Thread: How did you begin - first razor, shave, etc

I'm curious how yall's start went. The more I look at new razors edges being not shave ready or frowning or whatever, the more I just feel lucky. Whether that was lucky to be ignorant or luck to have gotten a good starter razor I am not sure.

About 20 years ago, on a lark I decided to get a straight razor just for another cool knife. I'd never even seen one up close. I walked out of the store with a Col Conk kit that included the razor, strop, brush, honing stone, and some basic advice on stropping for about $70. I got home and obviously had to try it once. I didn't know anyone with any experience, so did some research on the internet and had at it. I loved it and used it for a few years until I ended up growing a full beard. And, it still gives me close comfortable shaves.

I have never used this paddle hone thing because I have no idea what it is. Feels kinda like pomace. But, I have extra razors now, so who knows, maybe I'll try it out. Paul just hones off any old rock he finds, so what harm can it do?

Yall'd yell at me if I didn't put a picture...so....



Oh, I didn't include the brush because I am not sure if it is the one I still use or if I replaced it at some point.

I started thirty some years ago, before the internet.

No help, self taught, i was 17.

Got my first straight, while working for a local farmer.
He had a small,ranch hand house that he wanted to renovate. While I was cleaning out the root cellar, I came across three rusty razors. Out of the three, one survived enough for use. After a good cleaning, I could see it was a Torrey, 4/8ths.

I only had a few hones that were mainly for knives n such, but I had one that was fine enough for me to get it to shave. It may be no more than 1K, but then I took it to a leather belt that I'd pasted the suede side, with different automotive polishing compounds, I knew would refine it some more. Then of course, the clean side of the leather belt. Then to my face, covered in canned goo.

I shaved that way for many of years, like, just 6-7 years ago. Then I learned about all the various stones/hones when I joined this forum. Changed everything..!!

1k challenge..... Huh! Lived it...don't miss it. But it made me to learn my hones, and what their limits were. And overall, become a better honer.

I think the 1K challenge, is a worthy thing. If you believe I your abilities as a honer, you should try it.

RIP

I got my start with a straight by joining in on a pass-around box.

Someone that had much more money than he knew what to do with made 5 boxes with 5 razors in each box. The boxes were sent out to guys who put their names on the list. When you got the box you had to own a strop and you got to keep the box for 2 weeks I think it was. That gave you enough time to try the razors out and get a chance to try and use a few different Straights. At the end of your time, you had to send the razors to the next guy on the list at your cost. small priority box. Also, you got to keep one razor from the box.

The guy who started these pass-around boxes would send another razor to add to the box so it always had 5 blades in it. When they got damaged or needed honing you sent to box back to him and he would take care of it and send it to the next guy.

It was a great way for me to learn and get my feet wet in straight razor shaving. And to know if I was going to like it. One other thing you had to do was post a shave diary of how it was going, what you were using, and that kinda stuff.

Here is the razor I got from the box. My first Straight Razor... Sweedish. I learned the odd name stood for Butterfly.



I did restore it a couple years later when I join SRP and learned what it takes to restore razors.

When I was young I liberated my great grandfathers razor from my father. The barber at the time was a cranky old military barber. I bugged him and bugged him for two years. Finally he honed my razor, showed me how to strop and explained it to me while shaving all 16 of my whiskers. I had a leather belt to strop with, and that took me to after high school. I then worked on the water, and grew a beard. Occasionally I would get a shave in a barbershop. Fast forward many years, and I was required to be clean shaven for work. The internet had come along in my beard years. After some research I found a few factors which most agreed upon. Buy a shave ready razor of the best quality you could afford. Classic edge set me up with a kit, and I was away. After some time and a couple of razors in, I came here more or less to try to figure out more about honing and restoring. I have since accumulated a lot of stuff.

