Thread: heres what im looking at

for a good cheap strop checkout RupRazor - Home he has a filly strop for $20 it is a good starter strop as you are most likely to nick or damage your first one

soaps last longer then creams are usually cheaper and a little slicker but are usually a little more difficult to lather but it isn't rocket science despite what some believe it is just soap and water either you need more of one or the other or both mix well and shave, you can lather on face or in a bowl or in a mug on top of the soap whatever you prefer no right or wrong method, depending on what type of soap you buy it may fit into a mug easily and after a few uses they tend to mold nicely to bottom

check out the forums for soaps and vendors, plenty of both good soaps-soap makers here as well as other vendors too

good luck

I recently bought a Dovo Bismarck from SRD in Black. You'll like it. They do have about the lowest prices on Dovo's these days. I can't say about the strops. I hear Kenrup has some good deals. You made some excellent choices. Dovo Bismarck was my first razor too, Welcome to SRP....

Originally Posted by crankymoose

for a good cheap strop checkout RupRazor - Home he has a filly strop for $20 it is a good starter strop as you are most likely to nick or damage your first one

soaps last longer then creams are usually cheaper and a little slicker but are usually a little more difficult to lather but it isn't rocket science despite what some believe it is just soap and water either you need more of one or the other or both mix well and shave, you can lather on face or in a bowl or in a mug on top of the soap whatever you prefer no right or wrong method, depending on what type of soap you buy it may fit into a mug easily and after a few uses they tend to mold nicely to bottom

check out the forums for soaps and vendors, plenty of both good soaps-soap makers here as well as other vendors too

good luck

after seeing how much it costs to replace a leather stop, yes i will definitely be checkin out that $20 beginner one so thanks for that lol, my other hobby is paintball i know the value of getting beginner stuff lol. SRD has a truefitt and hill soap that comes in a wooden bowl and it has refills so that seems like the best deal to me

sorry took a little nap


strops:
anyway yes ruprazor.com "filly" is nice starter from what I hear and it comes pasted so you can touch up your razor after a couple weeks use.

another option is TM ( Tony Miller thewellshavedgentleman.com) his strops are considered some of the best and are priced accordingly. They have the option to pay an extra $8 to add a practice strop. That way you save on shipping have a nice practice strop to chew up and really nice one for when your ready.

the SRD strops are another well known strop around here but you already know about them.

lastly if you wanna get creative or go to the extreame to save a buck you could build your own

http://straightrazorpalace.com/strop...-jimboroo.html

Making a (very) home-made strop - Straight Razor Place Wiki

brush:

well this is a bit tricky because yes you get what you pay for but until you try a bunch a brushes you really don't know what quality is to be paying for it if that makes sense. So I will reccommend some cheap stuff that has been know to do the job and you can go from there.

tweezerman brush: you can get this at amazon.com for $10-15 it's what I use and does a decent job. its sheds at first and probably isn't the softest but when you start out it is proabably better tohave a stiff brush since it makes making lather a little easier (according to some).

VDH (van der hagen) makes a starter set of brush bowl and soap that I hear is alright most say it can be found at wal-mart

soap:

cheap soap that is easy to find is vdh (van der hagen) and williams. They can be found at target grocery stores cvs or wallgreens. Do a google so you know what they look like.

cream:

the only one I know of that is easy accessibel is O.C Bigelow from bath and body its relabled proraso and is very good for $5-10 depending on size

also thanks to JimR I found a cheap site that sells tabac (look around the forums you'll learn of it soon enough) it has a unique scent that you either love or hate but its lather is good enough that you'll use even if you don't like the scent.

Tabac Cologne for Men by Maurer & Wirtz

razor:

the only other place I would recommend buying a razor is here in the classifieds you can find cheap starter razors that are honed for $20-30 shipped. but if you want a new one and have the money SRD is the way to go.

hope this helps

Originally Posted by Sparky

And another thing I got to thinkin about, I listed cream in that list but I'm starting to lean more towards soap, so if get soap and a mug how do I get the soap in the mug?!?!? Seems like such a simple concept yet for some reason it's left me scratching my head and sayin huh.

In the top of the mug is a large hole. You can put the soap right in there. Conveniently, you can also use that same hole to access the soap with your brush. Hey they don't call me Mentor for nothin' eh!

Looks like you're starting out with class, Sparky. Nice choices.

X

Originally Posted by xman

In the top of the mug is a large hole. You can put the soap right in there. Conveniently, you can also use that same hole to access the soap with your brush. Hey they don't call me Mentor for nothin' eh!


X

should be added to the wiki!

The man with the ever changing avatar is right sparky. I think your perception of a shaving soap is either the bar shaped or an oversized hockey puck. You will be surprised at how small things are when you actually get your hands on them.

Originally Posted by xman

In the top of the mug is a large hole. You can put the soap right in there. Conveniently, you can also use that same hole to access the soap with your brush. Hey they don't call me Mentor for nothin' eh!

X

yeah thanks for making me feel like a retard i appreciate that. i get it that it goes in the top of the mug duh but most of the pucks seem to big to just set in there which is why i asked

Originally Posted by Sparky

yeah thanks for making me feel like a retard i appreciate that. i get it that it goes in the top of the mug duh but most of the pucks seem to big to just set in there which is why i asked

just a little ribbing sparky xman is one of the nicest and helpful guys you'll meet on here.

Again your perception of the size of things will probably be a little off because you've been looking at them blown up in photos online.

A puck of shaving soap isn't like a bar of soap and when people here puck they think the size of a CD. It is actually closer to the circumfrence of a soda can lid. Get a can of soda put it on top of a piece of paper draw a circle around the can and see if it fits your mug

I f you go to an antique shop and look at a vintage shaving mug you'll see they are alot smaller than say a coffe mug your more used to.Also alot of people use bowls to lather or just face lather.

you'll see when you get your razor the first thing out of your mouth will be "gee I thought it would be bigger"

< that's what she said ba dum dish!>

oh well sorry lol, its hard to catch sarcasm in txt form ya know. its too late anyhow i already got my soap headed this way and it comes in a wooden bowl and has refills so im covered lol

what scent did you decied on? Did you decide on anything else strop, brush?