Thread: A few questions from a starter...

Originally Posted by sidneykidney

Forgive me Fudas. I believe I am not the only one who has thought or said such a thing when starting up. Many of us here have said the same thing. Dont get me wrong, there are some who do have only one razor, but the notion that getting into straight razor shaving to save money has been.... debatable, for me at least.

I dont want to discourage you from straight razor shaving in the least. Far from it. I genuinely do hope you enjoy your straight razor experience. Just be aware that they can be very.... addictive. And its not a collection. Its a 'rotation'.

lol, rotation! Nice way of looking at it, indeed! I agree though, about the notion of shaving with a straight or even a DE razor as a means to save money. I find it's entirely a fallacy that people use to justify the hobby. But what for? Cost effectiveness is a lame reason to shave with nice kit. When people ask me why I use such fancy stuff, my response is simply that it's an unimaginabley better shave, and also a lot more fun and enjoyable. That's enough reason for me!

For me, I had razor burn for 15 years (I'm 31), the first time I used a straight....no razor burn, and it's merely a bad memory now. This is my #1 justification. #2. As you said, straight razors are bad ass. Period. Enough said. You slide a scary sharp piece of mean looking steel across your face because you want to, and because you can. This signifies you as one of the few, the proud, the tough ones. Our secret is, you get a shave that is wonderful, have a good time doing it, and obtain a nice sense of satisfaction when you are done. I also suggest you buy a razor from the classifieds here. If you don't want to go that route, buy one from Lynn at SRD. Get yourself a TM strop. No sense in getting something you are going to want to replace. If you decide it isn't for you, you can resell it. Think of it in terms of cars. Buy a Civic, get a decent resell if you don't like it. If you get a Kia, you're stuck wth it. Sticky this...my best piece of literature ever. You won't see this quality again for awhile. Midterms this week ya know.

I would add one final suggestion. Buy a cheap but fair quality razor. Send your chosen razor, whichever one it is to be sent away to get honed by one of the honers advertised n the classifieds. Then when all the kit arrives spend some time trying to achieve the sharpness of your good razor by honing the cheap razor. I have in mind a wapicenia or something similar. NOT a Zeepk. Dont get a Zeepk. Did I mention never to get anything Zeepk?

Anyway yeah. Cheap razor used as practice to get the same sharpness as the Dovo you plan on getting. Check out wapicenias, they are uber cheap and fair quality. Good early hone practice.

And dont go near anything Zeepk.