Lack of Shaving Supplies in my area. What ya got?

I live in Waxahachie, Texas. A small town south of Dallas. I have been all over this area looking for straight razor supplies. I even asked a few beauty suppy stores. Insert blank stare here. No luck at all. I didn't even have any luck finding a shave soap until I went to Target. They had the Van Der Hagen shave kit and being that I needed a brush and shaving mug I went ahead and grabbed it. It has some soap with it also. I know it's not the best but it is what it is. Here is the best part. I still need a straight razor and strop. I've looked in the classifieds here and didn't really see one that caught my attention. Anybody have a good one they would like to sell. I would really like a rounded point and something I can show my buddies. :) I have a pretty thick beard and it grows like I fertilize it or something. Also if you know of any good places to buy supplies aroung north Tx please let me know. By the way, hello to all reading this and I look forward to sharing some conversations with you guys...... and gals. Please pray for the Oklahoma tornado ordeal going on right now. It looks terrible. Thanks

Actually the VDH is pretty good soap. You can also get it at Rite Aide and Walgreens. As far as the strop & razor, do yourself a favor for your first, and get them from SRP or Vintage Blades or other major on-line retailer. That way you know that you are starting with a shave ready razor and the bevels will be right. Lynn does the sharpeneing for SRP & Vintage.

VDH is fine for soap. The soap won't make or break the shave. The razor has to be shave ready and the stropping has to be on or you will lose that edge quickly. You can't go wrong with srd shave ready razors and strops, if you don't mind a vintage, try Larry at whipped dog. Good luck. There's lots to learn.you will find lots of info here.

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Originally Posted by jbtusa

Actually the VDH is pretty good soap. You can also get it at Rite Aide and Walgreens. As far as the strop & razor, do yourself a favor for your first, and get them from SRP or Vintage Blades or other major on-line retailer. That way you know that you are starting with a shave ready razor and the bevels will be right. Lynn does the sharpeneing for SRP & Vintage.

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I was just on SRD and I'm looking to see what I want. The one I wanted was not in stock. I really like the package deals he has for strops and razors.

So it's between the Dovo Silver Steel in 5/8 Ebony or Dovo Astrale Ebony 5/8. These any good? Preferance? I'm not educated on the blade materials yet. Most of his Bokers I like are out of stock.

Hey, FrogHair (great handle).
You're right about local brick & mortar store being few & far between. That's true even in many large cities.
You'll find that satisfaction from getting a quality/pleasing product lasts alot longer than the annoyance & hassle of obtaining it. Mail Order/Online purchases are your friend. You mention heavy beard. This means beard prep is big medicine or you'll be sending out you blades for fresh edges alot. (if this actually becomes an issue, PM me - there's low cost solutions you can do).

Depending on budget, you can have a *high* quality soap for $10. $17 for a cream. Many Many decent soaps can be had for $4/puck. The big deal is to get your beard of steel 'shaveable'. Since this is new for ya, you might want to consider a heavier grind razor - 1/2 hollow to near wedge. They're harder to find, and usually more costly, but very friendly to learn with. Some can grab an extra hollow squarepoint and just take right to it w/ no carnage. Then there's the rest of us. When I looked at the various classifieds a day or so back, I didn't see any. You can always go w/ the Dovo Best from SRD and know it absolutely came shave ready. If you take a glove size of XL or larger - opt for the 6/8 instead of the 5/8. 'Just easier for a big hand to articulate something w/ an adquate shank size.

Your tastes are gonna change, so maybe keep the blade spending low until you've settled into some longer term preferences. 'Classifieds are an excellent way to go. If you get one and the edge isn't up to snuff - hollar.

Side note: Texas has an unnaturally high concentration of VERY high skilled craftsmen. Its true in many areas, and very true w/ razors. You prob have experienced guys w/in an hour's drive. Getting some face-time w/ them would be tremendously helpful. Should your travels bring you near the Portland, OR area - pm me & we'll swap stories, try gear, sharpen blades.

Welcome to SRP!

Just a heads-up that there is more than one shop online that has "Vintage Blades" in their name. The one that makes use of Lynn's honing services is vintagebladesllc.com

Good luck

First and foremost I love doing business with Lynn and Don at SRD!!

However, when you are starting out you have a very, very high percentage of cutting your stop! There are less expensive stops out there such as from Whipped Dog. However I highly recommend this strop! It’s affordable and Glen (GSSIXGUN) has used it for 30+ years!

