Post your first shaving kit when starting out on B&B

[lancre]

Merkur 23C (RIP)
Derby Extra
WMS
Generic WH
Nivea Sensitive ASB

The 23c didn't survive a fall to the floor, and Merkur was not sympathetic. I developed a raging case of vintage RAD after that.

The Extras are still my most-used blades.
WMS is still my go-to soap.
Generic WH replaced by Thayers once they got into my grocery store.
Nivea Sensitive ASB Still my go to.

 

[MaineYooper]

No pictures, but the set was influenced strongly by this forum!
Merkur HD 34C
Blade sampler from Maggards, with Silver Blue Gillette blades preferred
Badger brush from Amazon
Several samples of soaps, with Mystic Water Soap Sensitive Skin being my first buy within 3 weeks!

 

[OhioBob]

Edwin Jagger DE89
Inexpensive Boar Brush from Amazon
Blade sampler pack
TOBS Sandalwood
Styptic pencil
Stainless shaving bowl

First few shaves were much better than I thought they would be. Thanks to this forum and videos on YouTube I have continued to learn about this fun hobby.

 

[Adam18]

I first joined our wonderful B & B community in the summer of 2016, as
I was making the decision to switch from Gillette Fusion razors and canned
Edge gel to the fantastic world of traditional shaving.
My original set-up back then was a combination of things recommended
by the fine folks at The Superior Shave and West Coast Shaving .....

** Merkur 34C razor
** Blade sampler pack (Derby, Crystal, Astra SP, Personna Red, & Feather)
** Simpsons Colonel X2L brush
** Proraso Green tub soap
** Osma alum block
** Clubman Pinaud AS splash
** Nivea balm

 

[phelix]

I'm pretty sure I was rocking straights exclusively and still working on a DR Harris soap I purchased because of the cool wood bowl. I bought a 15 dollar badger brush and all was right with the world or so I thought.

 

[Raven Koenes]

I first joined our wonderful B & B community in the summer of 2016, as
I was making the decision to switch from Gillette Fusion razors and canned
Edge gel to the fantastic world of traditional shaving.
My original set-up back then was a combination of things recommended
by the fine folks at The Superior Shave and West Coast Shaving .....

** Merkur 34C razor
** Blade sampler pack (Derby, Crystal, Astra SP, Personna Red, & Feather)
** Simpsons Colonel X2L brush
** Proraso Green tub soap
** Osma alum block
** Clubman Pinaud AS splash
** Nivea balm

Those were some good recommendations. I pieced together mine from here, Amazon for the EJ brush (I liked the looks), and Astra Blades from a co-worker. VDH because it was available at Walgreens, and TOBS Sandalwood my wife bought me as a gift.

 

[Raven Koenes]

I can't find a picture of the "users" I came here with, but they were as follows:

• Edwin Jagger DE3D14 (still my primary razor)
• Wilkinson Sword Classic (used exclusively for 20+ years, and now one of my travel razors)
• Merkur 985 (my other travel razor)
• Parker 22 Interceptor (now PIFed away)

I only have two DE razors that I didn't arrive with, a birth quarter Super Slim Twist, and an IKon SBS on Bulldog II handle. Three if you count a Razorine... though I count that as a shavette

I also arrived with a Dovo shavette that I used occasionally, and still do. I arrived with a straight too, but had never honed it nor used it. I have since done both, and now have two straights.

View attachment 1145881

The reason for joining up, was actually to see if I could glean info on some other old stuff. Firstly there was a Wilkinson Sword Empire which has since been given away.

View attachment 1145882

Then there was the Rolls Razor and Darwin Hollow Ground

View attachment 1145883View attachment 1145885

I got both of these usable, tried them, then dumped them back in the drawer. They'll never displace my regular kit, and are little more than curios.

Away from razors, I had one cheap boar brush. That conked out, and I now have three synthetics.

The mug I now rinse my razor in, was a drinking vessel when I arrived here, and here is the evidence to prove it.

View attachment 1145887

I do still have my traditional scuttle that I arrived with too, though it rarely gets used.

View attachment 1145892

I have since added a lather bowl, but I think that's it as regards peripheral equipment.

I still gotta try the Wilkies.

 

[Raven Koenes]

All this talk about our first shave kits, I'm going in for a shave with mine.

