Now having said that, now that you know I'm in the middle between a person who wants the cheapest setup ever and one who wants all the frills (closer to the cheap side though, just starting) what is up with these five hundred dollar razors? My God, what could warrent that price tag? And why have more than five. I mean if your collecting them that's fine, but I've seen roll up bags that fit like seven it seemed and that's not the type of thing you would keep a collectable. So if it's not a collectable, is someone realy standing over a rolled out selection of razor and thinking which one do I want to shave with today? Or is there a reason for having that many to choose from?

Well, if you really want to save some money here you go....This guy Daryl shaves with obsidian as does his brother, Daryl. Larry does not.

&#x202a;shaving with stone razors&#x202c;&rlm; - YouTube

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Originally Posted by Knife

...
Now having said that, now that you know I'm in the middle between a person who wants the cheapest setup ever and one who wants all the frills (closer to the cheap side though, just starting) what is up with these five hundred dollar razors? My God, what could warrent that price tag? And why have more than five. I mean if your collecting them that's fine, but I've seen roll up bags that fit like seven it seemed and that's not the type of thing you would keep a collectable. So if it's not a collectable, is someone realy standing over a rolled out selection of razor and thinking which one do I want to shave with today? Or is there a reason for having that many to choose from?

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Ok, the $500 razor ... the phrase "razors as art" should explain everything there. Hand made, custom designed pieces are always going to be expensive.
As for the reasons to have a selection, well for one it means your razors don't need to be honed nearly as often. Also it means that while one is out getting honed you have others to chose from.
As I understand it, "back in the day" a gentleman of means was expected to have more than one razor and considered to be an unfortunate soul if he didn't. working stiffs, if they had one at all, would be more likely to have just the one. I believe there was a lament over the Prussian Ambassador who, when the Arch Duke Ferdinanad was assasinated, took his own life with his only razor. The lament being that he had only the one razor. I could have that completely farce about ace too, so don't go including it in a history paper without checking properly.

I am not into collecting and got into shaving to save on the $4 cartridge blades so I have a modest setup. I got a $50 travel kit from aos that was brush, cream, pre-shave oil, and after shave. I got the strop and dovo best quality from srd and an all stainless from srd and a merkur DE to use while traveling. Then I got a nawania 12k, this setup set me back around $400 which from my calculations is about one years shave on cartridge razors. So after the first year you should break even and be set for life. I think the two razors might be a luxury but is nice when it comes time to sharpen you razor you can take your time.

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Originally Posted by Knife

I mean if your collecting them that's fine, but I've seen roll up bags that fit like seven it seemed and that's not the type of thing you would keep a collectable. So if it's not a collectable, is someone realy standing over a rolled out selection of razor and thinking which one do I want to shave with today? Or is there a reason for having that many to choose from?

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My understanding is that many will try to collect razor experience instead of razor themselves. So they buy, keep the one they like the most and sell. It's kinda a quest to the best razor that fit them. There was a thread that compared it to building a sport team.

Brand new razor have a big "not-new-anymore" penality when you resell them... but for used one, a few more shave won't make the price drop that much... so you can resell it for almost what you got it for.

"I mean if your collecting them that's fine, but I've seen roll up bags that fit like seven it seemed and that's not the type of thing you would keep a collectable. So if it's not a collectable, is someone realy standing over a rolled out selection of razor and thinking which one do I want to shave with today? Or is there a reason for having that many to choose from?"

You mean that poor guy has to choose from just seven razors? Oh, the humanity!

The 7-razor set is a tradition with the intent to have one razor per day. On that basis, each razor would be used approx. four times a month. If you started with a full set of shave-ready blades, sharpening and honing would have to occur far less frequently. So more than anything, it's practical. Several French and German makers continue to supply 7-day sets, often with each razor marked with the name of a different day. And... OMG, it's also fun!

One day I plan to have more than one shave ready razor. Currently I have one more I should be able to get there my self (simple hone jobs) and a couple that I'm definitely going to need professional help with (NOT simple. My Packwood wedge has both a smile and a frown and as much as I want to shave with it I refuse to ruin it from my lack of skills).

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Originally Posted by pcg

On that basis, each razor would be used approx. four times a month. sharpening and honing would have to occur far less frequently.

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Do you have an idea on how often one need to hone razor used 4 time a month like that ?
Hone the whole set each 3-6 month? A year ?

That would depend greatly on how you treat your razors, how you prep your beard before shaving, if you have acidic skin chemistry, how well you strop etc etc. I've seen 6 months to a year mentioned before, but it's so variable ...