Help me choose my first razor!

Ok I have done the DE and now it is time to move up to the beautiful world of straight razors! I want 1 razor that will last me the rest of my life and I would like it to have a natural handel. I have 300 to spend on the razor and would not mind stainless just because it would provide less maintenance. That being said, im open to any steel. Also, I would like something new as I know if I go vintage will get sucked into a collection that rivals my DE hahaha. I have been looking at hart and dovo. any others that are great shavers?

You might not agree, but I would suggest that you buy a cheaper one and try it out. See if straight shaving suits you. Also, test the various ingenious ways in which a beginner can destroy a razor. After doing that, then go ahead and buy your dream razor and either keep the first one or sell it to another beginner.

+1 on Utopian's advice. Just because you have $300 to spend on a new straight razor doesn't mean that you have to spend $300 on a straight razor.

Consider getting a nice razor/strop (3") beginner's set from one of the vendors who advertise here at SRP. A Dovo Special has enough "bling" to begin with. After shaving with that, then consider moving up to either a more expensive Dovo, Boker, Thiers Issard, Hart or peruse the SRP Classifieds for a really nice looking vintage razor. If you get a vintage razor on the cheap you can have it rescaled in whatever natural material you want.

I'm new too. I had a straight razor that was in the family for years and appeared to be in good condition. It was sent off for honing ($20). The next day I checked out a local antique shop and picked up three razors for $30. One was like brand new. So for $50 I have 4 razors and one will be professionally honed. I might pick up another razor but it will be ready to shave and off the classified adds. In the meantime, I'm going to look for sharpening stuff. BTW, for the last few months I was using a cheap disposable straight but was able to get the best of the 3 razors sharp enough to shave with off a hard Arkansas and a strop. No hope for the other 2 yet.

I have a dovo best quality 6/8 and I love it. It's my workhorse in the rotation.

+1 on the advice from Utopian and JHenry. Check out the wet shaving sets on SRD. Excellent strops. Also, if you don't truly enjoy the straight, then you're not out a whack load of cash.

Have fun.