I got my start almost before I was old enough to shave. I had just a little more than peach fuzz and had always watched my dad shave. Of course I had the little play cup and brush and plastic razor when I was a little boy. I think my dad got me that for Christmas one year or something. I was so little I don't even remember.
Anyway, so I had just started shaving with one of my dad's old DE's and thought I had a handle on it. I think I was about 15. He had a straight razor that I think was my grandfather's which he didn't really use very much but I do have some, not very many, vague memories of him using it. My grandfather died when I was about six or seven so I was still pretty young. I always thought the straight razor was really cool and I loved more than anything to watch him strop it on his old belt.
One day when nobody was around I decided I had enough ass in my britches to try the straight razor. I got it out and lathered up with his old Hazel Atlas mug full of Williams and his old boar bristle brush, he always used boar, soaped myself up and went after it. At the end I thought it was pretty good. Nice and smooth to my notion. So this was on a Saturday afternoon. The next day, as always, we went to church. I don't know why he was the first to notice it or at least to say something about it but the youth director, who was a real character, looked at me, wrinkled up his brow and said, "Did you get attacked by a cat?" I guess I hadn't even really looked in the mirror closely but when I went into the bathroom and looked I had all these tiny little scratches about half an inch or so long all over my face. I did however eventually learn how to use it correctly. It wasn't until years and years later my dad gave me that straight razor. I still have it, his old Hazel Atlas milk glass mug and some other paraphernalia of his including his old belt strop and some barber hones. Those were the only hones that I ever saw him use for razors. He may well have used that giant gray brick that I also have but I don't really remember him using it more than a time or two that I can remember and not on his own razor. I like Mike used that razor and those couple of barber hones by themselves for a long time, at least 10 years before I discovered that there was information on the internet about straight razors. I came here looking for information on one that I had bought and then the world full of other things opened up to me as well. I too think that the 1k challenge is a very good trial to put yourself through. It can be very... enlightening.
Oh yeah, I guess I should post some pictures of my heirloom gear.

I bought my first razor about 50 years ago at a flea market in London, England while I was on holiday. I was in my 20’s. It has no maker’s mark on it, but it looked cool and was cheap.


I tried shaving with it, but it was DULL and I did not own a strop at the time and had not even heard of a hone, so it stayed in a drawer for about 5 years.

On a whim, I bought a new razor which actually had a shave ready edge on it out of the box and got hooked. Then I discovered that my dad had two strops in his basement, one of which I have since learned was made by Naomi san. I bought a Norton 4/8 and was off to the races, self-taught through trial and error.

A few years later, I did an internet search and discovered the original SRP. That’s when my collection started to build because I began to feel confident about maintaining the functioning razors I had and trying to restore the ones that were marginal. Seeing what the folks here were able to do and having them care enough to explain how they did it was inspiring and made me feel like someone was always there to help.

My first straight was part of a beginners kit from Classic edge that included a shave ready Dovo Astrale, a board strop, brush and soap, that was in Oct 2019.

The day it arrived I lathered up then immediately washed off my face and went on the internet to find out how to use it. I discovered SRP and learned so much.

I managed my first shave, was sent razors by Outback, soon after a Barbers Hone by Dzec and when after I had been honing for a short while, PaulFLUS sent me some blunt razors to practice on.

It hasn't been long in the greater scheme of things but I went from not knowing how to shave to 15 razors and a full set of synths as well as Arks and Coticle, and it's all thanks to the things I learned on SRP ( and it's enablers)

I hadn't even touched a straight to my face before I found this forum and I when I hear your stories of how you started years ago by teaching yourselves to shave and even hone through trail and error, I am amazed and full of admiration. If I didn't have the internet and this forum specifically I know for a fact that I would not be straight shaving today.

To be completely honest, if I had not had the internet, straights would never have been even on my radar because it was only by stumbling on a store that sold them and thinking how cool they looked that resulted in me wanting to give it a go. I knew it would be a waste of money but I got one on an impulse and now here we are.

My older brother bought me my first straight razor, a Dovo from TOBS.

I didn't want it nor anything to do with them but he insisted i would love it..

Some time later and after TOBS insisting it was shave ready from the factory and 2 professional honings i still could not shave with the stupid thing due to tugging..

I then got myself a Hart Steel razor honed properly and had my first decent shave..what a palava :/

wanted to try a straight razor shave, so I started looking for barbers around me to have one. Not many... Instead found out I could do it myself. Got a Dovo shavette to try and have been straight shaving (with an occasional SE or DE thrown in) for ten years.

This has really been interesting. I have heard parts of these stories that have come up in various threads, but not all put together. I have to say, the "share a box" gasman started with is just a cool idea. I have never heard of such a thing.

To STF's point about "self taught" I think I could say that I taught myself how to shave, but honing perhaps not as much. I will say I didn't get much help, but if that cheap Col Conk razor had been warped or wonky, I am not sure what I would have done. Just plain ole flat x strokes. I am not sure I would have stuck with it if I had to try to figure out rolling x strokes and such no my own. So, there again, I feel lucky with my first razor.