Prices have been so high or this is just me?

[hi_bud_gl]

I wanted extend my hobby a little more and decide to buy brush,strop.i couldn't believe what i am seeing.Prices are higher then i expected.Is this just me been cheap person?i used to think escher's are expensive above 200 etc now i saw strops for 80 brushes over 250 wow,
Any opinion please shoot it as hard as you can?

[StraightRazorDave]

Prices are expensive. I can see someone spending thousands if they wanted all the best equipment.

Just picture how much a set of shaptons (i.e. 1000, 4000, 8000, 16000 and god forbid the 30000 too!), a fancy shaving brush, a nice strop, a bunch of fancy shave creams/soaps and aftershaves??

People switching the straights to save money....

[JimmyHAD]

You can still buy a good brush for a reasonable price. Vintage Blades is having a big sale and the Shavemacs are darned good brushes.

[pjrage]

Being new, I wouldn't know what the old prices were, but it seems to me that there is actually just a very very wide range of prices for the items we use, and subsequently a large range of qualities, features, and/or "luxury" you get. I mean, you can get a "good enough" strop for $20 or pay over $100, a razor for $50 or $800, a hone for $35 or $600, a brush for $15 or $500. A soap for $1.50 or $60. Aftershave for $5 or $75. Huge price ranges, and from what I can tell, there is definitely a point at which the returns don't justify the extra cost anymore, unless of course you have extra money to spend or you just want to experiment.

Did the same items you are looking at used to cost less? Or has there been a jump in quality since you've looked, and therefore a jump in price? Most of the $80+ strops are really really nice handmade strops with the best materials. You can still find plenty of strops for much cheaper, but you may not be getting the best possible quality. Also, you really don't need to spend $250 to get a great brush. Jimmy is right on, the shavemacs are damn fine brushes and the sale makes them even sweeter. You could even order a custom shavemac with a D01 knot and real horn handle for much less than $250. And then there are the Rooney super brushes which are among the best bang for the buck brushes you can get in terms of price vs quality.

What exactly are you looking for in a strop or brush? Maybe we can recommend something that fits the bill and won't break the bank!

[Kees]

Get a cheap practice strop from Tony Miller and a shave ready razor from a member here on the classifieds and you are in business. Brushes can be had for under a tenner, shaving soap needn't be expensive either. A nice Swaty barber hone on ebay for touch ups needn't break the bank either.

[thebigspendur]

The "best" isn't necessarily the best. You can always find the most expensive but that and the best is often mutually exclusive.

You can still put together an assortment of razors, brushes, strops,hones and other gear thats does a great job for little money.

[gugi]

i saw strops for 80 brushes over 250 wow,
Any opinion please shoot it as hard as you can?

Well, there are still strops for $20 that Kenrup makes, but yes, the $30 apprentice strop by Tony seems to be no more, probably for a good reason. There are a lot of good strops in the $50-$100 range though and it seems that most people still prefer to have a lot more razors than strops.
I just checked and the price of my daily brush is exactly the same as it was 2 years ago - $200, this is actually cheap, compared to over 50%-80% increase on the Dovo and Thiers-Issard razors.

Tell me about it, the prices. I'm new to straight shaving and I spent a small fortune on equipment. I had used electric shavers all my life and would spend about $225 on the top of the line Norelco so my thought was I would spend the same on a straight razor. Well the razor was a TI and it was $230 little did I know how much the brush, strop, and accessories would cost. I find quality is worth investing in on some things. I could have gone low on the brush but I thought if I'm going to do this I want comfort and I don't want to replace anything for a long, long time. I went with a Dovo Silver tip at $180. I knew nothing about strops and spent $75 on a Russian leather. Mug, soap, skin care, and a stand another $160. With todays economy I must be crazy to spend this kind of money. I'm blessed with the ability to pay for this at the present. If I get 10 years out of the razor and brush it would be the same amount spent on replacing an electric every 4 years or so.

You should be able to get a lot more than 10 years out of this equipment, or pretty much from any other - the razors doesn't go bad or anything . And yes, quality is important and the razor manufacturers just follow the normal market rules. There is apparently no problem with demand.

[pjrage]

Well, there are still strops for $20 that Kenrup makes, but yes, the $30 apprentice strop by Tony seems to be no more, probably for a good reason. There are a lot of good strops in the $50-$100 range though and it seems that most people still prefer to have a lot more razors than strops.
I just checked and the price of my daily brush is exactly the same as it was 2 years ago - $200, this is actually cheap, compared to over 50%-80% increase on the Dovo and Thiers-Issard razors.



You should be able to get a lot more than 10 years out of this equipment, or pretty much from any other - the razors doesn't go bad or anything . And yes, quality is important and the razor manufacturers just follow the normal market rules. There is apparently no problem with demand.

It looks like Tony is actually coming out with an upgraded version of the Apprentice strop for $34. The Well Shaved Gentleman The Heirloom Razor Strop Company : Heirloom Latigo "Barber's Friend" Strop. Knowing Tony's work and reputation, I'm sure it will be hard to beat the value! Guess you have to wait until April for it, though.

[tomandjerry00]

I totally understand what you're saying and I thought the same thing at first. The more I looked around though, the more reasonable the prices became. I use an Illinois 827 strop which does a good job for $30, a shave-ready razor here for $38, a badger hair brush at a yard sale for $2 and I use soap that I buy for $2 a puck and cheapish aftershave too. Heck of a lot cheaper than me using cartridges for a year...

[canyon289]

Part of the reason we spend so much on straight razor supplies comparatively is that we're not looking for a mediocre shave.
All of us want the best experience possible. At this moment I'm looking to upgrade to a badger's hair brush from a boars hair and that means I'll be dropped an extra 20 to 80 dollars for this added luxury.
Has a boars hair brush worked fine? Yes but a badger hair brush is undeniably better. And I'm (semi) gladly paying for one.