Thread: Greetings from North Carolina

Hey Guys,

Just thought I'd introduce myself and give you a little background information. My name is Don and I've decided to try straight razor shaving because I have very sensitive skin and and a very thick beard, not a good combination. Through the years I've gone back and forth between electric razors and regular razors. About 3 years ago I bought an electric razor because I was tired of spending $12 every two weeks for blades. I was also tired of the razor rash I always got on my throat after shaving every day for a week. Since I bought the electric razor I saved enough money from purchasing blades that its paid for itself several times over. However, lately I have been left with a slight five o'clock shadow that appears around 11am, most likely because of the blades need to be replaced. So, over the weekend a thought crossed my mind to look into straight razor shaving. I watched numerous videos on how it's done and read several posts on the subject as well. I'm looking for a shave that I can do daily that will leave my face smooth with no trace of a five o'clock shadow, till at least 5pm. So I took the plunge and ordered a Dovo 5/8 Best Quality Blonde--only color they had in stock--paired with a 2" strop from Straight Razor Designs. I hope to get it in the mail tomorrow. I already have some shave cream/soap I bought from Walmart along with a cheap boar's hair brush I was using before the last electric razor I bought, which helped with my sensitive skin. Any advice for a novice would be appreciated. I'm looking forward to hanging out in the forums and learning the art of straight razor shaving.

Welcome aboard Don, Enjoy the ride.

Welcome aboard! I'm a novice myself, but I can tell you that it's going to take you awhile before you get the good shave you want. Keep a couple of disposable safety razors handy until you reach your comfort level with your new razor. Wishing you many fun shaving days ahead!
Art

Hi Don,
Welcome. I too switched over to straights in January. Im hooked. It's alittle intimidating at first but, so worth it! I went a different route...DE shaved for few months before going with Straights. I somehow thought that it would prepare me, it didn't...Im much better with a straight than i was with a DE blade. Go figure. Dont know why...just how it went. What part of NC are you in?
I hope it goes well. AbnRgr is right...it will take awhile for the shave your looking for. However, the shave you get somewhat early on will be rewarding in it's own right. I cannot get the elusive BBS shave most strive for (well I do in patches), but the shave i do get, even from the 1st shave, is soooo much better than my MachVIII vibrating whatever! That combined with reading about how things do improve is keeping me going.
Hang in there, good luck. Hoping i meet more people around this area who enjoy this stuff. I work in a Brewery, cooking, lots of folks dig crazy sharp knives, but you mention razors and people dont know what to say? Hit me up and let me know how things went?

Depending where you ordered it from it may not be "Shave ready".

As you may have discovered in your research a factory edge is not considered shave ready by the pro's.

Any way welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of straight razors and wet shaving.

From your neighbor in TN

Pat

Originally Posted by IronMonkey2772

Hi Don,
Welcome. I too switched over to straights in January. Im hooked. It's alittle intimidating at first but, so worth it! I went a different route...DE shaved for few months before going with Straights. I somehow thought that it would prepare me, it didn't...Im much better with a straight than i was with a DE blade. Go figure. Dont know why...just how it went. What part of NC are you in?
I hope it goes well. AbnRgr is right...it will take awhile for the shave your looking for. However, the shave you get somewhat early on will be rewarding in it's own right. I cannot get the elusive BBS shave most strive for (well I do in patches), but the shave i do get, even from the 1st shave, is soooo much better than my MachVIII vibrating whatever! That combined with reading about how things do improve is keeping me going.
Hang in there, good luck. Hoping i meet more people around this area who enjoy this stuff. I work in a Brewery, cooking, lots of folks dig crazy sharp knives, but you mention razors and people dont know what to say? Hit me up and let me know how things went?

Thanks for the reply, I feel like a kid at Christmas waiting on this razor. I can't wait to get started! BTW I'm in Hope Mills.

Originally Posted by pfries

Depending where you ordered it from it may not be "Shave ready".

As you may have discovered in your research a factory edge is not considered shave ready by the pro's.

Any way welcome to the forum and the wonderful world of straight razors and wet shaving.

From your neighbor in TN

Pat

I ordered it from SRD and it comes professionally honed and shave tested. As far I know all I'll have to do is strop it and shave.

Don't do anything but shave. No need to strop as that's already been done for you. One less thing to possibly ruin the edge.

Originally Posted by skullz

I ordered it from SRD and it comes professionally honed and shave tested. As far I know all I'll have to do is strop it and shave.

Welcome to the forums!

Welcome, Don. Where are you located in North Carolina? We have a small but growing group of straight razor users here in the Triangle that get together every couple of months or more often. Our next meetup will probably be in April. So far, we are coming from Durham, Pittsboro, Chapel Hill, with others coming next time from Cary and Fort Bragg. PM me if you are interested in meeting up. We all learn a lot from each other.