Illinois Razor Strop #827

After I hone a razor and start my stropping I start on the Illinois and then progress to my SRD #1. (Illinois linen then SRD cotton, then Illinois leather and finish on the SRD leather)

A plus to this strop is that you will learn the X-stroke for stropping!! While my SRD is 3” wide and I could easily do just straight up and back strokes, I do ‘always’ end up using the X-stroke to make sure that the edge has been brought up to the best it can perform on my shaves!!

I hope that this has been of some help to you!!

I wouldn't drop a ton of cash on your first straight.. Srd is great to deal with.. Whipped dog you can get a set up pretty cheap, and I think mike from mason razor works does most of Larry's honing.. But just my opinion.. If u wind up not liking the shave or the hobby at least u didn't drop hundreds on the equipment..

I'm just copy and pasting this from another thread I replied to earlier that asked similar questions:

I started with a Ralf Aust razor (6/8 in rosewood) from Straight razor designs and a strop from them as well. It is an awesome razor and strop (3' Red Latigo) and the Ralf Aust Razors are garnering some great reviews from members here, here's a link to a very recent review of a Ralf Aust razor. I love mine and love straight razor shaving. The blade was super sharp and everything came packaged safely and arrived in about 3 days from SRD.

You'll definitely want to go with a razor/strop kit like one from SRD and don't worry too much about nicking that nice new strop, take your time when learning and go nice and slooowww and you will more than likely not have any nicks. People have mentioned whipped dog but everyone seems to really like the man who runs the site and the products you get from him, while they may be beat up, will be very useable and a cheap way to get into SR shaving. I was also close to going this route when I started, but decided I would rather want a brand new blade to start with It's all a matter of price and personal preference really.

Something I recently came across in my search for a second razor is a deal over at TheSuperiorShave.com that includes: a razor, strop, alum block & styptic pencil, strop pastes, razor sleeve, and a small hone. Just a lot of things a beginner will need. Here is a link to that set as well. The things included in that set will keep you going for quite a while. I probably would have taken this route if that set was around when I started my journey. All that stuff and a Dovo Best Quality for only $188 bucks seems like a really good deal to me, but I could be wrong as I'm not much further into this than you are (about 2 months) and still don't know a whole lot. :)

But anyways, I hope this helps!

Good Luck and welcome! :)

Wow you guys are really helping me out. I appreciate that. I'm really enjoying this site already. So I really like the Dovo "gentleman". But it's not on SRD website. Can anyone tell me if this is a good razor please. On the fence about it right now........link>>>> http://customshaving.com/shaving-too...razor-5-8.html

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Originally Posted by FrogHair

Wow you guys are really helping me out. I appreciate that. I'm really enjoying this site already. So I really like the Dovo "gentleman". But it's not on SRD website. Can anyone tell me if this is a good razor please. On the fence about it right now........link>>>> Dovo Gentleman Straight Razor

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Dovo uses two different steels, Carbon and Stainless.

What you pay for beyond that is the blade shape, decoration/etching, Spine work, and scales.

Dovo makes a fine product, the question then becomes was it pro honed? That will depend on the vendor you purchase it through.

The one point that I ‘believe’ that you are missing is that there are some who find that after spending a ton of cash on razors, strops, etc have found that shaving with a straight requires more than they are willing to do to learn! Then their investments are lost!

This Art of shaving with a straight razor has a Huge Learning Curve. Once mastered, or at least more experienced, it’s a Wonderful New World! Personally as long as the hands, wrists and arms continue to work as they do, I’ll never go back!! If by chance I do need to step back I’ll go no further than a DE!

NOW! You will find that at least 90% of shaving with, buying, honing, stropping, prefered grinds, country of origin etc is all 'personal preference'!!

While 'I' find that the new DOVO’s are decent shavers, however my new Revisor can shave circles around the new DOVO’s that I’ve tried after honing and stropping.

Personally I’d recommend picking up a vintage razor or two. Right now there’s nothing in the SRP Classifieds that I could recommend for a beginner.

Send me a PM and I’ll put you in touch with a friend who probably has a nice beginner’s razor for you. Also, his edges are Excellent!

Enjoy the Ride!

Pm sent......

Thanks Cudarunner. You are a heck of a guy.