Thread: Thinking about getting a straight razor & a few intro questions

Hey all,
This is a great forum and I look forward to participating in it! It's great to see people getting the most out of small things (like shaving), which is why I'm intrigued.

I'm 18 and I've been wet shaving ~2 months now (canned cream and a disposable razor) and really enjoy it over my electric razor but, looking through the threads here, it seems like there's more to this. Just reading through the other threads and seeing $200+ razors means there is at least something enjoyable about this.

First of all, I can't quite grow a beard yet, but plan to. Is a straight razor a good choice for tidying beards or not so much?

Second, what mistake results in cutting a strop?
[edit:This thread answered my question]

If I do go the straight razor route I'll probably start with Whipped Dog's "sight unseen" razor-only deal because it's hard to beat and I'm a poor college student. Anyone have experience with that?

I'd like to pair that with a synthetic brush from "The Body Shoppe" (which was suggested on a synthetic brush thread) and a converted seatbelt strop. That way, if it turns out I'm horribly un-ambidextrous and slice my cheek open every day I can move on without much loss. There is plenty around on soaps, creams and aftershaves, so I'll figure that out later unless there is a go-to newbie combo.

Thanks in advance!
~Nick