Thread: My first Razor

I am an experienced DE shaver with about 50 straight shaves to my credit, so I am still quite a newbie. I started with an old Original Bartmann I had from my first disastrous attempt at straight shaving about 30 years ago. It was a beginners razor. When I tried straights again, I had the razor professionally honed. I struggled with that razor for several weeks before giving up and buying a mid-priced Dovo ($150). The difference is dramatic. The Dovo cuts my beard easily (except on my chin, but that's probably a technique problem). I would stay away from inexpensive razors. I never used a Dovo best quality, but I have read reviews of people who have upgraded from them to mid-priced Dovo's who say the cutting ability of the more expensive razor is significantly better.

If your beard is light, easy to cut, start with the less expensive Dovo, but if you have a difficult, dense beard like mine, get a razor of at least mid-range quality. It's only one razor and you will know that any cutting problems are due to prep and technique which you can correct with practice. If you can afford quality, start with quality. That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

Good luck. It's worth the effort to learn straights. They are my favorite way to shave.

Edit: I got my Dovo at SRD and the experience was first rate, I highly recommend them.