Larry Andro Straights and strop kit

Been DE and wet shaving for almost a year. I've been interested in shaving with a straight for a while now, but have been discouraged by the cost of hardware. Tried a Parker "shavette" a while back and cut my face to pieces and kind scared me away from even trying a real straight.

I recently read about Larry and his site whippeddog.com. Everything I've read here about him and the razors he sells is good and I will most likely purchase my first razor from him.

My main concern is: what size and type is best for a beginner? 4/8, 9/16, 5/8, etc... and 1/4 hollow, 1/2 hollow, full hollow, wedge etc...

Another concern is about the quality of his poor man's strop kit. Has anyone here purchased and used it? Is the leather strop good quality? Or would I be better served purchasing another strop?

Thanks for any advice in advance.

Jake

Larry is a very good person to deal with.

I started with an 11/16 blade then bought another in 5/8 from him, both are nice shavers but I think this would be a personal thing.

His strops are inexpensive and most likely you will nick and cut your first strop so imo it is well worth the price of admission. Once you get familiar with stropping it would be time to move to a better strop.

Don't worry about buying from Larry; he's a str8 up good guy.

The general recommendation is to go with a 5/8 or 6/8 round point as your first razor. A spike point in the hands of newbie usually means more cuts.

I noticed yesterday that the strop in the poor mans strop kit has been changed, and it now appears to be of much better quality.

As already mentioned, there is great probability that you will destroy your first strop, so you don't want to pay more than $20-$25 for it.

Other than Larry's strop, there are 3 other choices that come to mind:

-A Filly strop from RupRazor

-A Big Mamma Strop from Star Shaving Supplies on Ebay

-A Bismark/ Illinois Strop

It doesn't seem Larry carries to many round blades. What I did was to ask him to mute the point and it has worked well for me.

His newer strop does indeed look to be of better quality than what I had bought.

I would think that a 5/8 would be a good starting razor. I believe that Larry is happy to mute the point of a straight if he doesn't have a round point available. I haven't yet actually bought anything off Larry but I know alot of people that have and his reputation is beyong reproach. If it wasn't good, he wouldn't sell it to you. The world of straight shaving is alot better off for having someone like Larry who is willing to go out of his way to help new straight shavers and who offers good vintage, honed razors and other gear at unbeatable prices. As for what grind to buy, it really is a personal choice. I like a wedge. When I first started, I had a full hollow but couldn't get into it. I had a break and then switched to a wedge and I've never looked back. Now I can confidently shave with any grind.

Thanks guys for the advice and suggestions. Very much appreciated.

So I decided on a 5/8 Geroeso razor, the poor man's strop kit, and a Wonder brand barber's hone.

Here are the goods.

damooshki said:

Thanks guys for the advice and suggestions. Very much appreciated.

So I decided on a 5/8 Geroeso razor, the poor man's strop kit, and a Wonder brand barber's hone.

Here are the goods.

Click to expand...

Those are great choices, that is a nice way to start with straights.
Actually, with that set-up, you can shave more or less the rest of your life.
But if you get the bug...then there will be more


And a huge plus 1 for LarryAndro. he is one great guy!

Nice set up.

Larry is great I was able to get a 5/8 Round point from him. Great way to start on a budget however I have since made up for it.

That's how I got started, with a kit from Larry.
He is excellent to chat with, is wealth of information, and like you...got me set up with everything I needed to start shaving and maintaining my razor. The brush that Larry put together for me is a constant in my shave routine.
Congrat's on a nice start.... Enjoy

Thanks gentlemen. Larry has been very good to work with. He's a true gentleman and someone who helps make B&B truly special.

Larry is awesome. You'll be happy, I think. The strop kit is ok, the strop was a little short for my preference so I recently bought a Big Daddy. But the short one might be useful...if you can learn to strop on that, bigger ones should be easy.