Thread: First razor purchase suggestion

Hi guys so I'm going to start straight razor shaving and I was wondering if I could get a suggestion for a first razor. I'm going to be ordering a set from SRD. I was wondering if I should get the cheapest dovo or should I spend a little extra and get a nicer model. From what I've read SRD is a great place to purchase from since their razors are truly shave ready. Is there a noticeable difference to the shave or is it basically pretty scales on the nicer razors? Any help would be appreciated, I've already learned alot from searching this website/forum. Thanks in advance

I believe the difference in price is the detail used on the blades and the scale material.
I have not seen any info about difference in steel.
Depends on what you want, to start with entry level model to see how you like straight shaving, or you want to get higher end razor and pay more.
When honed correctly all Dovo razors shave very well.

The only difference in steel, as far as I can tell, is if you get the stainless (inox) version. Apart from that, it's all a matter of decoration, scale, or grind.

You can shave equally well with a well-honed beater of a razor or a work of art, but the work of art will cost a lot more

Busrider, I'll chime in here, since I have also just recently started using a straight. I also bought a starter set from SRD. I would just go with the cheapest Dovo, knowing that it will come truly shave ready. My first couple of shaves were not what you would call comfortable. There was a lot of pulling and razor burn. But, I at least knew it was my technique and not a dull razor. So, it gave me fewer things to concentrate on. It is steadily getting better, but I can tell I have a long way to go for that BBS everyone is talking about. Another thing you might consider is what you will want in the future. Why spend a lot on a razor now, when you may want to really upgrade to a custom vintage or new razor in the future? I am already drooling over the Harts and am looking to get a really nice razor (to pass down to my sons) in the future. Just my .02, good luck and enjoy.

Thanks for the input guys. I decided to go with the cheapest dovo set up from srd. I really like that website. My order was shipped 2 hours after I placed my order this morning, very impressive. From what I've read, it seems like most people end up buying multiple razors, they become addicting it seems, so I'll start with the cheapest one and decide where to go from there..

Originally Posted by Busrider03

Thanks for the input guys. I decided to go with the cheapest dovo set up from srd. I really like that website. My order was shipped 2 hours after I placed my order this morning, very impressive. From what I've read, it seems like most people end up buying multiple razors, they become addicting it seems, so I'll start with the cheapest one and decide where to go from there..

You'll probably end up with more than one anyway...

The Dovo's are great shavers like any you'll find on srd.

I have two carbon steel Dovos, and two Stainless steel Dovos. All four pretty much shave the same.

if you've never shaved straight before I'd get the sight unseen deal from whipped dog to learn on, that way you can practice on a shave ready older razor, and a really really inexpensive strop and when you nick the strop learning it's no biggie. (And the whole setup, razor, strop and pasted balsa for touch ups is 54 bucks)

THEN when you are starting to get comfortable you can get the nice stuff from SRD (and they do have some NICE Stuff )