Good evening

[barnaby]

Good evening, I have been reading these pages for a few months now & thought I ought finally get round to joining in officially.
I have never used a straight razor in my life but would love to start soon, once I have accrued the funds. I live in England & have been in touch with Steve at The Invisible Edge, who has been extraordinarily helpful. Due to this when I finally make a purchase I will be purchasing from Steve.
So thanks for all the information I have already found & I look forward to posting soon, with news of my first shave!
Barnaby

[ratbag]

Welcome to the forum Barnaby,

You've certainly found to best place on the net to get all your questions answered.
This is the friendliest forum I've ever encountered and the wealth of knowledge is endless.
The veterans here are more than willing to get you on track with all aspects regarding this hobby/sport/pastime and will offer a comforting word or two after you realize you've been inflicted by RAD

Cheers,
Paul

[barnaby]

Thank your for your kind welcome. Just one thing, what is RAD?!

[Matt69]

It's Razor Acquisition Disorder.

One of the reasons I started straight shaving was that I thought it would be cheaper than buying disposable blades. *Hollow laugh*.

Oh, and welcome aboard!

[barnaby]

Ah! Makes sense.
That kind of leads onto the first question I was going to ask. I understand the general feeling is not to buy from ebay or indeed used razors but I'm wary of spending around £100 on something I might not get on with. I have been looking at The Invisible Edge & Steve has recommended a 'Boker King Cutter' or the 'Dovo Natural'. Both of these are around £100 each & they look beautiful but like I say, it's a lot of cash to drop at once. What would you all recommend? Oh & Matt69 I live in the East Midlands, are there a lot of UK users on here?

[Matt69]

Difficult to advise on particular brands. If you steer clear of brand to avoid, then the razor is probably going to be OK. The main thing is to get one that is shave-ready, which means that it's been honed by someone who knows what they're about. Razors from eBay are unlikely to be useable until honed, and as a beginner, it's hard to spot defects which may make them unusable. Getting a razor from Steve would mean you start off with a good piece of equipment in top condition, other routes into the sport have a much higher element of randomness to them.

There seem to be a fair few UK members here. Not enough to hold regular meet-ups like the Americans do, though.