Thread: I just discovered SRP... too late?

Tony's strops are top notch.

That said, I'd be willing to bet that everything you bought is quite servicable except the razor. If you're as poor as I was as a college student, you may want to live with the cheap strop and brush for a while. The old hone you got will probably last your lifetime without need of replacement.

You'll probably nick your strop a few times while you're learning and it will save you some tears if you nick a cheap strop rather than Tony's best.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Count your blessings.. I actually SHAVED with one of those junkers before finding the SRP Fortunately the exfoliating action of wet shaving is reducing the scarring

I did the same thing, only my razor was a little sneakier. It was a disguised version of one of those Zeepks--same steel, different brand name.

Be very suspicious of any "brand new" razor that sells for less than about $50.

I started out with a cheap strop, too. My Tony Miller hanging strop was a huge step up, but using the cheap one gave me a lot of practice. I only have one small nick in my nice strop.

You'll probably need to get some mink oil or other leather conditioner to treat the leather right away. Search the forum for tips on breaking in a strop. This inexpensive leather will probably be dry and would benefit immensely from some conditioning.

Good luck, and welcome to this manly club.
Josh

the good news is that you got yourself a practice hone and a practice strop so taht you can use your zeepk razor on both of those to practice with without worry'n that you'll damage it up terrible. stropping and honing both need practice as they are not motions that people are used to doing before they start shaving. so practice!

2 ways to go: package deal it... or piece meal it:

1 - tony miller will sell you a full package. top to bottom that is a great set but its more then you spent and as a college student it may be difficult to buy. birthday coming?? but his stuff is great and you can rest assured on the quality.

2 - piece meal it. i'd suggest a razor from a member here selling a shave ready one on the forums. joshearl been selling some cheaper ones 30-40$ range. many others are also selling. for that price range they won't be the best lookers with exotic wood scales or pearl etc etc..but they will function great nonetheless. as for a strop you can get one of tony's lower cost hangers for 30$. the leather and workmanship is still great and that will last you a long time doing a fine job. lastly you have the hone that you can use for touch ups.. alternatively and some people find it easier to use a pasted paddle/ pasted bench hone for touch ups.. either way thats another 20'ish. you could always go with the 4sided pasted paddle from tony and have 1 side unpasted for stropping and the other pasted for touch ups. so many combos to choose from but yes, the starting cost of straight shaving is more then other shaving..but thats all the equipment you'll need for a long long time.

best of luck to you. take your time jumping in. if you have to buy some of it now and another piece in a couple weeks it will be worth the wait.

~J

No birthday coming up, but I've still got some spare money from Christmas

I'm seriously considering the Tony Miller set with a hanging strop, since the hone should be good enough for a touch up when I need it. I could then get some use from the Zeepk by learning to strop on it.

That seems like a sound plan to me, but I'd appreciate any additional input.

My basic kit is a Tony Miller strop a good razor and a barbers hone to keep it refreshed. I wouldn't let the ZEEPAK touch the good leather though. I don't think it would hurt it but it's kind of sacrilegious.

Seriously I'd take a look at the ZEEPAK strop when it comes and see if it is smooth, I mean really smooth, if so, I'd skip the set and just get a nice shave ready shaver from one of the guys here. Then you can use your extra cash for some really nice soaps, or wait a while and see if you want a better strop then.

At least you now have a razor and strop to practice with so when you get yourself a good quality setup you'll be less likely to ruin an edge from poor stropping technique. Oh, by the way, Welcome aboard!

Kurt

To be fair the strop probably will work good enough for now. I've used a cheap (badly known) brand strop for almost a year and have only just upgraded to something more solid. It's worked just fine for me. Plus now I won't nick my nicer strop. As much as I like Tony I'd say go with what you have for now apart from the razor. If the strop ends up being no good you can always upgrade.

Thanks for all the help! I'm gonna wait on my strop to get here and if it's serviceable I'll just pick myself up a razor from Tony's website.

I'm glad I found this website and I hope I can be an active member of the community. Thanks again, everyone.