Thread: GIVING UP

About 3 months ago a friend discovered shaving with a straight razor. He went out and purchased several razors, honing stones, strops, brushes, soaps and everthing else necessary for a good shave. Even purchased a custom handmade Robert Williams razor. I know he must have spent at least $1,000 in this investment. I gave him several of my handmade lined exotic skin leather pouches for his razors. This includes my investment of the leather pouches. Later on, he called me and decided to give up shaving with a straight, because it was too hard, it took too much time to shave, he had to take care of the razors and accessories, etc. If you are going to invest in this project, you better be commited to it, the investment is in both money and time, but the results are very satisfying. I made my commitment to the straight and I do not regret it, I enjoy all of it. Juan.

Indeed. One of the big draw to straight shaving for me was that I would be doing the maintanance myself.

It is too bad your friend invested so much money into it, not realizing he would have to take a little more time than with a cartridge razor, and maintain his equipment as well. Hopefully he can recoup some of his money by selling the stuff he bought.

Of course, he could also try feather straights, the ones that use a disposable blade. No stropping or honing required, and you can still get a good shave.

Obviously your friend is a discriminating fellow that likes to go top shelf. A guy is better off buying an entry level Dovo or something like that until he is sure that he likes straight razor shaving. Then go for the customs and what have you. Perhaps he will return to it after awhile. OTOH, it is not for everybody.

+1 with Jimmy. SR shaving is not for everone, and not every person who tries it is going to be successful and continue for years and years. I do believe that it appeals to a certain type of person, and in this age of instant gratification many will choose the easy route.

Oh well, at least your friend could recoup his losses in the classifieds. You know, if that Robert Williams custom needs a good home.....

There are many ways to get started with cutthroat shaving. I think many of us have a practical mindset and while economy isn't the main reason we do it, we certainly like to achieve good results without spending our way to them.
Each to his own I guess.

I think it's hard for many people to get over the "Disposable" lifestyle, and straight shaving is a good lifestyle ghange that moves well away from that way of thinking. Many folks are just not ready to slow down and enjoy

I agree straight shaving is not everyone's cup of tea. I tried it for a while before going back to the SEs and DEs with the emphasis on the SE because I feel they give a "straightish" sort of shave.

Your friend has shown considerable interest in straight shaving, however the initial time investment put him off.

It might be wourth while to find out whether he faces one or more beginners' problems that might easily be sorted out. Have the 2 of you ever come together for a shave?

Was his razor shave-ready when he bought it? Is his stropping up to speed? How about his shaving technique and skin prep?

With a Gilette cartridge thingy shaving takes me 5 minutes, with a straight 15 minutes. Stropping takes a few minutes as well. That's all. Not bad for a hobby.

The 3 rewards I get from straight razor shaving are: BBS face, the satisfaction of an ever sharper edge and a moment of zen at the start of the day. Many of my razors outperform DE blades in the arm hair test. That really gives me a kick!

Perhaps he just needs to put it down for a while.

He was attracted to the novelty like many of us. You (he) really needs to get over the learning curve to be hooked. An impatient person will just get frustrated.

That is the difficulty. It takes a stubborn person, yet patient. I excell at the stubborn part of that!!

Advise him to just put it away for a while. Each time he comes back to it, it will get better.

I feel bad that he gave up SR shaving. I feel even worse for that poor $1000 razor. No one to shave with it, oh it's such a tragedy!