Thread: Looking for opinions

I'm getting married in September, and in looking for good gifts for groomsman, I thought a straight razor would be welcome. The problem is, most "good" razors are out of my price range. I found this, though, and I'm wondering what your opinions are on it. From what I can gather from the interwebs, the Gold Dollar razor isn't too great out of the box, but once it's properly honed, it works well. The seller says the blade is pre-sharpened, so I assume that means it's "shave ready", but I guess that's why I'm asking you guys. When I asked a bit about him and blade, here was his response:

I am a little factory, I can make all the razors you need and the leather strops too.

The blade is a Gold dollar #66 blade. It's a big 6/8" blade (sometime close to 7/8"), made in china with high carbon tool steel.

I can make you the set of your choice.

All of my friends (and myself) are straight razor newbies, so I feel like this might be a good "beginners kit" sort of thing. What do you think?

Read this thread: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ar-razors.html

There are some that find the gold dollar OK to shave with, and some that think they are garbage. Most of the gold dollars I have seen have been ok, but there are those knock offs out there that are garbage. My suggestion is to be careful. Order just one blade and try it out. If it is honed and shave ready all the better. If it is not have it honed and see what kind of quality it is. A honemeister will know what kind of quality your blade is within a few strokes on the rock. Hopefully a member that has purchased from etsy will be able to guide you better for your purchase. I have always believed you get what you pay for.

Originally Posted by Xcaliber

I'm getting married in September, and in looking for good gifts for groomsman, I thought a straight razor would be welcome. The problem is, most "good" razors are out of my price range. I found this, though, and I'm wondering what your opinions are on it. From what I can gather from the interwebs, the Gold Dollar razor isn't too great out of the box, but once it's properly honed, it works well. The seller says the blade is pre-sharpened, so I assume that means it's "shave ready", but I guess that's why I'm asking you guys. When I asked a bit about him and blade, here was his response:



All of my friends (and myself) are straight razor newbies, so I feel like this might be a good "beginners kit" sort of thing. What do you think?

I really wouldn't go for that unless you could get at least a Dovo Best Quality or something of equal caliber. If that is too expensive, I'd opt for another gift selection unless these guys are inclined to want to learn how to use a straight. Otherwise it will wind up on ebay or sit and deteriorate. I know I have accumulated a couple of Dovo Best Quality razors for a steal from a people who tried straight shaving and gave up almost immediately. All I had to do is hone it and it was as good as new.

Hi- my two cents would be to avoid the razor and look at a very nice mug and brush instead of the razor. Mug and brush you know will be used. A razor could cause more trouble than its worth especially if it really needs to be honed to get the best shave out of it. If your groomsmen are new to straight razors they may not have the experience to hone the razor to the level it needs to be.

Originally Posted by kpromano

Hi- my two cents would be to avoid the razor and look at a very nice mug and brush instead of the razor. Mug and brush you know will be used. A razor could cause more trouble than its worth especially if it really needs to be honed to get the best shave out of it. If your groomsmen are new to straight razors they may not have the experience to hone the razor to the level it needs to be.

+1 on this. Straight razor shaving is not for everyone. I suspect that even if you were to buy a high quality razor for each of these men, they would most likely collect dust anyway. But if you did a decent brush/mug/soap combo of some sort, that might actually get used. AND it may lead them into DE or SR shaving down the road. Anytime the topic comes up with people who do not shave with a straight, I always suggest that they try shaving with a good soap/cream and a brush because I believe that ANY form of shaving will benefit from that. Add a decent soap or cream to the package and may end up with a few converts. Keep in mind that Arko is dirt cheap and Proraso isn't over the top either. A bad razor set up will have your friends running back to their Schick cartridges while the soap/brush/mug combo could peak some interest.