Which is a good starting point for a razor?

[clango]

Hi Everibody,

I'm just arrived on this forum and I'm looking for a guideline about razors.

Which could be a good starting point? Which kind of razor....Actually if you don't feel injured I'm using only a Gillette II plus so I would and I could develop a little!

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

Regards

 

[Chimensch]

Ciao, I'm in Modena. I went directly to a straight razor (rasoio a mano libera) 30 years ago and have never used a DE ... so that's my advice. Skip the toys and go right to a man's razor.

 

[jsrdrnr]

That works...if you want to go DE give a gillette superspeed a try. They are nice and gentle.

 

[Masterofsparks]

My vote goes to the Mekur HD! It was one of my first razors and still among my favorites.

 

[Bertilak]

Which could be a good starting point? Which kind of razor....

Welcome to B&B and to straight razor shaving!

You need:

Soap and/or cream
Brush to apply the above
Straight razor
Strop

For the straight:
o Carbon or stainless steel are both OK. Most people have carbon steel. There are more choices with this as well.
o 5/8 or 6/8 are good sizes to start with. I actually think 6/8 might be a bit better but that would be a close call and others might disagree.
o Round point leaves you one less thing to worry about, but don't make this a deal breaker.
o Get one that has been honed properly. Look for ones advertised "shave ready". The BST here is a good place to start.

For the strop:
You *will* mess up your first strop. Maybe there are born-genius stropping savants here or there but don't count on you being one of them! So get something cheap. I typically recommend the Filly by RupRazor but shipping to you will nearly double its cost so see of you can find something inexpensive closer to home. Or, if you get the razor and strop both from RupRazor, you split the shipping cost over the two items and also get a $5 discount so that is still a reasonable option.

The soap and brush you may already have.

Don't go overboard with any of this. You will develop more specific wants as time goes by so save your money until then.

 

[richmondesi]

Excellent advise already. I'll just say welcome to B&B and be sure not to spend too much on anything right now because: a) you don't know if you will want to stick with straight razors, b) you very well could damage the razor by not stropping properly, dropping it, mishandling it in some other fashio, c) you don't have a good idea of your preferences as of yet so there's no reason to spend much money on razors, strops, hones, etc.

Enjoy the journey

 

[netsurfr]

I think you have plenty of good advise already so I will just say welcome to B&B.
There is a bit of a learning curve with the straight but just take your time and don't get discouraged. Regarding the actual shaving, there is one thing that I wish I had known to do when I first started. Map your face so that you know in what direction your beard grows. This does not seem like a big thing but if you just do a north-south pass on your face, you could be shaving WTG when you start, XTG as you traverse your mid neck and finally ATG when you hit your lower neck. The latter two actions on your first pass will lead to an uncomfortable shave if you are lucky and a fair amount of weepers and nicks if you are not lucky.

 

[Luc]

Welcome to B&B and to straight razor shaving!

You need:

Soap and/or cream
Brush to apply the above
Straight razor
Strop

For the straight:
o Carbon or stainless steel are both OK. Most people have carbon steel. There are more choices with this as well.
o 5/8 or 6/8 are good sizes to start with. I actually think 6/8 might be a bit better but that would be a close call and others might disagree.
o Round point leaves you one less thing to worry about, but don't make this a deal breaker.
o Get one that has been honed properly. Look for ones advertised "shave ready". The BST here is a good place to start.

For the strop:
You *will* mess up your first strop. Maybe there are born-genius stropping savants here or there but don't count on you being one of them! So get something cheap. I typically recommend the Filly by RupRazor but shipping to you will nearly double its cost so see of you can find something inexpensive closer to home. Or, if you get the razor and strop both from RupRazor, you split the shipping cost over the two items and also get a $5 discount so that is still a reasonable option.

The soap and brush you may already have.

Don't go overboard with any of this. You will develop more specific wants as time goes by so save your money until then.

+1

I think this is the best advice you could get!

 

[clango]

First of all, thanks to all for the really good advices.

Now I'm discovering this world: yesterday I couldn't translate strop as today I cannot understand what means WTG XTG...anyway...the knowledge journey is long and full of obstacles....but it is what we like sometimes...

I'm discovering in these days this wide world I couldn't imagine before. Unbelievable things can really happen! (copied partially by Goethe). I approached this world through a shaving brush and looking for a new one ( I ordered one to Vulfix before Christmas) I found this world.

I couldn't imagine before, so many people are using a straight razor and now you are challenging me....my original purpose was only to understand better pros and cons of the different kind of razors.

Did you ever use an industrial razor, a use & throw away one?
And practically which are the differences of the shavings. I mean only the quality of the cut of the beard. From other point of view I can understand that the feeling of skills, of arts and sciences of using a straight razors is completely different

 

[Bacchus]

WTG - With the grain
XTG - Across the grain
ATG - Against the grain

The actual shave is not that much different that I know of, all things being equal. Just with a straight, it forces you to learn good technique to get a good shave. But then again, some people find the beard to be softer when it grows back, as well as a longer and smoother shave (although these could be contributed to the improved technique)