How would YOU build a starter kit?

I've got plenty of soap, creams, alum, witch hazel, AS...

But I'm curious about the straight razor.


For those of you who are straight advocates, what would be in your starter kit?

Which razor (gold dollar?... feather? other? i've no idea... so please give input)

Strop?

and what else do you need? Is it possible to do this for less than $50 and have good starter gear that will last?

Best of asking this question in the straight razor forum bud, personally I would go with a whipped dog. Well acctually I bought a Dovo but if you want to do it on the cheap then yes a whipped dog

The Whipped Dog http://www.whippeddog.com/ would be one stop shopping for a starter kit=)

doc47 said:

Look here (B&B) for SRs that members might be selling, often times you can find some nice ones at reasonable prices. Don't spend a lot on your first strop, you will cut it up learning to strop. Larry at Whipped Dog is great to work as previously mentioned. You can find some on eBay, but they don't always come shave ready, despite the advertising. What ever you do, don't look at members pictures of their straights or you will end up buying a $300 razor. Have fun and we are here to help.

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This. Watch the forum and maybe post up a WTB. Absolutely love my Wester Bros. straight.

Hmmmmm under 50 for razor and strop....you might have to be very patient and watch the sales forum...get in on a PIF. Perhaps Whipped Dog might be also an option but i have never dealt with them so im not familiar with their prices but they are highly praised so i feel its safe to recommend them . But then again a nice vintage razor that is have shave ready from a reputable honemeister and a newspaper strop can go a long way

I dove into straight razor shaving by ordering one of Larry's sight-unseen razors and a poorman's strop kit from the Whipped Dog website. They've been totally adequate, served me very well, and Larry himself is a great guy to do business with. Especially on a low budget, I have found that it is best to go with a proven commodity, and Larry is just such.

Another possibility is to order one of the honed Gold Dollar razors that forum member life2short1971 offers in the classifieds. It's $20 shipped, and he offers one year of free honings. It's a cheap Chinese razor, but it should be serviceable. One of these and a Poorman kit would run you $45 shipped. One with a standard kit would run you $59. Either way, you'd have everything you'd need to start out.
http://www.panjo.com/buy/shave-read...azor-free-honing-for-12-months-311670?index=3

http://whippeddog.com/products/find/dog-deals

adrian jordan said:

I dove into straight razor shaving by ordering one of Larry's sight-unseen razors and a poorman's strop kit from the Whipped Dog website. They've been totally adequate, served me very well, and Larry himself is a great guy to do business with. Especially on a low budget, I have found that it is best to go with a proven commodity, and Larry is just such.

Another possibility is to order one of the honed Gold Dollar razors that forum member life2short1971 offers in the classifieds. It's $20 shipped, and he offers one year of free honings. It's a cheap Chinese razor, but it should be serviceable. One of these and a Poorman kit would run you $45 shipped. One with a standard kit would run you $59. Either way, you'd have everything you'd need to start out.
http://www.panjo.com/buy/shave-read...azor-free-honing-for-12-months-311670?index=3

http://whippeddog.com/products/find/dog-deals

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Thanks for the help all. I admit I don't know much about the straight. I've been to many a barber and had a shave with one, but I've always been curious about them. Not that $50 is my top line, I'm just trying to not throw money away on something I may end up using a few times, and then deciding its not for me. Or I don't have the hands for it.

mscout00 said:

Thanks for the help all. I admit I don't know much about the straight. I've been to many a barber and had a shave with one, but I've always been curious about them. Not that $50 is my top line, I'm just trying to not throw money away on something I may end up using a few times, and then deciding its not for me. Or I don't have the hands for it.

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For the most part, the guys that have gone to a barber for a straight razor shave have been disappointed. Straight razor shaving is a lost art for the barber. I don't know if it's even taught in barber schools anymore. If you got a good shave from your barber keep an eye on him/her, He/she has talent! I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but for the tryo that doesn't know if straight razor is for him then the Whipped Dog is a great option. Larry will set you up with solid kit, and won't empty your wallet. The razor won't be the prettiest thing in the world, but it'll be shave ready. Same for the strop, not pretty, but perfectly functional.

Whipped Dog. Yeh. You might want to start with two razors, though. Shave with one until it won't shave, then switch to the backup while you have the first one honed, or while you try to learn to hone yourself.

A shave ready GD will work. A nicely modified GD, even better. Any vintage blade in good condition and shave-ready will work. It will shave just as good as a brand new $200-$1000 razor. Just make sure that it is truly shave-ready, not just pronounced shave-ready by a clueless vendor that doesn't even know how to shave with it and would not have a clue about what is or is not shave ready.

For a complete newbie, here is one way to get a pretty good idea of whether or not a razor is shave-ready. Sweep the blade 1/4" above the skin of your forearm. It should whack the tips off at least one or two hairs. If not, try closer, but if you have to pass the razor closer than 1/8" above the skin for it to treetop any hairs, it probably won't shave well at all. If it gets several hairs at one pass at 1/4" and does so silently with no perceptible snap-back, then your edge is super killer buck rogers blaster jedi light saber sharp. Most proper shave-ready razors will get a couple of hairs and make a faint tink or ping sound. Results vary slightly according to the grind of the razor or the toughness of the forearm hair. This is kinda important, so you know what to blame when/if you can't get a good shave right out the gate and where to look for ways to correct whatever is wrong.

jlindy said:

The Whipped Dog http://www.whippeddog.com/ would be one stop shopping for a starter kit=)

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I did Start whit Larry(Whipped Dog) for The straight and The strop and to my opinion it was The best thing.

I would consider a shave ready Gold Dollar from a reputable source like Scott to be an excellent choice. Throw in the free honing a and it is even better.

doc47 said:

Look here (B&B) for SRs that members might be selling, often times you can find some nice ones at reasonable prices. Don't spend a lot on your first strop, you will cut it up learning to strop. Larry at Whipped Dog is great to work as previously mentioned. You can find some on eBay, but they don't always come shave ready, despite the advertising. What ever you do, don't look at members pictures of their straights or you will end up buying a $300 razor. Have fun and we are here to help.

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What's a good cheap strop that I can beat up? I just got a Val des roses Le favori frameback for $28 bucks shave ready.

I built a kit for a friend's 50th birthday with the following.....sight unseen straight razor with a poor man's strop from Whipped Dog. Larry is outstanding to deal with, I've ordered a few things from him. A Razorock synthetic brush and a tub of Proraso White from Italian Barber (also great to deal with). Last but not least, a bottle of Bergamot After-shave splash by Imperial Barber...hands down my favourite A/S. All together it was about $100 CDN (including shipping/taxes/etc.).

Larry offers a great service with his shave ready straights and kits but if I was starting out again, I'd still put a starter kit together in individual pieces from the classifieds.

mscout00 said:

I'm just trying to not throw money away on something I may end up using a few times, and then deciding its not for me. Or I don't have the hands for it.

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If you're going to try a SR, you need to know going into it that it will most likely take you 30-100 shaves to get comfortable/good at it. I read that many times and probably am about 40 shaves (+/-) in using a SR and it is a very fair assessment. As the others have recommended, Whipped Dog puts together a good package for a good price. If you want to buy new and are willing to spend a bit more, I've been very happy with my purchases from Straight Razor Designs. If you go that route, my recommendation would be a Ralf Aust 5/8 round point and SRD's modular strop. That will get you shaving and give you the ability to freshen the blade to keep it shaving before needing to get it honed. Good luck.