Buying a man his first straight razor. Need your help!

[needamanshelp]

Hello,
I am a woman who is currently researching buying my partner his first straight razor. As you may correctly assume, I have no idea where to begin with this and have no idea what I'm looking for. All I know is he loves a trip to the barbers for a Turkish shave and he wishes he could do it himself, and so I am looking to surprise him for Christmas with a ready to go set for him.
My seemingly endless Google searches have led me to this forum. You all seem very helpful so I thought I would join and beg for some guidance, if you would be so kind. I'll let you know where I'm at etc:
My aim was so find a nice quality gift starter set but it seems like these are very hard to find at a reasonable price. I would say my budget is £175-£200 max (Under $300ish I believe). The only one I found was some 'Executive Set' on Amazon which had a few bad reviews, and a shavette gift set which I don't think will be suitable. I have seen a few threads here that recommend DE or shavettes for beginners but I know my partner would rather just dive right in with the straight razor. And so, I have deduced that I will probably need to buy each component separately (components being, the razor, badger brush, strop and some kind of protective case or stand I assume? Do you buy something for 'honing' too?).
Through this forum I saw the website Straight Razor Designs which has a million and one choices but everything seems to be out of stock. Can anyone recommend another reliable internationally shipping website/UK store (I've found none) and a great first razor? I'm doing my best but I can't get my head round it all. This one looks nice (appearance being the best judgement I can offer) http://www.royalshave.com/p/405-141...shed-carbon-steel-x-grind-straight-razor.html although I have no idea what the 11/16 aspect is. Is this Thiers Issard a good brand? Or would it be better to stick with Dovo, a make I've read a few times throughout my research.

As you can see I am in dire need of assistance and hopefully this is the right place to ask for it! Thank you to anyone who has read this post and will help me out.

G

 

[Heespharm]

Thiers is a top tier brand dovo is better than most... Does he already straight razor shave? If not buying a straight razor isn't a good idea... It needs quite a bit of kit to get going... Also most razors don't come shave ready... They need a good honing (another acquired skill) to get shave ready.. If he does.. Great if not u may wanna consider a safety razor

 

[Neurotopia]

Yeah this is a touchy subject since unless you have the right materials and mindset, and a will to endure what may be a steep learning curve, straight shaving can be daunting to do yourself.

I still think you should try it Get a Poor Man's strop from Whipped Dog (just google it). That will keep things sharp for a while. Dovo, Boker, Thiers-Issard make modern razors for a decent price, you would still have to get it honed though since the factory edge usually sucks.

If you like drop me a PM. I'd hone one of my vintage razors up for a reasonable price (around 50 bucks for the razor and a good hone job, give or take depending on how nice of a vintage razor you want- bakelite handles, horn, brand quality, rarity, etc). It will work as well as any new razor and have a bit more character.

I'll be honest with you, I'll be looking to make a (small) profit off of it to help finance future razors, but the flip side is I do want your partner to get sucked into the hobby and help keep things going for the rest of us. The alternative is to hit the flea markets, ebay, and antique stores, but then you still have to have it honed.

Alternatively, plenty of folks here sell GREAT deals on the Buy/Sell/Trade forums. Take a peek. Get some decent shaving cream while you're at it (no canned goo).

 

[blackhhawk]

I would say a straight is a GREAT gift whether he has used one before or not. I'm sure every man has considered trying one. So what if he needs other things? I'm sure if someone bought him the blade he would go buy a strop and whatever else he needs, which REALLY isn't much.

I would say check out thesuperiorshave.com and look at their straights. Any one will be good from there. Pick one out that is in your budget and that you think looks cool. The owner sharpens them before he ships them.

He would need a strop too, but you can "make" a temporary strop. You could shave a few times without stropping but I wouldn't recommend it. Starshaving.com sells decent cheap ones, or whipped dog as stated above. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Chaloney]

Follow this link:
http://www.theinvisibleedge.co.uk/page93.html

UK seller with a top notch reputation. The top two kits look pretty all-inclusive and include good products. Point him our direction before he starts.

Also have him read this:
http://whippeddog.com/app/webroot/userfiles/StraightRazorShaving_Manual(1).pdf

I jumped right in 6 months ago and haven't looked back. No problems.

