By way of introducing myself, I will confess that I bought a new Dovo
from the local Victorinox store which is closing its doors as of January, or so I
was told by the staff. Everything there is half off. Which means that I wound
up paying about what I should have for a local mall retailer? Two hundred for the Dovo with the Thuya
wood scales and sixty dollars for the strop. I wish I had registered here first because then I might have discovered Whpped Dog before making my purchase. I think their "Sight Unseen Kit" is absolutely the way to go for anyone looking to startup. To think I could have saved two hundred dollars - well, I'm better off not thinking about it.
I didn't realize that a new Dovo does not come shave ready. After first two or
three real attempts to use it I realized this and went back and bought the Dovo
strop. After a hundred or so strokes or passes, whatever the proper word is,
the blade was much sharper. I have put an additional couple of hundred passes
on it and it easily passed the sharpness test of cutting some of my arm hairs
at about mid height - not on the skin.
I use The Art of Shaving's pre-shave oil and it works, fine, I guess. I have
read that Castle Forbes is the best. It's a little pricey but maybe worth it?
Anyway, my real reason for getting into straight razor shaving is not to buy
expensive blades and toiletries, but because I loathe the disposable, phoney
debt-money economy which is all about waste and taking our money. I would
rather have one blade and keep it sharp myself, thank you very much. I suspect
I'm not alone in this sentiment. Additionally, my hair is pretty hard and it
dulls those expensive refills after very few uses and I don't like having to
keep going back to "the machine", "the system" for...
anything.
I look forward to learning from you guys.
Cheers,
Steve D. (Steelcut)
from the local Victorinox store which is closing its doors as of January, or so I
was told by the staff. Everything there is half off. Which means that I wound
up paying about what I should have for a local mall retailer? Two hundred for the Dovo with the Thuya
wood scales and sixty dollars for the strop. I wish I had registered here first because then I might have discovered Whpped Dog before making my purchase. I think their "Sight Unseen Kit" is absolutely the way to go for anyone looking to startup. To think I could have saved two hundred dollars - well, I'm better off not thinking about it.
I didn't realize that a new Dovo does not come shave ready. After first two or
three real attempts to use it I realized this and went back and bought the Dovo
strop. After a hundred or so strokes or passes, whatever the proper word is,
the blade was much sharper. I have put an additional couple of hundred passes
on it and it easily passed the sharpness test of cutting some of my arm hairs
at about mid height - not on the skin.
I use The Art of Shaving's pre-shave oil and it works, fine, I guess. I have
read that Castle Forbes is the best. It's a little pricey but maybe worth it?
Anyway, my real reason for getting into straight razor shaving is not to buy
expensive blades and toiletries, but because I loathe the disposable, phoney
debt-money economy which is all about waste and taking our money. I would
rather have one blade and keep it sharp myself, thank you very much. I suspect
I'm not alone in this sentiment. Additionally, my hair is pretty hard and it
dulls those expensive refills after very few uses and I don't like having to
keep going back to "the machine", "the system" for...
anything.
I look forward to learning from you guys.
Cheers,
Steve D. (Steelcut)
