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Beginner St8?

A

Arkwell

Guys, I know it's probably been posted somewhere before. I love my Merkur Slant and my Feather AC, and I'm curious about the real Straights and I would like to know what is a good beginner St8 that won't break the bank in case I want to stay with the Feather or Slant. I already have a strop from CS and the stone for the day when I would have to sharpen but some of the St8 prices on CS are scary and I don't know the quality of the Dovo's in the $100-150 dollar range. Anyone chime in on a first real St8?


Peace.
 
Last edited:
michiganlover

michiganlover

If you want to go the new route, the low cost Dovos are very good razors.

The low cost has less to do with the quality of the blade, and more to do with the material the scales are made out of. Higher cost Dovo's have more exotic scales. :tongue_sm
 
chickpea

chickpea

Larry's great, on BST look for anything US, like Gold Dollar, Geneva, etc. You may also find some great Dovo's there for <$100. Rupp Razor is great. really there are some execellent options for starting out straights.
 
dmcconnell

dmcconnell

chickpea said:
Larry's great, on BST look for anything US, like Gold Dollar, Geneva, etc. You may also find some great Dovo's there for <$100. Rupp Razor is great. really there are some execellent options for starting out straights.
Click to expand...
+1. BST, RupRazor, www.bobsrazors.com, LarryAndro, Holli4pirating.

Also, Gold Dollar's are made in China and while they are inexpensive and quite well liked, I'd only buy one from a reputable source (ie: RupRazor, Seraphim) as they sometimes have some blade geometry issues from the factory which can affect honing.
 
Legion

Legion

OTF jewel hunter
Staff member
Just be careful buying new. Just because they are new does not mean they are necessarily shave ready. They will usually need some degree of honing to get it ready which you may not feel equipped to do if you are starting out. At least if you buy a vintage shave ready razor from someone with a good reputation you know it will be ready to strop and go.
 
A

Arkwell

You guys are the best! Thanks for the quick response. Next I'll be asking you where to sell my Feather and Merkurs once I get hooked on Straights!!

Peace.
 
California Cajun

California Cajun

legion said:
Just be careful buying new. Just because they are new does not mean they are necessarily shave ready. They will usually need some degree of honing to get it ready which you may not feel equipped to do if you are starting out. At least if you buy a vintage shave ready razor from someone with a good reputation you know it will be ready to strop and go.
Click to expand...

Post of the day! For that very reason I recommend inexpensive one (less than $100) to start out with that is not only shave-ready, but shave tested. There are people like the ones mentioned that take a special interest not only in honing them properly, but in furthering straight razor shaving.

Why do I recommend this? To help you avoid the pitfalls I did with a new one that was supposed to be shave ready but really wasn't.
 
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