Also, if you have further questions I'd encourage you to post them--both the above posters are more than capable of giving you good answers, but by posting the questions, the answers can be read by others in the same situation

 

[Slash McCoy]

+1 on Jarrod at www.thesuperiorshave.com. His razors ship shave-ready. The Palisander looks like a good choice. www.starshaving.com is the source for my favorite strop, the "Big Daddy" which is well named. He will need a brush. I suggest a badger of at least 24mm, and higher than "Black" grade. www.whippeddog.com sells some inexpensive silvertip (the highest common grade) brushes that will do nicely. He will need a puck of soap, and I believe Taylor of Old Bond Street actually does still have a shop on Bond Street in London. Their soap is well regarded. He will need a mug or bowl, and a large ceramic mug from the kitchen would do nicely, or you can get a purpose made shaving mug. Make sure he has a styptic pencil, too. This is a powerful astringent that quickly stops bleeding from shaving cuts.

Eventually the razor will need to be honed. That will be a whole nother adventure. Generally the new straight shaver is advised to then buy a second shave-ready razor to use while the first is being honed, or while he is trying to learn to do his own honing. This second razor can easily be a cheap vintage blade such as what Larry sells at www.whippeddog.com, or it can be one that is nicely restored, for a bit more $.

Yes, Tiers Issard is a well regarded brand. Dovo is, too, but I would recommend avoiding Dovo's entry level offerings as a general rule. The "Best" series often has issues. The nicer Dovos can be quite good, and I am particularly impressed with the Bismarck and the Prima Klang. Boker is a good brand that is still making new razors. Revisor is a recently revived brand that makes a tremendous variety of razors... google their website. However I don't know of anyone offering shave-ready Revisors. Razors only honed at the factory are NOT shave ready. The vendor or a third party must hone them, if the buyer has no experience honing.

He will have a lot to learn before he manages his first decent shave. Turn him to this site and he will be well taken care of. Don't be alarmed if he looks like he has spent the morning sorting wildcats after his first shave. A few cuts are pretty normal. The more he reads here, the fewer he will have, but yes, there will probably be blood spilled LOL! Nothing serious, though, so don't worry. Nobody has ever accidentally slashed open his jugular while learning to shave. I just want you to be prepared for the worst.

 

[pouli]

I have dealt with Classic Edge, http://www.classicedge.ca/ and they are quite good. They have a number of sets for beginners, and will hone the razor to be shave ready. They also have free shipping for orders over $100 worldwide. If you email them with questions they are pretty good about getting back to you. Good luck!

 

[cleanshaved]

What a great present.
+2 on Jarrod at www.thesuperiorshave.com. and the rest of what Slash said.
http://connaughtshaving.com/ & http://www.shaving.ie/ are two good, close to you sites that may be worth a look for brushes, creams, soap aftershaves etc.

Do encourage him to sign in here and talk it through, before his first shave.
Don't forget to give us photos of the gear. We live for photos here.

 

[needamanshelp]

Thank you all for all your help. I have narrowed down the extras, but can I please have an opinion on which is better: Dovo Palisander 6/8, Thiers-Issard 11/16 Carbon Fibre or a Thiers-Issard 'Heavy Grind' 11/16 (not sure if there is a difference in the last two, but it's a different website and the carbon fibre one looks a bit nicer than the ivory coloured handle of the latter). Thank you again!

 

[Slash McCoy]

All good. I am partial to the Palisander mostly because it is shoulderless. Shoulderless straight edges are a delight to hone. Plus the shoulderless design is very ergonomic. Easy to hold and control. The TI razors are probably slightly harder steel giving slightly better edge holding qualities and on the negative side slightly harder to hone, though the differences might not even be noticeable. The carbon fiber scales are more durable I am sure. The heavy grind I am not sure but probably it is 1/4 hollow rather than half or full hollow. Some shavers prefer a full or extra hollow blade. Some prefer the added mass of a 1/4 hollow or even a wedge. Strictly personal preference and he will not be able to form a preference for one or the other without some shaving experience. Any of the three will be good choices. Eeny, meenie, minie moe.

Apart from practicality, a gift has two other sets qualities that are often sort of at odds to each other. On the one hand, the giver tries to choose something that the recipient will like above all other possibilities. On the other hand, it is also a reflection of the giver's tastes and fancies. So just picking the one you think looks nicest is a perfectly valid option when selecting from these three excellent razors. All three will shave nicely, assuming of course that the TI razors are indeed shave ready. I know the Palisander from Jarrod will be.

 

[Chaloney]

As slash said, be sure you are buying from someone who sells razors that are shave ready--generally they are not when they come from the factory and honing a razor is different than honing a knife. The superior shave will sell you a shave ready razor. Can't comment on the TI's as we don't know where they're coming from.

If you are confidant that any of them will be shave ready, buy the one you like the looks of the most or that you think he will like the most.