Help me find a straight razor!

Hey guys, long time lurker, first time poster. Let me start off by saying WOW, what an amazing forum and wealth of information.

Anyways, I started wet shaving with AOS products and a very cheap disposable straight razor (from Sally's beauty). I think i've finally got the hang of straight shaving without cutting myself all over the place.

Now i'm in the market for a straight razor, It seems that Dovo is very popular and reputable....SO my question to you guys is,

Would I be better off getting a SET? eg a dovo 6/8 with a strop or should I get them seperatly?

P.S. I know this hobby is rather costly, but is there anyway I would be able to get good dovo straight razor or something around 90 bucks?

Hey, If you go to ruporazor.com there is a starter razor/strop for $60. its the Gold dollar razor and the filly strop. I just ordered it. that will be my second razor.

This question get's asked pretty often, and I have the same answer every time.

Buying a set is not a good plan for a new shaver on a budget.

For the same money or less, you could get a MUCH better razor from the classifieds.


$30-$50 will buy an excellent vintage razor that is honed and shave ready from the classifieds. Add a decent strop like a philly, and you're practically ready to go. You've got a better razor, and you've spent less money.

Frankly, the only time I would recommend buying a set, is if you wanted to buy a set as a gift for someone.

I'm with VeeDubb on this one - I've never had a Gold Dollar or any of the other "kit" razors, but from what I've read, I believe the edges on vintage razors will hold sharp for longer. You can start with a cheap strop or just use newspaper/old jeans/etc.

In short, +1 on the classifieds.

In fact hit holli4pirating up here ^^ for one.

Bet he has something in the $50 with a sway back that'll fit your needs nicely..

Another vote for buying separately, a little research and it'll be a lot easier on your budget and the quality will be at least equal to a set. On the other hand if you don't want the hassle, ruprazor has a great name (as do others). Good luck, and enjoy the ride whatever your decision.

Buying seperately allows you an additional benefit. I find that anytime I buy a cheap set of anything, I end up replacing everything. By buying individually, you can get at least one of the items that you might end up using for quite a long time.

For example, when I started I bought a cheap strop. Pretty quickly I realized that it was a limiting factor, so I bought a slightly more expensive one. I used it for about 6 months and finally bought a really nice strop from SRD.

After doing the math on it I realized that I would have saved a good bit of money by getting the nice strop off the bat. Even if I had to put a new piece of leather on it after I had learned what I was doing. Also, that way you are learning on things you will keep.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

$30-$50 will buy an excellent vintage razor that is honed and shave ready from the classifieds. Add a decent strop like a philly, and you're practically ready to go. You've got a better razor, and you've spent less money.

Frankly, the only time I would recommend buying a set, is if you wanted to buy a set as a gift for someone.

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+1 here.

Though, even for a gift set, I would still buy the razor from the classifieds. Those gents to great work, and they are very reasonable.

If your wondering about width, I would go with a 5/8ths. Very versatile and easily maneuverable. Your secong razor (and you will want one) could be a wider one (6/8 or even 7/8).

I pondered the same question when i started to look for a SR,I bought mine from the classifieds here at SRP from hi_bud_gl and I LOVE it! when you break down the reasonable price as far as restoration,honeing,polishing and all the magical skills the members here put in thier craft getting a truely "shave ready" and tested SR i couldn't go wrong.So in short,check out the classifieds and feel free to ask questions you'll be guided properly and you'll have a nice shaving journey.
:)

Thanks a lot guys!

Just a quick question, is buying used SR's sanitary...?

Also, any suggestions as far as brands go? There are so many that my head is spinning, i'm looking at Dovo's because the name has been tossed around A LOT everywhere.

Most people clean their razors before and after honing, and there are very few things that can live on a razor anyway. If you're concerned, a quick rinse with rubbing alcohol is usually more than enough.

The reason you hear about dovos so much, is that there are really only two companies still mass producing quality razors. Dovo, and Thiers Issard. (AOS razors are made by Thiers Issard)

Dovos are less expensive, so more people buy them.

As far as what brand of vintage razor to buy, the truth is that it doesn't matter. With new razors, you have to be careful to buy a quality blade, because there are companies out there like Zeepk, Tomahawk and Best Brand that are totally unusable garbage. Any vintage razor that is shave ready will work well. So, I return to my original advice. If it's less than $25 there's probably something wrong with it. After that, get whatever vintage straight is in your price range that looks the most appealing to you.

If you are on a budget, you don’t have to buy a whole set now… here is why;
As a new shaver, you have a learning curve top overcome, learning to shave, learning to properly strop and taking care of the razor (cleaning and keep it dry). You may slice the strop with the razor or ding the razor on the faucet (or drop the thing on the floor)… and a host of other accidents… You don’t want to practice on brand new (and costly) equipment, so buy a cheep razor and strop from the classifieds (currently $40 to $50 is good) or a reasonably priced set from ruporazor.com and get your feet wet with that… after all you wouldn’t teach someone to drive in a new car?

When you are ready, and you are sure this form of shaving is right for you, then you buy a set from any of the reputable vendors on this site (or in the classifieds again).

I believe a straight razor is one of the most hygienic instruments for personal hygiene ever invented, cold steel is very easy to keep clean, in fact back in the old days straight razors with metal handles were used to shave patients in preparation for surgery… simply boiling or placing in good disinfectant for a length if time would be enough to have the instrument ready for another… and some folks here go to further than that… do a search in the forum and you will find many posts on this subject.

Soap and warm running water goes a long way, not perfect, but does help “wash” away anything that shouldn’t be there.

+1 on all the advice given so far. You should not have any problem finding a great starter razor from the classifieds here. Almost all of them come "Shave Ready". My very first brand new razor was sharp, but not shave ready as I would have thought with being new. I thought I was good to go but had a few miserable shaves with it. Then I bought a razor from the classifieds that was shave ready and what a HUGE difference it made. Having a shave ready razor will clearly lower the learning curve that is inherent in straight shaving. Best of luck and keep us posed on your progress.

The advice that you have received so far has always been the prevailing wind so to speak on SRP in fact I have given it out multiple times....
It comes from many peoples past experiances...

Things they are a changing though, we have several vendors out there That provide starter kits made shave ready from reputable "Honemiesters" Kenrup came up already, and of course SRD with their Dovo starter kits... These are both very reputable starting points...

The problem is making sure you start with a shave ready razor, I would suggest asking before buying in the classifieds that the razor is "Totally Shave Ready" and guaranteed to shave WITHOUT you stropping for the first shave....This will eliminate the sorta/used to be, shave ready razor, and the "well it shaves for me" sellers... Only people that are truly confident in their honing abilities will guaranty the razor for out of the box shaving...Make sure the seller knows that you are a newb...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gssixgun

The problem is making sure you start with a shave ready razor, I would suggest asking before buying in the classifieds that the razor is "Totally Shave Ready" and guaranteed to shave WITHOUT you stropping for the first shave....This will eliminate the sorta/used to be, shave ready razor, and the "well it shaves for me" sellers... Only people that are truly confident in their honing abilities will guaranty the razor for out of the box shaving...Make sure the seller knows that you are a newb...

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As usual, Glen speaks truth. Lots of other truth in the stuff I snipped, too.