Monday's line up:

 

[Tanuki]

>Thick cap ball end Old Type
>Private label Personna blades from the grocery store
>Williams Mug (plus shower shaves with Ivory)
>Plisson badger (not in the shower!)
>Pewter shave mug (a gift, marketed by Col Conk?)
>A 12 oz bottle of Pinaud Virgin Island Bay Rum that I hadn't gotten down to the halfway point in 25 years. I'm still working on it, but now it has plenty of company.

I found B&B in 2018, a few months after I found out that traditional shaving was a 'thing' and an active marketplace. At that point I had already added a Y4 Gillette Superspeed to my decades-long rotation of a ball end Old Type and a Merkur 36 slant. (Largely minus the slant after my eldest took it over.) The Superspeed didn't get much action then, and gets even less now.

It took exposure to B&B enabling to get me to supplement Williams Mug with a dozen Arko sticks and a 1000 ml block of Cella, plus an Omega 10066 to get me back to boar after a long run with my Plisson badger (a gift back before they became a luxury brand). Add 100 Astra SP, and I knew I was set for life, or at least a decade. And saving money!

 

[CJB3]

My first kit in 2018 was:
Merkur 34c
Astra SP
Proraso Green (in tube)
TOBS Jermyn Street shaving cream
Simpson Colonel X2L

This was built from advice I pieced off the internet—including here.

 

[CJB3]

I first joined our wonderful B & B community in the summer of 2016, as
I was making the decision to switch from Gillette Fusion razors and canned
Edge gel to the fantastic world of traditional shaving.
My original set-up back then was a combination of things recommended
by the fine folks at The Superior Shave and West Coast Shaving .....

** Merkur 34C razor
** Blade sampler pack (Derby, Crystal, Astra SP, Personna Red, & Feather)
** Simpsons Colonel X2L brush
** Proraso Green tub soap
** Osma alum block
** Clubman Pinaud AS splash
** Nivea balm

Your initial kit and mine look remarkably similar, Adam. I guess Jerry Garcia and Dylan have a lot in common.

 

[Tanuki]

Checked my first post, I have kit corrections/additions:
>Two Merkurs, 39C and the retro OC 1904. My Old Type was officially retired.
>12 Arko sticks and a freebie puck of Col Conk Amber, no Williams in stock.
>Col Conk stone shave bowl for puck loading
>I might have had my 100 blade sampler from Razor Blade Club by post #1. Lurking was clearly having an effect.

My project at that point was to find one excellent open comb and one excellent slant, since my slant had gone to my son and my Old Type was destined for my nephew. The 39C and the 1904 were not the anointed ones and would be sold after their replacements were discovered. Of course, I still have them both.

 

[Adam18]

Your initial kit and mine look remarkably similar, Adam. I guess Jerry Garcia and Dylan have a lot in common.

Yes indeed !

 

[KeenDogg]

All this talk about our first shave kits, I'm going in for a shave with mine.

Monday's line up:
View attachment 1147129

This is almost what I had to start with.

 

[Raven Koenes]

Yes indeed !

I love them both separately, but I was not a big fan of Dylan and the Dead. I liked Dylan with the Heartbreakers though, but what's up with the whole Bruce Hornsby and the Dead thing?

 

[Raven Koenes]

SOTD:
Razor: Merkur 34c
Blade: Astra SP (1)
Brush: EJ Badger Medium Super
Soap: TOBS Sandalwood
Aftershave: Proraso Green (Splash)

I had a nice first shave with my original kit items. My Merkur 34c was not as close as my Fatip Lo Storto, but it was close. I definitely had a DFS all around, and did that not changing my technique from my Fatip shaves. I had forgotten how smooth this razor can be. It felt like a tech but more efficient. I'm so used to shaving with Fatips that I'm sure there will be a dial in period this week. Over all I'm impressed with the results. It was close to a bbs, with no extra work, and there was no feed back when applying aftershave. I'll see how I do over the week with it. It's not the tool it's the artist, and this is not a bad tool...so there's that. Note: TOBS Sandalwood is still stinky.

 

[Adam18]

I love them both separately, but I was not a big fan of Dylan and the Dead. I liked Dylan with the Heartbreakers though, but what's up with the whole Bruce Hornsby and the Dead thing?

There was an era in the Grateful Dead's concert history where Bruce Hornsby played keyboards.
After Brent passed way, and before Vince joined the band. Bruce and Jerry always got along
quite well, and they made some really nice music together.