Newbie from San Diego

[aragornelessar86]

Hello all, I'm new here and new to straight razor shaving. I'm looking to buy my first razor, and these two look pretty good, but I wanted to get an opinion before I buy.
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=G150
http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=GSTAR
If there's a considerably better razor in that price range I'd love to know about it.

A little about me: I'm 21 years old, just married two weeks ago, work for my father in our third generation sheet metal manufacturing plant co-managing our Armadillo Mailbox product line. The last time I shaved was probably two years ago, and I quit because I hated doing it. I'm hoping that straight razor shaving will provide the shaving pleasure I always wished I could find.

[burnwood]

Welcome to the site. I dont use a straight so I cant help you there. If you are interested in DE then I say go Gillette SS or Merkur HD to start.

[JohnP]

Welcome to the forum!
I think a lot of us live or used to live in San Diego. My wife is from there, and I lived there for around 6 years (Navy).
So...IMHO there is not one thing wrong with that Dovo. It may or may not be the answer you are looking for, but I would be careful about buying a straight from a brick and mortar store as I've found sometimes the edge has been damaged by previous customers "checking out the edge".
There are lots of things to get to be prepared for the best experience, also, unless you do not mind a steep learning curve and a little raw skin.

Dovos are good razors, the only question people have is whether they are really "shaving sharp" right out of the box. All of mine which haven't been previously opened by others, have been. Still, if after lathering your face up and letting the hot lather soak in, your razor does not shave almost like a squeegee wiping the whiskers away, it may not be sharp enough. There are people here and on www.straightrazorplace.com who will sharpen your razor for a nominal fee.

I'm rambling. So, I guess the first question is what kind of things do you already have?
You will likely need a leather strop, although some have used a large belt or even newspaper with decent results.
A shaving brush and soap or lathering cream (you can get away with using canned stuff at first, but it is way less forgiving or enjoyable than the old style lathering type)
Down the road you may need a hone, but if the razor is ready and you are careful with your stropping, it should last awhile.
Many also get a second strop that has a fine abrasive (much like jeweler's rouge) rubbed onto it for touch ups. Barring that, a super fine hone (which is what I use).

Sorry for all the questions. You can actually do this quite well on a budget, but it has a tendency to become a hobby also. Better hones, different creams or soaps to feed more and more interesting shaving brushes...more razors.

Also have you shopped around for your razor? There are vendors on here and elsewhere who will even hone your razor for you if it isn't already good-to-go, or even some who offer complete starter kits including strop, soap, brush, razor and just about everything you need.

Just throwing some options up.

As for the simple question of whether Dovos are good razors-yes, they are. I like all of mine.

John P.

[Greyfox]

Welcome to B&B!:001_smile

[BroJohn]

aragornelessar86 --

Welcome to B&B.

There's a lot here for you to go through for general shaving. Regarding Straight razor questions, head to the B&B Straight razors forum and the sub-forums on strops, hones, etc.

Be sure to post questions, participate in threads.

-- John Gehman

[ktulu64]

Welcome.

Going from nothing to a straight sounds like a big jump to me, especially with the learning curve on the angle/technique. Have you thought about trying a DE?
Not trying to talk you out of a straight by any means, but it might be a little like training wheels for you.

[JohnP]

Personally I feel there is nothing really in common between a DE and a straight that makes the DE necessary. Prior to starting the straight I was using Mach3 cartridges...
the main similarities are learning the proper blade angles, and perhaps the prep (brush, soap/cream, lather, etc.).
The hardest part with a straight is getting the thing sharp enough (initially) and learning the odd angles and hand positions that work best for a good shave.
By all means, if you want a DE, they are fun too. I have a lot of them. They will not however satisfy your urge to use a straight, and they are mechanically different to manipulate. Check out the guide on here, download Chris Moss' PDF over at SMF, or peruse the enormous amounts of information over at SRP, all of them will give you some good ideas.
John P.

[Bobtrumpet]

Welcome to B&B!

San Diego is one of my favorite cities; I've been there for conferences several times.

Best wishes on your quest for better shaves!

[bones59]

Hi, Welcome.
It's hard to beat a Dovo, get one. Do your self a favor and have it honed.

[aragornelessar86]

Thanks for the help all. JohnP, I plan on getting a norton 4k/8k, a 4 sided paddle strop and a hanging strop for starters, and I already have a bowl, soaps and a decent brush from way back (though I'll be replacing the brush semi-soon). I've been reading the guide here on B&B and it's been hugely informative. Oh well, enough with the straight razor monopolizing, I'll move over to that forum now.

[R-James]

Welcome to the forum.

And Remember

Stay Classy!!

Sorry couldn't resist :lol:

[Lefty]

I love SD. It was my first duty station in the Navy many years back now. It was rough, let me tell you. A 19 year old sailor living on Coronado island within 15 minutes of beautiful downtown San Diego and not so beautiful downtown Tijuana. Good times to say the least!

Good luck with the new indulgence. Hope you get addicted just like the rest of us. Enjoy.

[Eagle]

2496824969 Hello and welcome. I'm not a straight razor man either but there is lots of info on this site about them. I too was in the Navy and love San Diego even though I was stationed in Norfolk :o10:. We try to get over to SD at least once a summer.

And congrats on your wedding 24970

[thirdeye]

Welcome to B&B and congrats on you recent wedding day...Enjoy!!!

[crankymoose]

Welcome to B&B

I think both classicshaving.com and vintagebladesllc.com have better prices and both have sharpening service available, I got about 15 or so Dovo's and only 1 was truly shave ready and it was a limited edition, if you are going with a Dovo definitely get the sharpening service

[OldSaw]

Welcome to B&B.

[soapbuddy]

Welcome from another Californian!

[JohnP]

Thanks for the help all. JohnP, I plan on getting a norton 4k/8k, a 4 sided paddle strop and a hanging strop for starters, and I already have a bowl, soaps and a decent brush from way back (though I'll be replacing the brush semi-soon). I've been reading the guide here on B&B and it's been hugely informative. Oh well, enough with the straight razor monopolizing, I'll move over to that forum now.

Sounds like you're already on the right path. No need to move to one forum or the other, just join them all (that's what I pretty much did) they all have their own flavor and there are things you can pick up on all of them.

Just curious, did you buy any of your stuff in San Diego? I bought my Norton (before I broke it) from Craftsman Studio, which is I think, in Rancho San Diego area, and my Jemico Russian Leather (best strop I owned before getting Tony Miller's strop) came from the knife shop in Julian, across from one of the Apple pie places. They also had my first shave ready Dovo.


John P.

[aragornelessar86]

I did not know that anyone one the SD area sold straight razor stuff. I'll have to check around. Are you in SD John?

EDIT: Just saw you're in VA. NVMD.