Thread: Reeling from bad experience, looking for advice

Originally Posted by tomahawk414

Hey all,
I'm (very) new to straight shaving. I've been interested for a long time and after coming across this deal: Vintage Straight Razor | Straight Razor | The 80% OFF Boned Camel Deal | VintageStraightRazor.com , I figured I couldn't really go wrong. Anyways, the package arrived and yesterday morning I tried my first straight razor shave. It was TERRIBLE. My face is covered in burn, and the shave wasn't close in the slightest. While I do attribute this to my rookie shaver status, and and fully committed to practicing and improving my technique, I've also been researching both the razor I used and the dealer I bought it from. By the end of the shave, my razor doesn't feel much sharper than my pocket knife (which for the record, is kept as sharp as possible, but I'd never think to shave with it). On this very forum, I came across this review: http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ons-razor.html
Now I'm brand spanking new to this community and practice, but I've done a fair amount of research and it doesn't seem like the razor i purchased is either sharpened traditionally or of a high enough quality to last longer than a few shaves. So I wanted to ask for opinions. What's a decent, yet fairly inexpensive razor a beginner like myself could look for, and where's a good place to look?

sorry your experience was a bad one. I dont know what your budget is but you can usually find a good shaver for under $100 in the classifieds. Often they come truly shave ready but ask if it is not stated in the ad. you can also look in the clearance and sale sections of either Straight Razor Designs or VintageBlades.com (different from the place you used). You may also want to check out whippeddog.com who sells shave ready razors dirt cheap. Best of luck to ya, I hope this helps.

The superior shave is a great place to look as well.


Honestly you can not go wrong with a 6/8 dovo best with plastic scales. Get it honed by a pro and you will be hooked on this like the rest of us.

Good luck!

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I agree about the 6/8 Dovo Bests at Superior. He's the only vendor I've seen carrying them.Very good service from there. He's also the most consistent source for scales and factory pins, and his coticule selection will make your wallet writhe its way right out of your pocket.

Originally Posted by tomahawk414

What's a decent, yet fairly inexpensive razor a beginner like myself could look for, and where's a good place to look?

To answer this question look at post #4 in this thread

My advice and comments:

I bought my first razor off eBay. I was lucky, it was super sharp and truly shave ready. The others I bought from here or traded for ones here. If I were to turn back the clock; I'd ONLY buy from here, because these guys are the experts, generally, and also ( I find) a very nice bunch of people.

Now I'm a bit further into the whole endeavour, I can buy with confidence from elsewhere, but clearly there are some 'iffy' sellers out there (I'm referring to no-one in particular). If I were you, I'd buy a razor from here...I think you'll find it a pleasurable experience..

Fellas, I wanna thank you for all your advice. I can't wait to try again with a real razor, and start getting better at this. In the meantime, I plan to take all your advice and continue to read and research what I can. I look forward to someday being able to contribute here myself!

Another brand to add to the list of straight razor brands to avoid.

Sorry about your trouble. As most have stated, look through this site for the best advice. You can buy a really good shave ready razor off the classifieds for less money than you would think. Make sure you communicate with the seller as to the razor being "shave ready."
Don't be discouraged and good luck!!

I think I may too have been stung by the increasingly infamous G B Buckingham (& Sons).
I did a lot of research about WHAT I'd actually NEED, less on exactly WHY a straight razor needs to be up to a certain quality in order to be in any way useful for it's intended purpose.
Obviously the appeal was being able to get a number of requisite items relatively cheaply, oh well, live and learn.
In fairness, as I haven't actually RECIEVED the order yet, it may yet turn out to be all OK.
I'm not counting on it of course, particularly given the input I've read on this and other threads.
If nothing else, I'm hoping that there will at least be SOME usable items (apart from overcharging for it, how badly can one botch a bar of soap, a strip of leather or a brush after all?).
I guess the frustrating part is that a good many potential straight converts may well be put off by an initial poor (and costly) experience which essentially denies them the pleasurable experience of a straight razor shave.
I've been encouraged by some of the input on this site however and I'm certainly not about to give up, I'll just chalk it up to a (frustratingly un-necessary) false start and try my luck with an older (and proven) razor in need of love and fuss.

Oh, just as an interesting aside, I did find this curious website, it appears to be in part domain site for G B Buckingham and sons, and in part, online Justin Beiber fanzine.
Just weird, anyway, GB Buckingham and Sons | www.gbbuckinghamandsons.com enjoy

Believe it or not, most of the really quality stuff is cheaper than the crap. Just gotta know where to look. this forum has some good ideas... And btw, many of our members can give you a beautiful, vintage, shave ready, custom-scaled razor for as much or less money than that camel bone fiasco...