What should I start with?!

I have been wetshaving with a safety razor everyday for over a year now. I use a 1948 Gillette Super Speed TTO and I absolutely love it! I can't wait to teach my son (due in May) how to shave with Daddy's razor someday.

I recently have had the hankerin' to try my hand (hopefully a steady one) at the straight razor, but I'm not sure were to start. I have 2 options:

1. Buy from an antique store - I really love antique stuff. I would love to be able to restore an old razor and use that. Is this a wise idea? If so, are there any brands that I should look for/stay way from?
2. Buy new - If new is my best option, what brand should I look for? I don't want to spend $400 on a razor, but I also want to get the best bang for my buck. I've read the reviews of the Dovo Special. It seems like this might be a good starter?

Thanks for the input.

Great shaves,

Nate D.

I would get a shave ready "beater" razor from Larry at whippeddog. An antique store razor will not be shave ready, and the new razor may suffer greatly at the hands of new shaver and meet an untimely death. Larry also sells poorman strops, so
I think you can get a full kit for well under a hunnert bucks.

Have you considered a disposable blade straight? That's how I started, and now the disposable's are all I use. Its a good way to see if straight shaving is for you, as the shave process is about the same. The only thing is the disposables are so very sharp, sharper than a regular straight, that they'll cut you easily.

You can pick up a really nice Parker disposable blade straight, along with some Shark blades for around $20 something dollars. Just Google Parker straights. Its worth checking out as you won't spend a whole lot of money, and you'll be able to see if you'd like to continue using straights.

I second the Parker Shavette. It's what I'm using, and has been a great way to try out straight shaving!

Kentos said:

I would get a shave ready "beater" razor from Larry at whippeddog. An antique store razor will not be shave ready, and the new razor may suffer greatly at the hands of new shaver and meet an untimely death. Larry also sells poorman strops, so
I think you can get a full kit for well under a hunnert bucks.

Click to expand...

I have never tried a shavette so I can't comment on that option. But +1 on the above by Kentos. The only thing cheap about Larry's product is the price. I've yet to come across anyone on these boards that were anything but satisfied with the "sight-unseen" from Whippeddog. Myself included.

+1 to Kent's post.

You want to start off with a solid shave ready straight razor and you can get those cheaply from Larry at Whipped Dog. I have ordered from Whipped Dog and it is great! I recommend that you go with his "Sight Unseen Deal". Many on B&B have gone that route and I havem't read any bad reviews. It is a great way to enter straight shaving without buying a new razor and a new strop only to find you hate it.

When you get your gear, be sure to read the journals here. You will get valuable information and you will quickly find that the mistakes you are making have also been made by most of us.

Welcome to straight razor shaving!

Are there any reviews for the whippeddog packaage on the forum? If so, could someone past a link? I couldn't seem to find any other reviews on it...

Also thinking about the Dovo Special

Thoughts?

Wow... no official review? A lot of newbies have posted their satisfaction on various threads. I have yet to read someone complaining about Larry's whippeddogs. Just be aware that most of them aren't pretty. You pay more for pretty. I don't think Larry does pretty. But they shave good. I even bought one, but before the sight unseen deal started. You get in the game for cheap and get a true shave ready razor.

A new razor generally is not shave ready. A flea market or antique store razor is (I will step out on a limb here) never shave ready. An ebay razor, unless stated to be shave ready and you believe this total stranger who probably actually does not even know what a shave ready razor is, and has never shaved with one, is not shave-ready. So generally when you buy a razor you need to have it honed. Some vintage razors, even some new ones, have issues that prevent a straightforward honing. And so buying a vintage blade known to be shave-ready is a good idea for your first razor. Don't worry... you will buy many, many more. You can get all the brand new and all the ebay rescues and all the fleamarket and antique store finds you can handle, but I do suggest you not try to learn to shave with them. Learn to shave with a razor that is ready to shave.

