Newbie saying hello and some questions..

Just wanted to say hello to everyone and introduce myself. My name is Billy and I am new to the vintage shaving idea. I have bought myself a few things but would like some advice on good starter kits. I would like to try both a safety razor as well as a straight edge blade. Any advice on brushes and strops would also be appreciated. Thanks in advance,

Welcome!

My 2 cents: for a DE, get a Gillette SuperSpeed or a Merkur HD or 23C. You can find a good deal on the Buy/Sell/Trade forums if you're patient. If you want a new razor, there's some good online vendors out there - check the shopping forum for discounts or sales. West Coast Shaving has a great blade sample pack for cheap, there's also some good ones up for sale on the B/S/T forum.

I don't use straight razors, so someone else will have to give you advice on those.

Welcome aboard. I would expect that the straight razor folks will be along at some point. However, if you don't get a response, you might want to post in the straight razor forum. You'll find a definite split for a first razor on here between Merkur and Gillette razors. If you go Merkur, the 34C is a great starter razor. If you go Gillette, any number of Superspeeds out there that are probably available on the B/S/T forum. You don't need to go hog wild on a first brush. If you've got a Crabtree and Evelyn near you, they make a good Best Badger brush for about $35. After that, it's a matter of figuring out whether you are a cream or soap kinda guy and what you want for aftershave. Good luck. Enjoy the journey.

Thanks for the advise guys, I'm checking out some razors and brushes in the for sale ads..

Welcome to B&B. The previous posters pretty much summed it up.

Welcome to B&B!!

Welcome to B&B. You're going to love it here. I Learned to DE shave for two months before I tried straight shaving. I've been using a straight for 3 weeks now and I have to tell you, the learning curve (at least for me) is much steeper. I suggest you learn the basic techniques with a DE first and when you feel really comfortable with that, then try the staights. It's a lot of fun, but does take a lot of patience. Welcome, and ask lots of questions. Everyone here just wants to help.

The strop depends on your budget. If you are on a tight budget, look no further than Ken Rup's Filly strop. It's a 2 inch wide cowhide strop with no frills, but of solid construction. If you manage to make it through your newbie phase without nicking it it could be a great travel strop, although all newbies nick their strop sooner or later If you're not on as tight a budget, you could get any one of a couple different options, but I recommend if you do that you get a practice strop to use for a while first due to the aforementioned nicking problems.

For a straight, you can get any one of a number of different blades. You could get a vintage blade and have it honed for you, or you could buy a brand new shave ready straight (also honed). Figure out a price point and ask questions from there.

Welcome!

The advice given above is quite good. I'd only add that when I started out it was easy to get fixated on hardware (razors, blades, soaps, creams, etc) and the whole thing didn't "click" until I started paying close attention to my pre-shave prep.

"Kyle's prep" is legendary, and involves using a hot towel over a lathered face for two minutes. This is a stellar routine, but I don't do it on most days due to the effort involved, saving it for the weekend or special occasions.

A user posted a link to a "science of shaving" article from the 50's that contained the outline of the prep I use now. You might try something similar.

1. Wash face with soap and hot water.
2. Rinse and re-apply soap, leave on face.
3. Apply lather. Wait two minutes. I use the time to brush my teeth.
4. Start your shave.

The theory is that the soap and water wash strips the beard of oils and allows the warm water to penetrate the hairs of the beard, softening them. The chemicals in your lather assist this process, as does time.

Leaving the soap on your face before you lather is optional, as some soaps are pretty harsh. I use a very mild olive oil soap.

I find that this prep is almost as effective as the hot towel prep and is much more convenient.

If it seems like I'm a prep fanatic, I am. See my sig.

Welcome aboard and welcome to great shaving!

Thanks for all of the great tips! I just ordered my first safety razor from another member. I went with a Merkur 34C HD. Figured that would be as good of a place to start as any. Next I want to start looking into decent brushes and maybe even a stand to display my shaving products.

As for the straight razor and strop. I am looking for something of decent quality to get started. I would like to get something that is shave ready but it does not have to be. I was pondering a local antique shop friday and found a old W.H. Morley & Sons Warranted Razor in really good condition for a pretty reasonable price. I like the way this razor looks so it may end up being more of a display piece then anything. Dont know much about that company.

Im sure with some effort I could do some research online and find out more about them. Back to the straight blade and strop, I am not too concerned with budget to be honest. I would be willing to spend 250.00 for a blade/strop if I found a setup that I couldnt live without. I am open to suggestions though as I dont know what would be considered good for learners and what might be a little more advanced.

Again thanks for all the great tips and the kind welcoming words!!

welcome to the club, my starter kit was a merkur hd, C&E 35$ badger brush and nivea shaving cream, get some aquisition disorder later but the experience was great with my starter kit, a gillette SS is a good choice too