Hello konichiwa from newby Foran!

Hey I'm Foran, I'm from NY but live in okinawa at the moment for the marine corps, I am 100% new to straight razor shaving I have yet to even by my first razor. I am 21 years old, and have always been interested in straight razor shaving. Given that I will soon be moving into a house with my wife and my shave is under constant scrutiny in the corps I figured now is the time to get into it even with my complete lack of knowledge. Getting supplies is difficult out here in okinawa as I do not yet know of any places to buy them from. If anybody has any information on areas in Okinawa to purchase supplies for this that would be great. I have done a fair bit of research on beginners dos and do nots but I am still not sure about much of anything really and am looking for some more guidance especially when it comes to the quality of straight razors as not being able to physically inspect them makes it hard for me to tell as I don't know the brands and terminology quite yet. Any information or suggestions would be great as far as what I can purchase online that will be of good quality but not at a fair price. I'm trying to get a full set with razor strop brush bowl honing stone shaving soap and even aftershave. I want to go for the full effect.

Hi and welcome. You will find SRD to be a one stop anything shaving shop with quality products, reasonable prices and truly shave ready razors. Try to stay away from honing at the moment and just focus on getting a good lather, good stropping and a good shave. This will take enough practice and if y get your stropping right it should be a while before you need to worry about honing. Check out the library for all the starter info and the other basics of Sr shaving and also the lists of razors to avoid and quality ones. Try asking in the Japan forum for more local information. Good luck and any questions feel free to ask.

Just read as much as you can from our library , and SRD as suggested can set you up with a set, that way your razor will be shave ready and come with a certificate for another honing, because you will dull your edge from lack of experience, that being said go slow , stay with a set that won't break the bank till you find out if you will stick with it , the Ralph Aust or Dovo entry level razors will shave as well as ther higher priced models , do not buy eBay stuff till you know better , shave ready is something you will need to start and SRD can supply that , as far as buying in person , may as well stick with the internet as long as it's reputable ,, and our classifieds are good for picking up razors too Good luck , read ,, and go SLOW. Plus maybe get the DVD from SRD that Lynn made , pretty good learning tool ,, and leave the honing for after you learn how to shave , it takes a few months to get comfortable. Tc

Welcome to SRP forum. Read, Read, Read! Read again! This will help you immensely. Save you a lot of money and time. It is worth it though and it will give you a lot of satisfaction. Allot enough time on your first shave so you will not feel rushed for time. You will probably nick yourself eventually. It happens to all of us as you may get distracted or have a lapse in concentration. Good luck and smooth shaves.

Mike