You will also need a strop. Larry's poor man strop kit has a very basic hanging strop as well as a pasted balsa block. You will probably cut up your first strop pretty good, learning to strop. I know you might think that you will be careful and all, but more than likely you will have it nicked up pretty good in a few days. So no sense getting a nice one right off the bat. Go cheap. The Poor Man is cheap enough that you won't lose any sleep over hacking it up. After a month or two, I would suggest an upgrade, maybe to my current favorite, the 3" "Big Daddy" strop from www.starshaving.com. It is cheap, decent/usable quality, BIG, and if you nick up the edge you can take it apart and swap ends with the leather. It has a felt piece instead of the more usual canvas or linen, and I like to keep it pasted with CrOx. But did you know that you can make a strop out of newspaper? Fold a page lengthwise several times until it is about 2-1/2" wide. Pass one end over a towel bar, and pinch both ends together. Pull tight. Wa, Lah. There. You got a strop. It will only last you for one or two stroppings, but it will save your poor man from your first attempt at stropping. The pasted balsa block can help maintain your edge so you don't have to have it honed as often.

You might check the BST forum, too.

Once you got the shaving part down pat, you might want to try your hand at honing. But if you start now, you won't know whether to blame the razor, your honing, or your shaving, when you are having difficulties. It's not all that hard to learn... it's just better to learn one part of it at a time. It doesn't have to be expensive, either. A basic setup of synthetic stones that will do pretty much everything will set you back $150 or so. A complete setup for using lapping film will cost you less than $20. A barber hone for simple edge maintenance will run you about the same. A coticule can vary a lot, some smaller bouts going for $30 or $40, but a big monster size like I would want will go around $400, but it will pretty much do everything from bevel setting to finishing, if need be. Films are easiest. Coticule, the most challenging and possibly the most enjoyable, once you master it. There are plenty of guys on this forum who can walk you through whatever type of honing process you want to learn.

Look for other "hey I'm a straight razor newbie, help me get started" threads for reviews of Larry's kit. Probably half the guys who ask for help getting started, start out with his sight unseen deal. FWIW, I do not own stock in whippeddog, Inc.

Nate,

The whippeddog straight is a used vintage straight that has been honed so you can shave with it. Think of it as the 89 Ford pick-up a 16 year old would learn to drive with...no prob when they hit a few walls and telephone poles. As a new shaver it may be difficult to properly maintain a straight razor, and some drop them, knock the edge into the faucet, let it rust out, etc.

I have a Dovo Special 5/8. It is a beautiful razor. It would be a heck of a starter razor for sure. If you can risk the possibility of damaging it, it would work just as well for you as the whippeddog straight.

The Dovo Special is a GREAT straight and was the first one I bought new! Go for it! It not only looks great, it is a great shaver and isn't difficult to strop. I believe I got mine from Classic Shaving. I made my own case for it----it comes in an uninspiring black plastic box.

Thanks for all the input.

I will definately make sure that any razor I try is shave ready. Even if I have to ship it out to be honed. Not sure that I'm really interested in honing myself. At least not at this point. I'd rather pay a pro to do it than risk damaging a good blade.

I definitely go with the whipped dog razor. Great razors and great customer service.

+1 whippeddog. Larry is a great guy who will help you out.

Hey, I just wanted to chime in that although I don't have a razor from Larry info have his poor man strop kit and he recently sent me a brush. The man is a pleasure to deal with, an a straight shooter. Also, very helpful. Everything comes with instructions on what it is and what to do with it. Even my brush came with instructions on options for getting rid of the new brush badger smell before using.

Also, it has been said that the whipped dog straights aren't pretty, but that's. It to say they are all ugly. I you look for te "show me your whipped dog straights" threa you will see that many are quite handsome. They are razors with history. I already har a few vintage razors in less than perfect condition, but I think I will still pick one up from Larry just because. Having a beater, or one I might loan out to a curious friend would't be a bad thing.

I would definitely recommend a shave-ready razor in the $30-$60 range from a reputable honemeister. Then get yourself a simple leather strop and you're ready to begin your straight shaving journey!