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So I just started shaving with DE and so far I like it but I do want to try a straight someday. I was chatting with my barber the other day (he uses a straight all the time) and he reccomended the kind of straight where you put half a DE blade into it as he said this avoids all the stropping and honing and can result in a much sharper blade....
How much should I spend on an entry level SR and is my barber blowing smoke up my A%% or is he onto something?
thanks :)
Will he teach you how to use the same equip as he uses? It's not that easy to learn the type of tools that he uses.
Your barber is correct in some ways - you don't have to hone or strop those disposable straights and I guess ( but do not know) that the blades would be pretty sharp.
On the other hand with a real straight you do not have to keep buying replacement blades, you can control the edge by learning how to hone and that edge can be made pretty sharp!
On top of that you have the tradition, the history, the acquisition of skills like stropping and honing.
In the end it really is about what you want to get out of it. You can't really make a wrong choice if it is your own choice.
Of course cost is probably higher with real straights because at the very least you will need a razor and a strop but those can be had at reasonable cost and decent quality if you look around and do some research.
Good luck.
James.
My intro to straight razors was with a $25 shave-ready purchased from a forum and a Poor Man's Strop kit from Whipped Dog Straights. So I was out about $50-$60, I think.
Since then, I shudder to think what I've spent, but that was the initial outlay until I fell in love with it.
It all comes down to how much work you want to spend before shave and how much money you are willing to pay for something that you might or might not enjoy.
My suggestion would be to just get a shavette and use goo on a can to start with. If you enjoy using your shavette I would then buy a good soap or cream and a nice brush, I would say start with a boar brush since they are cheaper and a little stiffer then badger making it easier, at least it was for me, to get a good lather from a soap.
If you still enjoys your shave with soap and shavette and wants to go further I would suggest getting a shave ready razor from a SRP member, SRD or from someone you know can hone a razor correctly and a good, inexpensive strop since you will nick and slice it. Neil Miller has some absolutely wonderful strops at good prices. There is also the poor man strop from whipped dog that people seems to praise.
If after all that you feel like going further and hone your own razor I would suggest buying the Norton 4k/8k combo and a Chinese "12k" natural stone for a finisher, hit the flea market for a vintage razor (get one in good condition) and start practicing. I wouldn't recommend you to try and learn how to hone on your daily razor since it takes a lot of practice to get it right and you can easily mess up the sharpness of a razor if you get it wrong.