Thread: Where are the inexpensive razors?

There are great buys in antique shops and flea markets and there are also crap razors there. As mentioned above straight shaving is getting popular and it is reflected on eBay by the prices. Antique shops here have been raising their prices also but not as much as eBay.

With local finds you have to invest time and travel costs. For me, I hone my own razors and if work is needed I do my own. There are still good finds in local shops if you are patient and invest a lot of time and travel into hitting the same shops over and over again. Remember, you are not the only looking for these deals.

Finding a great razor at a great price takes some combination of leg work and luck. You also have to know what you're looking for. Slart is right when he mentions that you will most likely have to pay to have your razor honed. As a result, you can save yourself time and not spend too much more if you buy a shave ready razor off the classifieds.

My opinion is for the cheapest, but still high quality starting point, visit rup razor. Ken had a starters kit with a quality checked and honed gold dollar razor and a filly strop, but on my latest visit to his site I couldnt find it. IIRC it was offered at around 60 bucks and he also has a boar brush starter set, you could be completely ready to go for around 80 bucks, that is if he still offers the razor set. I bought his filly strop to use as a beginning strop, but the more I use it the more I like it, I find myself putting off pulling my TM Latigo/linen strop out of the box and using it. I havent used the gold dollars from him but have read plenty of positive reviews around here, just make sure you dont look for one on ebay, from what I hear they are a crap shoot, and they will not be shave ready, Ken gets them picks the best fixes them up and throws away the ones not worth a s**t. It seems to me that more times than not bargains turn out to be too good to be true, that is not the case with Ken Rup's products. Good luck.

The $10 shave ready razors in mint condition are certainly out there, the problem is finding them before anybody else and recognizing them for that.
Considering that you have no experience whatsoever I'd say your chances are pretty slim and it gets smaller by the day as more people get access to them through internet.

I don't think you can realistically expect a razor made of steel that can be sharpened to hold a shaving edge to cost comparably to a shavette. The later is essentially a holder for the high quality steel blade, so the requirements for quality and precision are next to nothing.

Personally, I think buying from SRD is a great idea - you know you'll get good stuff and great service for the best price. However, also from my personal standpoint, I think buying new razors is a waste of money given the prices you can find for vintage, shave ready blades.

Originally Posted by ChrisL

Since you have a desire to purchase more than just a razor, you're thinking of buying all that you'd need to start off, I personally wouldn't hesitate to buy the offer that you've described. I haven't looked at SRD if a few weeks, but they have a great razor honing offer and no question they would stand by their products. I don't see how you could go wrong.

Chris L

Thats what I was thinking. I've checked quite a few sites, and they seem to have the lowest price for an all inclusive, shave ready kit. I'd certainly like to buy razors individually, but for the sake of learning the art, and beginning to refine my technique, I thought this was a great deal.

Keep in mind, they're offering a coupon for a free additional honing. That's an added value to be sure. Keep in mind, it's very easy to compromise an edge when you're learning to strop. You can use that free additional honing to your advantage regardless.

Chris L

No, I'm not at all put off by the price of the razor. Before I even considered straight razor shaving, I had quite the passion for Katanas. I was fascinated by the metallurgy, as well as the form and function of the blade. Maybe having see those prices had in some way prepared me for the straight razor prices.

I was considering the strop upgrade. Is there a major advantage? In the videos I've seen, as well as the articles I've read, The X pattern is still used on even the widest strop, so would I gain all that much from upgrading from the 2" to the 3"?

Oh and as for ebay, I didn't know much about straight razor when I started searching for one on the site, but I did know about swords, and just general shopping. My experience has taught me that if it seems too good to be true, it most likely is. Besides, if people could get a straight razor set up for $20, then there'd be a lot more people doing it.