Thread: Greetings all!

Hello, all! If any of you frequent some of the other popular shaving forums, you probably recognize me.
For those of you who dont, here we go: age 27, male, currently live in Columbus, OH but originally from Madison, WI. Interests: Cars (German), bikes, sports (football and soccer), beer, women and of course, wet shaving.
Being from Wisconsin, Im a HUGE fan of the Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers. Recently, I got into soccer. Im now a season ticket holder in the Nordecke for the Columbus Crew and I watch pretty much every Borussia Dortmund game. Im also a pretty avid golfer and currently play to about a 5 handicap. Considering that I never practice and only play a couple times a week, Im pretty happy with that.
My wet shaving career started about 2 years ago when I started going to a traditional barber shop and had my first straight razor neck shave. I decided to give DE shaving a shot, have loved that and now Im looking into getting into straight razor shaving.
Later this week, Im planning on buying a Dovo shavette, using that for a while and if straights are something that I like, I'll invest in a nicer, traditional straight and keep the Dovo for when I send the straight out to be honed. I have a difficult time investing $150+ in a straight and a strop when I dont even know if Im going to like it. I like the shavette because the blades are replacable, so theres no stropping or honing and they only cost about $35. I feel like theres much less risk of buyer's remorse.

Welcome to the forum, I started that route as well, and for me, the shavette and the straight are different beasts.

Shavettes are harshly sharp, and while it will teach you the angles, in my opinion, you won't really get the feel of what an vintage steel feels like on the face.

You should check out Whipped Dog, where you'll get an ugly, but perfectly usable and shave ready straight, or you can get a kit, and just got for it.

Personally, the feel of 90 to 150 year old steel on your face is sublime, and there's simply no comparison to a factory razor blade, but nothing wrong with taking the route you mention, the main thing is to enjoy the journey.

Welcome aboard. Maybe look at the BST here, might be a cheaper option than buying brand new

Originally Posted by Phrank

Welcome to the forum, I started that route as well, and for me, the shavette and the straight are different beasts.

Shavettes are harshly sharp, and while it will teach you the angles, in my opinion, you won't really get the feel of what an vintage steel feels like on the face.

You should check out Whipped Dog, where you'll get an ugly, but perfectly usable and shave ready straight, or you can get a kit, and just got for it.

Personally, the feel of 90 to 150 year old steel on your face is sublime, and there's simply no comparison to a factory razor blade, but nothing wrong with taking the route you mention, the main thing is to enjoy the journey.

West Coast Shaving actually has a really nice kit with a basic Dovo straight and a leather strop for about $170 but again, $170 vs $35. Ive looked at some of the cheaper sets such as Gold Dollar but Ive also read a lot of feedback that seems to say that a lot of the cheaper straights simply arent very good because the metal isnt very good. Ive got a considerable experience in pocket knives and knife sharpening and I certainly understand the difference between a cheap knife and a good one. Ive got a small collection of Swiss Army knives and while theyre certainly decent, they dont compare to some of the high end Bokers that I own.
The WD deal sounds interesting though. It would be kind of fun although a bit scary to drop $50 on a straight, not knowing what Im getting or even what condition its in. I suppose it doesnt really matter as long as its functional though.

Hello and welcome to SRP
Have fun here on the forum.
Merry Christmas

Pete <:-}

Im with Mike.
Wait and find a nice razor on the BST. And pick up a strop from SRD as the leather is replaceable. And the replacements are cheap.
Just be sure to get a shave ready razor. This is important and most places you buy new from wont be sha e ready as in hand honed.
Welcome to srp and glad to have ya in the group.

Welcome to SRP!!!!

As you've seen some great Gents and info here. Check out the LIBRARY you can get lost in there
Some great advice given already

Merry Christmas!!!
Enjoy and have fun!!!

Welcome to the forum and you have chosen a wonderful, and arguably, the best sport in the world to watch and support.

I believe if I would have started out shaving with a shavette versus a straight razor, my time in this sport would have been VERY short-lived. I seriously shudder at the thought of scraping a DE blade against my skin pretending that it’s a straight razor.

welcome from another Ohioan! While i've never used a shavette so i don't know how they compare i would take a look at the forums buy/sell/trades section for good deal on a real straight.