I let one go the other day, should have pm'd you. Actually it was probably a month ago or more. If I remember right it was an MK 32 in plastic scales but it didn't go for an outrageous price.I’m just wishing I’d win at least one
CV HelJestrand.
I let one go the other day, should have pm'd you. Actually it was probably a month ago or more. If I remember right it was an MK 32 in plastic scales but it didn't go for an outrageous price.I’m just wishing I’d win at least one
CV HelJestrand.
I have a datapoint saying 100 years ago straight razors of various brands ranged from about $20 - $50 in today's dollars.
Why are razors selling for multiple hundreds of dollars today?
Note though there are razors available now for about the same price as 100 years ago -- My two modern razors cost $35 and $17.
Part of the reason why is that the DE manufacturers are no longer counting on blade sales for most of their profit as Gillette did back in the 50's and 60's. Second, to @Darth Scandalous ' point, back then the DE was a standard commodity item available everywhere compared to now where it's now somewhat of a hobbyist niche item.Crossing over the line from DE over to my friends here at SR, DE users experience the same thing.
I'll use the 195 (Fat Boy) as the example.
Original cost of the razor in the 60's $1.95
Cost today would be roughly $30
People are paying upwards of $200+
today. Crazy!
or you just went to the barber for a shave.Back when a straight razor was just called a razor, you either had one or you had a beard...
Yeah...if you had even more money...or you just went to the barber for a shave.
i quoted in current dollars.. at the time they were like a dollar for someYou can buy a new straight razor by Wacker, Ralf Aust and others for $200. You can get a new Le Grelot for $150. And a decent double edge razor that uses blades will cost you the same. And that is less than a week's pay (today).
Your data point of $20 to $50 a hundred years ago is not accurate. In 1920, $62 was about a week's pay. If we use your datapoint, then straight razors have gone down in price - not up.
Talking about the cost of razors. i’m not convinced it’s because its a nitch market. more likely people are paying for immaterial aspects. i’m a nuts and bolts type. they are just razors.
The other Swedish brands, EA Berg, JA Helberg, Tornblom, Bjorkson and Ericsson and SSA etc are all fine razors. They just don't have the same reputation as the Heljestrands so can often be picked up at a more reasonable price.I’m just wishing I’d win at least one
CV HelJestrand.
Fortunately, I'm constantly outbid for them now, even the little 3/8 are going for silly money. I've noticed even other Swedish brands have shot up in price recently. Looks like I'll have to settle for the few I have unless something extraordinary comes up and I have a few euro that I really don't need.They’re good. The smaller ones seem to be a lot easier to find than the big ones.
That looks an awful lot like one of my old posts. So, yeah I agree. :•\Best bang for the buck would be a good vintage razor. You can get something that will work for as little as a ten spot. You can get something really nice for under $60. Some vintage razors have powerful cult followings and are worth the price to their fans but while excellent razors, aren't worth that to you. Filarmonica, Dubl Duck, Dorko, Wade and Butcher, anything Swedish come to mind. Prewar Solingen, and US mass produced, are generally good values. If I had to name a brand, for low cost but high usability, it would be Genco or Geneva Cutlery, same company just changed name. Next would be the Union Spike, and these go crazy cheap but the point can gouge a chunk out of you if it is not muted and you are not careful. Old Bokers, Henckels, and the like are good German razors.
The thing is, if you limit yourself even to a dozen brands, you are only picking from a very small percentage of razors available. Look for any known brand that is reasonably well regarded, in decent condition, not honed to a toothpick and not cracked or deeply pitted. For a brand new razor, proceed with caution if the price is under about $80 because there are very few modern cheapies I would recommend to a newbie. Those few are basically the cream of the crop from China, the Gold Dollars, Gold Monkey, etc and they are not without issues. My rec for a Chinese razor would be the Gold Dollar 1996 model. Most in that price category are unusable junk that can't be honed or won't stay sharp. Anything from Pakistan, unless someone you can trust says different, should be avoided. So it is not, for your first razor, a question of what to get, but more a question of what NOT to get.
A razor must be sharp before you can shave with it. It is not like a knife. Don't think for a second that you can "sharpen" it like your pocketknife on your trusty carborumdum stone and make it shave. Shave arm hair? LOL that is how you test a pocketknife, not a razor, which needs to be way sharper than that. Believe me, you need to first experience a truly shave ready edge and shave with it successfully before you even understand what a shave ready edge is, how it feels and looks, how you know you got one. So for now you basically have two choices. Buy shave ready, or buy and have someone hone it for you. Either way, you need to have someone known and reliable do the honing. Fleabay is full of shave ready razors sold by people who don't even shave with a straight razor. How could they know? They can't. And don't. Shave Ready has become a buzz word on ebay that is included to help sell razors. The sellers on ebay who can be trusted to deliver true shave ready razors is verrrrry short. Always verify a seller on this or another straight shaving forum before you pull the trigger.
If you always get an opinion from one of the major straight razor forums, you will have a reasonable assurance of edge quality. Likewise, an edge honed by a member who has his reputation to think about. Typical cost for having a razor honed vary between around $15 to about $25 if the razor is of decent grind and condition. Some guys will do it free just because they like to hone, just pay the postage both ways. You can learn to do it yourself, but wait until you have a couple dozen shaves under your belt with at least two razors. When you think you are ready, do your homework before you start spending money on all sorts of rocks and stuff.
You need a usable strop. Not a "good" one, not yet, because you will damage it while learning, but a usable one. Whippeddog.com Larry's Poor Man strop is okay for learning. The 2/1/2" wide (not the 2" wide) strop sold on fleabay by "thexbay" is okay and sells for under $10. Upgrade later. No, don't use your belt. It is for holding your pants up. Don't get a naugahyde special from China, either. Phone book, newspaper, those are emergency strops, not learner strops. Get something made for the job. Youtube is your friend. Watch stropping vids. Do your forum research. Read read read. Practice the motion with a butter knife or a purposely dulled Gold Dollar. Don't start shaving without a shave ready razor and a strop. And a brush and soap or cream.
Real shave cream does not come out of a can. Canned goo comes out of a can. The goo does a poor job of lubricating and cushioning the skin. Don't even try. In fact, I suggest you get a good shave soap and a good brush and learn to make a good lather before you ever buy a straight razor. Good face prep and lather will do a lot to make your cartridge or throwaway shave better. Practice before your date with destiny. Be ready in every respect before putting sharp naked steel to face. Cheapest soap you can get that is easy to use and gives great lather is Arko, at about a buck a stick in quantity online. Cheapest cream that does a really great job is Godrej Rich Lather, in the red tube. Get it from your local Indian shop. C.O. Bigelow is just Proraso rebranded for the US market, and is good, in either the soap or the cream version, in any of the 3 or 4 formulas you are likely to encounter. Don't bother looking at Walgreens or Rite Aid or Walmart. You might find something usable at Target. There are synthetic, boar, badger, and horse brushes. Badger has the edge. Black badger is about as prickly as boar but holds more water, which is good. Higher grades of badger are silky smooth on the skin and Whipped Dog sells decent Silvertip grade badgers pretty darn cheap. Chinese brushes are usually a bit cheaper but only Virginia Sheng or VS is worth bothering with currently. There was a brand called Frank Shaving that was a good buy but quality went down and price went up and they are now off the radar. Noname Chinese brushes 9 out of 10 times will be very poor quality. Boar is very prickly but softens after about a 30 day breakin period. They don't hold as much water or product as a badger but they are very cheap. Horse is usually a bit on the floppy side. Synthetic IMHO is getting better but not there just yet.
Feel free to make your own razor.