Greetings from a Miami boy in Atlanta

Hello all,

I'm very happy to have found this great resource after stumbling on to Lynn's highly informative videos on YouTube.

I have been a user of those expensive cartridges for most of my life but turned to a Dovo Shavette I picked up at AOS around March 2014. I became interested in SR shaving since every time I went to by carts, even at Costco, the prices just kept climbing and climbing. I thought for a pretty crappy shave and that price, there must be a better way. I could get a good shave but then had major irritation for days later... no fun! The folks at AOS suggested the Shavette as a starting point and it sounded like a reasonable approach to me. Definitely took some learning and I'm sure I made many unnecessary mistakes since I hadn't yet found Lynn's beginner video.

I just picked up a RA 5/8 round point from SRD but more on that in the appropriate thread. I will say in some ways it's like learning yet again. When I was reading oh so many posts here before I made my decision, I kept reading about the feedback from a true SR and while I understood the concept, wow what a difference now that I feel it for myself. The Shavette was good and tons better than the Mach 3 I had, but now I truly appreciate what folks were talking about.

One more thing I suppose I should add is that I am, and guess you can say always have been and always will be an engineer. My field is electrical, computer, and communications. I was teaching myself FM radio transceiver design when I was 8 years old and I guess that mind set will never go away. So, much of what you may hear from me will definitely be from that engineering point of view.

Oh and yes, as the title says, I'm one of those very rare Miami natives but currently live in the Atlanta area.

Thanks everyone for all the great information I've learned already and I'm looking forward to learning so much more from the wealth of experience here. Hopefully someday, years down the road I'll be able to help someone else in my shoes in that same way.

ks4el, Welcome to Straight Razor Place!

Welcome to SRP! You're gonna love this place. There is so much to absorb like a sponge here. Just go to the Library here & start at the beginning. Get yourself a nice well made straight razor whether new or used. Congrats on the new razor from SRD. Straight Razor Designs is partly owned by this forum founder Lynn. If you buy a straight razor, Lynn will hone the razor so that when you get it, it will for sure be ready to go. I'm sure you found that out. Many places offer a shave ready straight razor but when the buyer gets it, it won't shave ready. Some places WILL sell a shave ready straight but you would have to know who does. When you buy the set from SRD, it WILL be shave ready plus you'll get a certificate for another free honing when it is due for it, which will be a long time as long as you learn to strop it right. You can learn to strop in the Library or here:
Razor stropping - Straight Razor Place Library
For now you can practice stropping with an old wide belt if you have one you don't use anymore & a butterknife because if you try to learn on a new strop with a straight razor, you will accidentally cut the leather which is something you don't want to do. Since you are new to this, I suggest you buy Lynn's dvd which shows how to strop, hone, shave, restore & of course he shows his collection which is nice. You can also watch videos on here on how to strop & how to hone. There are some youtube videos on straight razor shaving. There might even be some on here but I haven't looked into the shaving part on here. I have Lynn's dvd & I love it. If you buy the new Razor & strop set, there's an option to buy the dvd there. There is a wealth of information on here & a lot of knowledgable people here that will answer questions you might have. If you really get into it & start buying razors, you will develop RAD, a thing we call "razor acquisition disorder" because a man can never have enough razors. I have several hundred! : )
I have a collection of a lot of older razors, some of which date back to the late 1700's. One of them might possibly be in the 1750's-1760's. It's a fun hobby along with know how to shave with a straight. Do lots of research & have fun doing it!
Steve

Welcome aboard! I recently got a RA 5/8 round point from SRD as well and love it. Wonderfully smooth and comfortable shaves. I think you'll be very happy with it.

Hi and welcome. The Ralf Aust is a great razor and will serve you well for life. Happy shaving

Welcome to SRD! There are quite a few of us that come from a technical background so no worries there. Good call starting with a shavette. I still think that it is one of the better ways to enter this hobby. I still have my in my travel kit and will take it with me if I don't want to risk TSA issues or having a nice razor/equipment lost or damaged.

Let us know how the shaves are progressing with the straight.

Matt

Welcome to srp buddy.

Welcome. I am another R. Aust 5/8 owner, as well as a 6/8 R. Aust and about 10 others, mostly vintage. You'll find friendly information exchange and lots of resources on SRP. Ask before you act on any rash purchase. Someone most likely has experience with what you're thinking about!

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. Definitely lots of great info and everyone seems to be very friendly and forthcoming with great advice. I read through pretty much the entire library and a lot of posts before I made the purchase. I already feel how helpful everyone is without even having asked a question.

I am a native of Miami as well. Where did you grow up? I was in the SW section around Bird and Galloway.

Hi CaySea,

I know that area well. My mother lived near there when I was a kid. Used to go to Tropical Park often. I was born and mostly raised in Hialeah. I went to UM and while I commuted the first 3 years I was finally able to afford to live on campus my last year. Until the last few years, I would go back to UM to recruit engineers twice a year.

Nice to meet another of us very rare natives!

Steve

Welcome to SRP!