I came up with the idea yesterday and drew it off the "Hall of Fame" section in the general area. The idea is that we could share how we got started shaving, why we started, and some of the important milestones we've crossed. Sort of like a short story of your shaving journey. I'll go ahead and start.
While my actual straight shaving started when I was 18 (25 now), my fascination with sharp shiny objects started from before I can remember. I'd always been fascinated by armor and sharp shiny weapons. I learned how to hone knives from boyscouts and since then I've been pretty OCD about having really sharp knives. What does this have to do with straight shaving, well, I'm getting there.
So, like most everyone, I started shaving with the disposable razor (Mach 3). When I was on my own and had to buy my own stuff, I realized that a half year's supply of cartridges was $40!!! I did the math and I realized if I shaved with something that never had to be replaced, I would save a lot of money. So I went over to the knife store in the mall and bought a Dovo Best. Practiced by shaving the hairs on the back of my hand (still do
) and when I felt comfortable enough with the razor, I went at it. I honestly don't remember very much about my very first experiences, I don't even remember how I knew how to hold the razor correctly. It might have been from the people at the knife store, but I doubt it as they also said to shave backwards (in a stropping motion 
), which obviously does not work.
I really can't remember if I cut myself or not, I probably did a good job because I stuck with it. I have cut myself a lot throughout my history with the straight razor, but I think of it as a job hazard. Some of you may notice that I did not buy the brush or soap, I used the canned stuff for a very long time. I also bought a strop at some time, but I nicked it up so badly it was trashed pretty quick. I used a leather belt after that because I was poor and couldn't afford the stuff they sold at the knife place.
My next milestone was honing my own razors. As you can tell, all I had was the knife store. I didn't even think about finding a forum about straight razor shaving, but at that time in my life the internet was still relatively new, I think broadband was only available to the masses for a year or two. Anyway, the razor wasn't cutting as good so off to the knife store I went. Talked to the sales person and they sold me a hone. Went home, did what they said and attempted a shave.
I thought I had destroyed my razor.
Turns out the hone they sold me was a 600/800 grit combo stone suitable only for knives. Went back to the knife store to see *** they sold me. Turns out the guy who "hones" razors was working that day. (He charged something like $20 and used a black Arkansas and generally did not fill me with confidence since he didn't shave with one himself). Looking back upon it, he sort of knew what he was doing. He brought out is black Arkansas and told me I needed a stone that fine to hone a razor. He then told me about laying the spine on the hone and confirmed an x-stroke was needed because the hone was too narrow to push hone. I ended up buying an 8k Spyderco ceramic. After getting back home and spending hours on end, my razor was shave-ready once more. (Which was great because I had no other razor and was getting kind of stubbly looking)
So I spent the next 5-6 years honing my Dovo Best and experimenting with free-handing and other stones. I ended up buying a Spyderco M & UF to complement the Fine. I actually bought them because I figured they would be good for both straight razors and knives. Turns out I was right, which is good because now that I look back upon it I was flying pretty damn blind.
To be honest, somewhere along the 3rd year or so, I stopped stropping and just honed the razor whenever it got dull. (I think I was honing every three weeks). Then, I got tired of honing my razor so often and started wondering if the older razors were better. So I got a German one off ebay and got it shaving sharp. And then, early last year or late the year before, I found this website and its been downhill since then. I became fascinated with the whole brush thing (even though I knew it existed and almost bought a brush twice in my past), did research and got the whole kit. Then, I bought a junker off ebay to see if I could polish it up and get a shave ready razor for cheap. I got some MAAS and went at it with a rag. I spent hours polishing it, but it turned out great. And then I decided razor honing & restoration was going to be my new hobby.
And thats my story. I hone & restore razors and go to law school full time.
While my actual straight shaving started when I was 18 (25 now), my fascination with sharp shiny objects started from before I can remember. I'd always been fascinated by armor and sharp shiny weapons. I learned how to hone knives from boyscouts and since then I've been pretty OCD about having really sharp knives. What does this have to do with straight shaving, well, I'm getting there.
So, like most everyone, I started shaving with the disposable razor (Mach 3). When I was on my own and had to buy my own stuff, I realized that a half year's supply of cartridges was $40!!! I did the math and I realized if I shaved with something that never had to be replaced, I would save a lot of money. So I went over to the knife store in the mall and bought a Dovo Best. Practiced by shaving the hairs on the back of my hand (still do
) and when I felt comfortable enough with the razor, I went at it. I honestly don't remember very much about my very first experiences, I don't even remember how I knew how to hold the razor correctly. It might have been from the people at the knife store, but I doubt it as they also said to shave backwards (in a stropping motion ), which obviously does not work.I really can't remember if I cut myself or not, I probably did a good job because I stuck with it. I have cut myself a lot throughout my history with the straight razor, but I think of it as a job hazard. Some of you may notice that I did not buy the brush or soap, I used the canned stuff for a very long time. I also bought a strop at some time, but I nicked it up so badly it was trashed pretty quick. I used a leather belt after that because I was poor and couldn't afford the stuff they sold at the knife place.
My next milestone was honing my own razors. As you can tell, all I had was the knife store. I didn't even think about finding a forum about straight razor shaving, but at that time in my life the internet was still relatively new, I think broadband was only available to the masses for a year or two. Anyway, the razor wasn't cutting as good so off to the knife store I went. Talked to the sales person and they sold me a hone. Went home, did what they said and attempted a shave.
I thought I had destroyed my razor.Turns out the hone they sold me was a 600/800 grit combo stone suitable only for knives. Went back to the knife store to see *** they sold me. Turns out the guy who "hones" razors was working that day. (He charged something like $20 and used a black Arkansas and generally did not fill me with confidence since he didn't shave with one himself). Looking back upon it, he sort of knew what he was doing. He brought out is black Arkansas and told me I needed a stone that fine to hone a razor. He then told me about laying the spine on the hone and confirmed an x-stroke was needed because the hone was too narrow to push hone. I ended up buying an 8k Spyderco ceramic. After getting back home and spending hours on end, my razor was shave-ready once more. (Which was great because I had no other razor and was getting kind of stubbly looking)
So I spent the next 5-6 years honing my Dovo Best and experimenting with free-handing and other stones. I ended up buying a Spyderco M & UF to complement the Fine. I actually bought them because I figured they would be good for both straight razors and knives. Turns out I was right, which is good because now that I look back upon it I was flying pretty damn blind.
To be honest, somewhere along the 3rd year or so, I stopped stropping and just honed the razor whenever it got dull. (I think I was honing every three weeks). Then, I got tired of honing my razor so often and started wondering if the older razors were better. So I got a German one off ebay and got it shaving sharp. And then, early last year or late the year before, I found this website and its been downhill since then.
I became fascinated with the whole brush thing (even though I knew it existed and almost bought a brush twice in my past), did research and got the whole kit. Then, I bought a junker off ebay to see if I could polish it up and get a shave ready razor for cheap. I got some MAAS and went at it with a rag. I spent hours polishing it, but it turned out great. And then I decided razor honing & restoration was going to be my new hobby.And thats my story. I hone & restore razors and go to law school full time.
). As far as I was concerned, Blenheim Bouquet was the only cologne worth wearing. One night in late 2006, I stumbled across Scotto's review of it. Needless to say, although I lurked for quite some time, I was hooked on B&B. Once here, the countdown to using straights started ticking and Joel's "The Interactive Guide to Straight Razor Shaving" did the trick. 
