Want to try a straight razor but -

It is difficult for me to order from a place like whipped dog because I highly prefer to see what I am buying. I know many guys here recommend that site but there is a large part of me that is extremely hesitant to purchase something that I won't see until I open the box...even if it may save money. As far as straights go, is Art of Shaving a good place to go? I got started with DE shaving with their products and their basic straight razor is made by Novo. Is this a good idea?

Larry sells great stuff on his site and gives a money back refund if youre not happy...since this is your first straight razor..it will be a learning curve...time and patience....and help from all of us ;-)

AOS has nice creams..but their hardware is wayyy overpriced IMO

I did notice their razors are very pricey. The basic one was $100 and that doesn't even come already honed. Plus the strop was $85. A lot of the guys here seem to show faith in whipped dog. And I have yet to receive a bad word of advice from these forums so I think that might be the way to go.

Another option for a shave ready would be BST (buy/sell/trade) or a shavette (disposable straight razor). I started with a shavette then I a shave ready straight.

Speaking from my own experience, I'd say you can't go wrong with Whippeddog. I recently bought a 'sight-unseen' from Larry and quickly found out that you don't have to pay a lot of $$ (or ££ in my case) to get a GREAT razor! I'm lovin' my Green Lizard (and NO, that's not a euphemism!).

I'd say whippeddog is really the best straight razor starter option. Otherwise, shave ready from bst. If you prefer a new razor, I'd recommend thesupriorshave.com (a superb vendor IMO). Anything AOS sells will not be shave ready to many of our standards and will require honing.

Another happy WhippedDog customer here. Mine wouldn't win any prizes for looks, but it shaves just fine.

Whipped dog. Larry allows trade ins for the price of honing, you can do this until you are happy with the razor. You can also go to the BST and pick up something.

You will need a strop that more likely you will nick up.

I understand your hesitation, as I'm usually the same way with expensive items. But, when you first try straights, don't bother with what the razor looks like. Get one that shaves well. Whipped Dog will give you a great edge on a razor that may not be pretty, but it'll help you learn to shave with a keen edge. Once you try it and decide you want to continue, then worry about picking up a pretty razor. No sense investing deeply before you know if you like it or not. And Larry won't send you junk. It'll be something you can shave with right away.

I went this route, and I'm happy I did. Now that I know I like shaving with a straight, even though I'm not great at it yet, I feel better about looking for a nicer razor that I know I'll enjoy visually and when I shave.

Plus, if you buy a brand-new razor, it won't have a shave-ready edge on it. You'll need to have it honed, which means shipping to/from the person doing the job, and waiting in between.

Just so you can see what I received, here are my two razors from Larry: (FYI, there's oil on the blades...)

Ok so I made the decision to support Larry and whipped dog and buy the Sight Unseen with Rich Man Strop kit. And since this is my first straight razor I decided to get the extra strop since it seems rather unanimous that newbies end up shredding their first strop. The only complication was that Larry had a family emergency and will not be able to ship out any honed razors right away. I'll have to wait a few weeks to get it, which is gonna be torture because I am really excited to try it out. I'm sure it will be well worth the wait though.

mrchilli said:

I'm lovin' my Green Lizard (and NO, that's not a euphemism!).

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No, but it should be a new custom title.

rfn379 said:

Ok so I made the decision to support Larry and whipped dog and buy the Sight Unseen with Rich Man Strop kit. And since this is my first straight razor I decided to get the extra strop since it seems rather unanimous that newbies end up shredding their first strop. The only complication was that Larry had a family emergency and will not be able to ship out any honed razors right away. I'll have to wait a few weeks to get it, which is gonna be torture because I am really excited to try it out. I'm sure it will be well worth the wait though.

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I bought my first straight from Larry, and I highly recommend his service. If you don't want to wait, though, go to the B/S/T and get a basic straight from an experienced straight-shaver. That way, the blade will be shave-ready. You can get an inexpensive strop from Star Shaving. That should get you started for not a whole lot more than Larry's deal.

Awesome! Can't wait to have you join the ranks of the straight shavers! I'm just getting into it, myself, but I'm really enjoying it. Just take your time and you'll do just fine.

This is a niche hobby, it's almost impossible to find decent merch in B+M stores in most of the country unfortunately.
Online buying is pretty much mandatory for most of us.

rfn379 said:

Ok so I made the decision to support Larry and whipped dog and buy the Sight Unseen with Rich Man Strop kit. And since this is my first straight razor I decided to get the extra strop since it seems rather unanimous that newbies end up shredding their first strop. The only complication was that Larry had a family emergency and will not be able to ship out any honed razors right away. I'll have to wait a few weeks to get it, which is gonna be torture because I am really excited to try it out. I'm sure it will be well worth the wait though.

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Yeah I was going to say that orders from Larry will probably take some time right now, due to the circumstances that can be read about in the post in The Barber Shop or the Whipped Dog facebook page... but as everyone has mentioned, for a first purchase I think Larry's deals are great, seeing as you get a full straight package at a great price, and can feel ok about testing it out without having to throw down the cash to buy everything individually and get a new razor honed before knowing if its something you're willing to spend a bunch of money on.

AOS is overpriced. Their basic Dovo is $100 and is not shave ready. A number of vendors sell the same razor for $80 and it will be expertly honed to shave ready. Check out Straight Razor Designs, Vintage Blades LLC, and The Superior Shave.

It's been a couple of days since I placed my order with whipped dog. While I am aware that I won't receive that order probably for a few weeks, my excitement got the best of me and I did something which proved to be a failure. There is a barber supply shop close to where I work. I pass it every day on my way home. I went in to this shop the other day to see if they had anything that would satisfy my hunger for the time being. It turns out most of their razor hardware is on the cheaper side. Because I couldn't fight my urge to be impulsive I ended up buying a cheap shavette style razor. I was so excited to get home and try this thing out so as soon as I walked in the door I took a nice hot shower and got ready for a great shave...and that's where the excitement came to an abrupt end. The blades that were included with this thing were terrible. The edge paled in comparison to the Feathers I have been using in my DE razor. I ended up butchering my face with this poor excuse for a razor and decided to never use it again. I actually almost came to tears when I used my alum block because it stung THAT bad. It was a horrible experience that will not be repeated. I think I'll just wait patiently for my order from Larry and stick to my good ol' DE for now. A painful lesson learned.