Just Starting in California

My name is John, I'm twenty, just decided to go toward straight razors two weeks ago. I've always hated the boring and pretty low quality shave of plastic disposables that cost way too much in the long run. Before jumping way ahead of myself, I borrowed my dads replaceable blade type Tondeo straight from his days as a barber. I'm looking into soaps and better razor options right now, and have decided to get my first brushes and soaps from whippeddog, thanks mostly to the things I've heard on this site.

As of yet I've only shaved the sides of my face with the Tondeo and normal foaming aerosol type cream, which isn't awful. For my soaps and brushes I'm starting with the colonel conk sampler, two 22 mil pure badger hairs with handles I'm having custom turned by a friend, and possibly a brush stand.

I'm really enjoying the forum so far and have already found a lot of really useful info! Looking forward to future good advice on here.

Welcome aboard!
I'm a noob as well and I can assure you that you definitely landed in the right place.
Fine group of extremely knowledgeable gentlemen. Enjoy the journey and don't forget to ask questions.
Cheers.

Hello, John. Welcome to Straight Razor Place!

Welcome aboard! Continue to read up on the vast straight razor knowledge found here, and ask away if you have questions:)

Hi John & welcome aboard. It sounds like you are on the right track & you're right, it is much more costly to use the disposables & a not so great shave goes with it. If you learn to hone, You come out cheaper in the long run plus you get smoother, closer shaves with a straight. I'm sure you're smart enough to use a computer or you wouldn't have made it this far so you know what to do. Just click on anything you can & yo will find almost an endless wealth of information here. It would be a good idea to get you a second straight for when you send one out to be pro honed until you learn how to hone. You can also practice with a butter knife on a strop so you don't accidentally cut one up but fear not. You can usually get it fixed up by sanding it out or gluing it back down with super glue (CA) or my preference is rubber cement since it is pliable.
Any questions, just ask.
Good luck my friend.

Hi and welcome. There is plenty here to read and absorb but take it slow in the beginning and dont mix it up to much and it will help decrease the learning curve. Start with a couple solid products and then just work on your technique and you will pick it up quick enough. Good luck and any questions just ask we are always happy to help new starter's.

Ho John and welcome to SRP!! Sounds like you have a really good start!

Keep an eye on this area of SRP:

Get Togethers and Meetings

... as you can learn so much more during an in-person Meet where you can get details and hands-on with a varied array of gear and opinions. You may also want to put in a more specific location (like Bay Area/??) so Members around you can help clue you in when local stuff is happening.

Main thing is to have fun... Turning a random chore into a knowledge and skill building hobby is no small thing and should be celebrated. :-)

Shawn
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Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you're gonna love it here. I wish I'd started with SRs at 20. Good luck.

Welcome! I started the same way went from two blade cartridge to a mach 3 then finally got so sick of all that I just started to buy disposables which is horrid! Finally I decided there has to be more to life than hating to shave, I started with a shavette and after a few nicks here and there I was not doing to bad then finally grew up and made the change to SR. Good luck, I have already been handed some great advice from these gents.

Welcome John. Much to learn, much to see here on SRP

Hello John. Welcome to SRP.


Mike