Thread: Hello, First Post

Hello Everyone,

Like many, I have been lurking here for a couple of months, reading all of the beginners' information on the FAQ's and Wiki. I have to say that this is a wonderful forum that has helped me out a lot in terms of purchasing shaving gear. This forum has to be one of the nicest places on the internet. I don't see any fighting or any of the nastiness that you see on other forums (video game forums for instance). This is certainly a nice place to be.

Here is a list of the gear that I have purchased:

Dovo Special 6/8's Straight Razor
Merkur HD 34C Safety Razor
Rooney 3/1 Faux Horn Super Silivertip Badger Hair Shaving Brush
Ruprazor Filly Strop
Kanayama 50000 Strop
Castle Forbes Lime Shaving Cream

A little about myself:
I am currently a graduate student at university pursuing a Masters of Electrical Engineering specializing in Organic Electronics (photodetectors, transistors, and solar cells). My specialization would be considered to be in the Microelectronics Area of Electrical Engineering.

I certainly plan on posting more about my troubles, my successes, and maybe some reviews.

Thanks again SRP!

Wow! It sounds like you're off to a great start with straight razor shaving. You've been reading up on stuff, and you've selected some great equipment to get started with.

Welcome to SRP! Congrats on stopping being a lurker. Feel free to jump right in and get involved.

Welcome to SRP.

You got yourself a very nice starter setup. Be careful with that strop, it is truly beautiful

Good luck, and do keep us posted.

Regards,
Robin

Thanks for the warm welcome. I bought the Kanayama from Jim Rion. I had read a lot about the strops and really took a shine to them. The Kanayama 50000 was a complete indulgence purchase, with a little bit of logic thrown in. I liked the strops so much that I knew I would want one someday. However, I did the math and found out that the age of the gentleman that makes these strops is 77. I wanted to get one before he stopped making them. For sure, I won't be using this strop until I am well experienced in stropping. The Filly will be taking the abuse in the meanwhile. For now, the Kanayama is something pretty to look at.

welcome and.have alot fun.very nice start.

Hello, Altshaver:

Welcome to SRP. New SRP members would envy your impressive stash of products. We are delighted to have you along on this wonderful ride of straight razor shaving.

Regards,
Obie

Welcome to SRP! We're glad to have you with us!

Thats a great set of kit you have there! If you don't mind my asking, what do you think of the Kanayama strop? I've heard nothing but good things about them...!

Here's to many years of happy shaving!

Welcome again and keep us posted!

Welcome to SRP.

@ Stubear

Thanks for the welcome. I really like my Kanayama strop. For normal users, Jim Rion told be that Mr. Naomi recommends his 30000 and 40000 model strops. The 30000 and 400000 have the same quality of leather, but the 40000 is longer in length. I chose the 50000, which is a thicker and, thus, higher quality of leather to the 30000 and 40000. My 50000 is just shy of 4mm thick and is the same length as the 30000. I chose the thicker leather because I wanted to make sure it would last.

I like the strop for many reasons. Mr. Naomi has to be the most experienced strop maker in the world today since he has been making strops since we was 18, making for a 59 year career. I don't think anyone makes a strop quite like Mr. Naomi. I like the traditional dimensions of my strop at 24 inches long by 2.5 inches wide. I like the fact that it does not have a handle because that is also traditional for barber's use. The strops hardware is decorative and more heavy duty than you would think without being overly so. The gold print is gorgeous and actually is made from gold. All of the gold print designs on the strop can be found on older vontage strops, which kind of gives the strop a nice vintage feel without the vintage age.

The leather on this strop is quite different. It is very supple out of the box. It is really hard to describe. I liken suppleness of the strop to a very soft piece of rubber, if that makes any sense. The leather has a smooth draw to it characteristic of horsehide strops from what I read. The color of the strop is a beautiful orange-brown. Jim Rion told me that it took Mr. Naomi 10 years to get the perfect tanning process for the Kanayama strops.

The linen that comes with the strop may be the best out there from what I have read. It is very stiff and will probably need to be broken in before use. The linen is also very tightly woven.

The strops are labeled as being cordovan strops, which is kind of a question mark for me. It depends on how you define cordovan.

!. A color
2. A leather
3. A leather tanned in a particular process
4. A tanning process.

I am pretty sure the Kanayama strops do not undergo the ancient cordovan tanning process like what they do at Horween. Also, I have talked with Keith De'Grau from Handamerican, and he is of the opinion that Horse Shell leather would not provide enough leather for making a 24inch by 2.5 inch strop. So are all vintage shell strops actually made of shell? Who knows? I think the best description of the strops would be to call them shell strops and not cordovan strops, even though this may be incorrect too.

I can't say I have used this strop, so my observations entirely hinge on build quality and aesthetics.

My advice for purchasing a Kanayama strop is to do so only if you love them, what something unique with a history, or if you are a serious japanophile (I am not). I would recommend a 30000 and higher if you are going to spend the money though. Jim Rion is a great person to do business with also.

I hope this is useful information.

Welcome to SRP!

Very nice setup indeed! Keep us posted on how everything goes.