Anniversary Thanks to SRP
Folks --
Today is my 3d anniversary as a member of SRP.
I originally joined because I was always fond of "sharp things", and had bought my first SR, a Hoffritz 5/8 round point, back in the early 80s when Hoffritz had knife shops in many malls. I had gone in looking for kitchen knives, but then saw the display of SRs and strops, and since I was already a brush and mug wet shaver, I just had to have one. That urge is now know as RAD. :w
To make a long story short, I shaved maybe 2, 3 or 4 weeks on weekends with it, cut the strop a time or two, and since it probably never was what I would now know as "shave ready" , it was not a very successful run, and I oiled it with RemOil, packed it up, in its original plastic case and put it in my gun safe.
When we moved the second or third time after that house, and I had to get everything out of and back into the safe a second (or third or maybe fourth) time to move it and set it back up, I pulled the razor out and tried this new "internet" thing to search for what the h-ll I was doing wrong. Next thing you know, here I was on SRP with tons of people who knew what they were doing, were friendly and were ready to help. Now, three years later, I still have that Hoffritz and shave successfully with it occasionally, but also have some unknown number of much nicer others of modern and vintage era, and have enough soaps, creams, brushes and strop to (theoretically) last a lifetime.
As all of you except the very newest members of SRP know, "enough" is just theoretical.:rofl2:
Anyway, I wanted to do a post to thank all of you who have helped me, some of you without knowing it, some just by my reading your posts. A few have corresponded with me, a few have honed my razors for me and even called me to offer specific advice. One that I owe special thanks is, Tom, aka Sharptonn, who helped introduce me to a whole new breed of vintage SRs, and letting me try some of his and coached me on how to handle and use them best.
If I could give advice to anyone who is just starting out, it would be fourfold:
1 -- Read everything on the site, especially the basic "getting started material BEFORE you spend a lot of money;
2 -- Watch all the videos done by Gssixgun, Lynn and other legitimate "experts" that you can find on the site or on Youtube (but ignore anyone's videos that seem to be too "different" from the norm to be of help);
3 -- Go slowly on buying, using, and trying too many different versions of anything -- razor, soaps, creams, brushes, strops, etc. If you can't use one of them well, you probably won't do any better with another one; and
4 -- Hook up with and follow posts of some of the mentors on the forum. They actually want to help, enjoy seeing others succeed and know what they're doing. If you can do it in person, that is no doubt best, but if you can't, PM one that you see posting on a topic you need help with, ask them a question, and pay attention to their advice and answers. You'll be surprised at how much help you can get long distance.
Well, thanks for reading this friends, and thanks for all the help you've been. Three years later I am a decent SR shaver, still getting better, I enjoy many different razors, including DE and SE in addition to my many (by my standards) SRs, and I enjoy being part of the forum, even when I'm not as active sometimes.
And, by the way, I speak from expensive experience on point # 3 above:banghead:
