Never tried a straight razor

jaro101969

Forum GOD!
Hi all I have never tried a straight razor before but want to. Tell me about some good straights please for a beginner. I am sort of afraid of them.
 

JayGee

Forum GOD!
There is a straight razor pass around, start there, it will be shave ready & if not for you its just the cost of onward post.

Not hard to straight shave, but, it does require some commitment to learn (typically 3 months/100 shaves is quoted & that's about right to be quite proficient). The pass around razor will let you find out if you want to do that.
Learning to shave is one element, stropping & correct storage of the blade is to be considered, lot of folks can't be bothered & I get that.
 

Dule083

Forum GOD!
I am not expert but Henckels friodur seems quite good choice. Also Kropp. Try some smaller for start. And be patient. Its a whole new world.
 

jaro101969

Forum GOD!
There is a straight razor pass around, start there, it will be shave ready & if not for you its just the cost of onward post.

Not hard to straight shave, but, it does require some commitment to learn (typically 3 months/100 shaves is quoted & that's about right to be quite proficient). The pass around razor will let you find out if you want to do that.
Learning to shave is one element, stropping & correct storage of the blade is to be considered, lot of folks can't be bothered & I get that.
where is this straight razor pass around?
 

R181

Grumpy old man
You could check this thread out https://www.atgshaving.com/threads/straight-razor.3345/ and see if you can get in on the pass around razors. You could try them and see if it is for you without buying one.

The links in this post will give you an idea of how to shave with and strop a straight razor https://www.atgshaving.com/threads/straight-shaving-for-beginners.10906/

I think most people are a little scared when they first start to shave with a straight razor so that is normal. That said and not to discourage you, be aware that it take a big investment in time to get proficient shaving with and maintaining a straight razor. Allow yourself about 3 months/90 shaves to achieve a decent level of proficiency in the shaving aspect. Be aware that most people will cut/slice up a strop when learning to strop a straight razor. Again that is normal so buy an expensive strop first off. You will dull your blade more quickly than an experienced user through poor stropping and or poor shaving technique so be prepared to have your razor sent out and honed more often than normal to keep it in a shave ready condition. Yes, you could learn to hone your straight razor while you are learning all the rest of it but that takes as much of a learning curve to get good at as the shaving aspect. You might want to leave honing until you are proficient with shaving.

All this just to say to go into this eyes wide open and realize the amount of commitment in time, money and frustration will be needed. If you think you can do that, jump on in. Do your research, ask a lot of questions and if you can find someone near you to give you one on one help learning would be great.

Bob
 

Nisse

Old geezer
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDq-2ZRVYXA

You can choose a shavette to start with.
It is: the cheap and uncomplicated way, no need to worry if edge is shave ready, just shave away.
It is not: a straight razor with training wheels, on the contrary it can be a bit trickier to learn but with a slow hand and patience you will get the hang of it.
Finally when you have reached the point of good shaves with shavette maybe move to the wonderful world of classic straight razors.
 
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R181

Grumpy old man
You can choose a shavette to start with.
It is: the cheap and uncomplicated way, no need to worry if edge is shave ready or not, just shave away.
It is not: a straight razor with training wheel, on the contrary it can be a bit trickier to learn but with a slow hand and patience you will get the hang of it.
Finally when you have reached the point of good shaves with shavett maybe move to the classic straight razor.
Yes, that is an alternative way of doing it for sure. It does have it's advantages.

Bob
 

Gasman

Forum GOD!
As Bob said it takes time to learn. After 100 shaves you begin to understand what your doing and get good shaves with little irritation if any. Then after 200 shaves you will know than at 100 you really didnt know as much as you thought you did.

It takes time and effort to learn. The cost can get spendy if you let it. A low cost strop is a must in the beginning, as Bob said you will cut it up without wanting too. It happens. I recommend buying 2 razors so you can send one out for honing and still have the other for shaving while you wait for the return of the other. And use pro honed razors to learn with. An improper honed razor will make learning no fun and will cause you to possible give up. Most vintage razors will be good. Stay away from new razors that cost little. These are what we call RSO. Razor Shaped Objects. Sure they look like razors, but they are not made of good steel or are not made properly. Keep us informed on what your idea is before buying and we will help you along. The pass around razor is a great way to try.
 

Nisse

Old geezer
in perspective, 100 years ago a straight razor was the norm, so seriously how hard can it be if all men managed back then...
 

R181

Grumpy old man
in perspective, 100 years ago a straight razor was the norm, so seriously how hard can it be if all men managed back then...
Yes, and back then males grew up watching their fathers and other adult males shaving with a straight razor growing up. They had someone at home to teach them when ready to start shaving.

Fast forward 100 years and almost nobody has seen on a daily basis anyone shaving with a straight razor much less had personal instruction on using one when ready. Stropping and more importantly how to do it properly is unknown. Most don't even know what a proper lather with a brush and puck of soap is coming from a world using canned goo and carts.

No shaving with a straight razor is not hard if you grew up watching people using them. If you didn't you have a much more difficult time learning on your own from square one.

Bob
 

Nisse

Old geezer
With a father figure like Lynn Abrams on video stop pretending it is hard for the modern man to learn how to shave with a straight razor :)
 
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Nisse

Old geezer
The main difference between the modern man and the man of yesterday when it comes to straight razor shaving may be need, we only hobby shave so loosing interest after a week is always an option, plenty of other cool things out there for us to embrace...
 
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Gasman

Forum GOD!
I watched a few vids and asked questions, but had nobody to show me or tell me i was doing something wrong when i was. No hands on teaching as i bet most of us have had to learn. Good point Bob. Maybe if i had a father standing beside me when i was learning it would have went much better.
 

Nisse

Old geezer
I suspect a lot of the father and son interaction back in the day simply went like this: "Son, here is a razor, now go and shave!" :)
 
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