So I ahve been wet shaving for 3 plus years. I enjoy vintage gillette safety razors it seems. I love the whole journey of a good wet shave from the lather to the aftershave. Well I have been thinking of trying a straight razor and need some advice. I have no idea what to look for. I come accross straights in antique malls but really dont know what shape it needs to be in to be used. Can someone tell me the most economic way to get into straight shaving to see if it is for me before and if I make the plunge? Has anyone switched over to straights from safety razors and never looked back? I am all ears.
Beginner Here Thinking Of Coming To The Dark Side
- Thread starter Doody99
- Start date
Before I say this, note that I have no affiliation with said company.
I fully recommend Whipped Dog for your first SR. Larry knows his stuff and can put on a professional edge for you (something you’d probably have to send out most any other SR you buy to have done). You want your first SR to have such an edge to set the bar for yourself.
He has a variety of decently economical options. I got his Sight Unseen SR deal with an added Poor Man’s strop (you will need at least a strop for SR). The SR is not the prettiest, they are used vintage, but they are well made and ready to go when you receive them.
Unless you have a generous PIF from here, this is the most economical way to try true SR shaving that I have seen that is worth the investment.
I am just getting into straight razors. If you want to go cheap and see if you like it then I would suggest getting into contact with Larry at Whipped Dog Straight Razor Shaving Equipment . I just picked up a sight unseen flawed razor ($28) and a flawed poor man stop kit ($19). Not sure if you can get any cheaper than that. They are not very pretty but they work and I this is my practice kit before I use a nice razor. I have been told you will cut or nick your first strop and can kill an edge on a SR before you get the hang of stropping.
I'm in the uk. I got a modified Gold Dollar 208 from a seller called billyji1 on ebay. He also supplied a suede/veg tan leather strop.
I am not a collector of razors, I had a Gillette slim and that was it.
I've been straight razor shaving for a month now with the Gold dollar.
Not going back to DE.
Hugely enjoying the straight razor journey and seeing skill and shaves improve. No cuts, no drama.
I only need to strop between shaves so far, and the honed edge is staying sharp. As I say, I'm not a collector, so that's me done for around £50.
I am not a collector of razors, I had a Gillette slim and that was it.
I've been straight razor shaving for a month now with the Gold dollar.
Not going back to DE.
Hugely enjoying the straight razor journey and seeing skill and shaves improve. No cuts, no drama.
I only need to strop between shaves so far, and the honed edge is staying sharp. As I say, I'm not a collector, so that's me done for around £50.
I am a newbie, as well, but I also recommend Larry at Whipped Dog. I bought one of the "sight unseen" razors (not the flawed kind) and I chose a paddle strop for starters (has two leather sides, and two balsa sides, one with chromium oxide and one with iron oxide). It doesn't have to attach to anything like a normal strop does, so I actually just keep it in a drawer and pull it out for stropping. My total investment was, I think, either $79 or $89.
I'm only a few weeks into it myself and I'm on a TIGHT budget. I got a gold dollar kit from straightrazorplace.com. I has everything you need to get started. It didn't come shave ready but a member on here honed it up good for me for free. The strop in the kit is pretty useless so you'll want to upgrade that. I had been using my safety razor to touch up some spots until today.
Whipped Dog is a good option. Id also say that another good option would be to buy a Gold Dollar and a starter strop from WSP. You can get a razor and a strop for about $60, which would be all you need starting out.
What I like about the WSP option is that the razor comes shave ready and if you dont like it, youve got 30 days to return it.
Ive got a Gold Dollar 800 that I bought from WSP and the thing is perfect. The only real issues Ive had with it is that before the first shave, I didnt strop it and found it to be a little tuggy. I stropped it and it made a night and day difference. I havent shaved with it since I stropped it but I did try dry shaving the hair on my arm and it seemed to mow through the hair smoothly, so it should be fine.
What I like about the WSP option is that the razor comes shave ready and if you dont like it, youve got 30 days to return it.
Ive got a Gold Dollar 800 that I bought from WSP and the thing is perfect. The only real issues Ive had with it is that before the first shave, I didnt strop it and found it to be a little tuggy. I stropped it and it made a night and day difference. I havent shaved with it since I stropped it but I did try dry shaving the hair on my arm and it seemed to mow through the hair smoothly, so it should be fine.
I would recommend Whipped Dog as well. You can't beat the prices and the razors come very well honed. Get a used strop from him as well and don't strop it before your first use. You need to see/feel what a sharp razor is like so that if you have an problems shaving you'll know it's your technique and not that you've messed up the edge with your first attempt at stropping.
You can't just pick up a razor at an antique store until after you have hones and know how to use them. Even most/many new razors that you buy don't come ready to shave. Whipped Dog is the cheapest way to go and it's the way that many, many of us started.
You can't just pick up a razor at an antique store until after you have hones and know how to use them. Even most/many new razors that you buy don't come ready to shave. Whipped Dog is the cheapest way to go and it's the way that many, many of us started.
+1 on all the advice above. I started with a whipped dog and also bought the cheapest Ralf Aust. The Ralf is fantastic but as I start using more vintage razors you can definitely snag a really good one for sale here on the forum that will be shave ready and cheap. Good to have 2 to start with.
Slash McCoy
I freehand dog rockets
Whipped Dog. Your budget newbie hassle free one stop shop. You might also see if Buca1352 has any shave ready Gold Dollars to sell. The price is right. And watch the BST forum. Occasional gems crop up there for decent prices but the best deals really go quick. If you can see your way to starting with TWO shave ready razors, all the better, for a whole bunch of reasons.
Larry honed my first razor and I had my first 100% SR shave this morning with that razor. I have two others at or close to shave ready. I’m going full Slash McCoy on honing from now on. Received a piece of 3/4” acrylic today.
Way to go! Enjoy!
33 shaves in now and digging it. Honed to 0.1u on diamond pasted balsa. Sharp,sharp, sharp. Self sufficient and actually learning to shave. Appreciate all the advice from the guys here.
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