A crazy impulse buy from a deal-centric site that I frequent has led to me purchase a stupid cheap straight razor and my extreme lack of research has lead me to this fantastic site. I'm starting to get interested in straight shaving (I'm the kind of guy that gets really into my hobbies and I can already see this one is going to consume many, many days of my life as I absorb all the info I can). My experience at the moment is bittersweet. On one hand, I'm practically giddy about trying to get into this new world. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I have purchased a complete piece of crap razor to start with, lol.

Being new and not being well versed on the day-to-day goings on and full extent of the rules here I will err on the side of caution and do my best to not name names. I was drawn to purchasing a razor from a shoddy looking website (should have been a flag going up on this right away) and upon doing research after the fact the claimed manufacturer of said blade does not come up in any web search I've done (through google or any of the shaving sites I've peeked through) and after doing even more research the product description itself is not really adding up.

Let's just say the deal was zombie related and if you know what I'm talking about that will say everything.

The razor hasn't arrived yet and I'm not sure that when it does I should even try to use it. I currently do not have a strop and judging by what I have read so far it would be safest not to try and shave until I at least acquire one (should I decide to try and use it at all).

Does anyone out there know of the razors I am (tiptoeing around) speaking of?

Here's more of a description without saying anything too specific at the moment (if I am told I can just name names I'll do so).

The razor in question is described as such:
-10in overall
-3.75in rounded blade
-half hollow
-polished carbon steel
-pakka scales

What scares me about it (after more research) is:
-Price is (now obviously) too good to be true
-It seems there are other sites owned by the same company under different names with the same pictures and descriptions (never a good sign as a trustworthy company would just take multiple domain names and have them re-direct to their main site)
-Nomenclature doesn't add up in different item descriptions (self-contradictory descriptions now that I know more about the proper terms actually used)
-Crazy markup on entry-level (read: low-end) soaps and brushes (Van Der Hagen Natural Shave Brush [Boar] for $15 as an example [I just bought one from a local shop for $6.99])


I'm actually laughing at myself now that I'm laying this all out in one place.

I guess I'm looking for a sympathetic shoulder to cry/laugh on and hopefully a "maybe it will actually be an ok shave".


That being said... Hi guys (and gals?). I'm a total noob and I'm here to absorb as much of your collective knowledge as I can. Looks like there's some great people with massive experience hanging around and I'm excited and happy to become a part of the community.