trying to put suggestions together for starter set on the cheap.

[tinashubby]

I would recommend a Edwin Jagger, but Cadets are cheaper. I have no experience with the Cadet, anyone chime in?

For soap I am going to recommend Arko, and possibly Proraso because they are both known to lather easy and are great soaps.

For a brush I am recommending Badger, I struggled with a boar as a beginner creating lather (not a flame) but am at a loss for the inexpensive part. I have a Whipped Dog myself, but it is a bit of a shedder, not sure if mine is the exception or if many of them shed, so I don't know if I can recommend it without reservation. Tweezerman maybe?

Blades I'll recommend Astra, Feather, and Shark since I have had good experience with them.

Please chime in with your thoughts and suggestions.

 

[Nicola]

With which boar did you struggle? I couldn't be happier with my Semogue 620, which can be had for ~$20 USD.

I have experience with Proraso green and red, and both lather really easily, so I'd say that's a soild recommendation.

Blades are a whole 'nother ballgame. I'm partial to 7 o'clock blacks, which I feel stand above every other blade that I've tried, but that's just me, and YMMV, of course.

 

[FL shaver]

Semogue 1460 is a fantastic starter brush.

 

[Ducati Scotty]

EJ89 is a great razor. I have a Cadet on order so I can report on that later.

Proraso creams are very easy to lather.

I highly recommend an Omega boar brush. Great brushes and mostly under $12.

I really like Astra blades. Inexpensive, sharp, and very easy to find.

Scott

 

[tinashubby]

Semogue 1438 brush. I got okay lather till I tried a badger. I just couldn't get as nice a lather with the boar.

 

[redrider_99]

Do you mean recommendations for someone to purchase on their own? Or you want to put it together and pass it along?

If the former, I'd have to recommend some of the vendors kits. Maggard comes to mind but they all have them.

Also, Garry's Sample Shop has a great kit for $33 shipped. I've never dealt with him and don't know if they're always in stock but I can't get over what a great deal it is so I seem to post it up a lot. I also like vintage razors and that's what he includes so there's that too.

 

[Spang]

I would recommend a Edwin Jagger, but Cadets are cheaper. I have no experience with the Cadet, anyone chime in?

For soap I am going to recommend Arko, and possibly Proraso because they are both known to lather easy and are great soaps.

For a brush I am recommending Badger, I struggled with a boar as a beginner creating lather (not a flame) but am at a loss for the inexpensive part. I have a Whipped Dog myself, but it is a bit of a shedder, not sure if mine is the exception or if many of them shed, so I don't know if I can recommend it without reservation. Tweezerman maybe?

Blades I'll recommend Astra, Feather, and Shark since I have had good experience with them.

Please chime in with your thoughts and suggestions.

The Cadets are indeed nice razors and an excellent value, but they are fairly aggressive for a beginning DE shaver. In particular, both the open comb and the TTO put a lot of blade on the skin. Even the solid bar head is noticeably more aggressive than the DE 89. Don't get me wrong, they are excellent shavers, but they do demand some technique. As an affordable alternative, I'd suggest the Maggard razor. Just a bit more aggressive than the DE 89, but quite a bit less so than the Cadets, it's a great value at around 20 bucks shipped. Overall finish is not in the EJ's class, but it's plenty adequate at half the price. Plus, the Maggards will stand behind the razors if there are any issues.

As for brushes, personally I'd stay away from cheap badger, when less than $20 will put you into any one of a number of great Omega boars that will far out perform any low-end badger. I can't speak to your negative experience with boar, but mine has been uniformly positive. Part of the issue with boar is that it does need a little break-in to achieve optimum performance. But all of my Omegas have been at least good out of the box, and have continued improve with use, which is part of the fun!

 

[violetsiva]

The Maggard razor is perfect for a cheap starter set. I have an MR6 and the finish is a step below my Merkur 180/23c. The head is very similar to my EJ DE89 in terms of the shave it delivers, but the weight of the handle makes it a bit more aggressive. The only thing that you have to be aware of is that it's easy to have a misaligned blade if you aren't paying attention when tightening it and that's common for all of their razors. I don't hear of that too often with the Cadets.

Most of my shaves are currently done with the EJ head on the MR6 handle.

 

[StanStill]

As for the equipment I can't vouch for any of it, but there is no way anyone can help but smile when they see a stick of Arko for the first time.

 

[engblom]

$2 RiMei Sodial is about as cheap as you can get a razor. Still it is a very good razor provided you actually get it and not a cheaper copy. China has begun making copies of own products.

One strategy would be to order for $4 getting two razors, but from different suppliers. There is a thread about them worth reading.

 

[duderubble]

I'm going to suggest a flare-tip superspeed and a Van Der Hagen starter kit. Probably less than $15. Plus whatever blades.

 

[Niles]

My suggested starter set would include:

Gillette Super Speed or Tech (also, a Merkur Classic or HD don't cost that much) with a blade sample pack
Omega boar
Proraso
drugstore aftershave of choice

 

[PugslyCat]

I have taken to keeping VDH starter sets, a pack of Dollar General blades, and a cleaned up Gillette SS on hand at all times to give to somebody as a starter set. It's a cheap and easy setup with products the recipient can source locally when they use up the blades and soap. Most of the components aren't the best, but like I said, the consumables can be replaced without setting off on an internet scavenger hunt.

When creating a starter set I tend to go cheap, especially with the razor. Some of the people I have put together kits for have stayed with DE shaving and others haven't. I hate to spend much on something that may never get used.

If locally sourced components weren't an issue I would suggest:

• Yuma razor. These things are incredibly cheap but shave well.
• Arko soap. The stuff is stupid simple to create lather with.
• Astra blades.
• Tweezerman badger brush or an Omega boar. I have both and they work quite well.