Thread: Introduction for Cartier

Originally Posted by SirStropalot

The Roo strop is my go to strop right now. They are very, very thin and I've been reluctant to recommend them to new members because generally the first strop gets some nicks and cuts as we learn to use it and I've been concerned that they might easily cut through. One of our Moderators told me they are very tough and durable and I haven't heard of any sliced Roo's, but they sure are thin. Anyway I thought you might like the info in making your decision.

Howard

Do you have a nice firm, thick strop you would like to recommend for beginners?

Originally Posted by Cartier

Do you have a nice firm, thick strop you would like to recommend for beginners?

The Premium I is an excellent strop and has light draw. Very easy to use and learn on. I really like mine and I know a lot of others do also. It's the same price range as the Roo, I think.

Hello Cartier, and welcome to SRP. Your specialty sounds very interesting.

No new advice to offer, but to agree with the common wisdom that a real straight is a milder creature than a shavette. We can't hand-hone to the same keenness of those disposable blades, but it's not all about keenness, it's about smoothness. Once you can cut a hair, you can still go sharper, but at the cost of comfort.

Dovos are good blades, and the Dovo Best Quality is the cheapest new blade I'd trust. You'll see cheaper ones, but they're just razor-shaped objects (RSOs). You can also get a new start buying a vintage blade from our Classifieds. The folks who sell there know what Shave-Ready means. So does SRD.

For a beginner strop, sturdy and not too expensive, an Illinois 127 for $35-$40 is what I started with. It's pretty thick steerhide, and though I nicked it up a bit, there's enough leather that I've been able to sand out the dings and still have a beefy reliable strop. Whatever you get, practice a while with a butter knife, learn the flip, so you've got some muscle memory laid in before taking the real edge to the leather.

Best wishes and happy shaving!

Thanks for the helpful advice. I'll be giving the shavette a try this weekend. Looking forward to murdering myself. Haha

Welcome. I use feathers and proraso green myself. After a couple of months I have only a few really complete straight shaves under my belt - but still feel like I'm doing pretty well. Your DE prep will serve you well, but straights are quite a bit more tricky, at least in my own experience. Have fun with it though, you will learn a whole lot in a short amount of time by reading through the forum and practicing.

Originally Posted by Cartier

Thanks for the helpful advice. I'll be giving the shavette a try this weekend. Looking forward to murdering myself. Haha

Keep a camera handy, in case you have something to contribute to the cut of the day thread. Of course we hope you don't, but the closest thing to a motto I've seen on this site is "Without pictures, it didn't happen."