I am doing my due diligence for my first SR. I have a few features I like and few that I want. With out getting into what SR you feel is best give me the $ you spent on your first new straight razor. I understand that you get what you pay for and I don’t mind that but I don’t want to pay (too much extra) for a brand. So if you want to chime in, don’t tell me what you bought just how much you paid for your first new straight razor. And maybe a + or a – to signify if you think it was good money spent. Thanks in advance.
My first SR cost. $20.00 IIRC. I bought a straight on Ebay and sent it to Glen for honing. Glen told me the razor was not salvagable but offered me a very nice Torrey in exchange for the price of honing, which I think was. $20.00. I still have the Torrey and it is among my best shavers.
I think I paid about $35 shipped for my first shave ready straight razor. It came from Larry Andro at whipped dog. It wasn't the prettiest, but worked as it should. I would definitely check his site. Aside from the razor, a strop is mandatory. I would not go with anything fancy or expensive for a first strop as you will cut it up until you learn the process. Larry offers the poor man strop and there is also the filly from Rupp razor, and there are others. It's been a while since I have looked. I would think that you would be able to get a shave ready straight and a strop in the $50 range.
I also got my first (and only...so far...) strop from Larry at whippeddog.com for less than $40.00 shipped. It came shave ready. Larry is a pleasure to do business with and he hones his razors very well before sending them out.
$30 for a good, known, vintage brand in pristine condition from the SRP classifieds when great razors regularly went for much less than the prices they command now
I picked up my first straight from Larry today along with the poor mans strop kit for $48. It was a fantastic experience as he gave me great information about straight razor shaving as well as blade care and honing. Also picked up a really nice handmade silver tip brush from him.
I paid $48 shipping included for a Filarmonica #10, the little 4/8 model off e-bay. It's a great little shaver. Michael
I got the same deal from Larry and have not regretted it for a moment. Until you've tried it and made sure it's for you, the cheaper the better (from a reputable source of course).
My first decent quality razor was purchased from SRD and I think cost $80 or so with shipping. They have since gone up in price I think. You can spend what you want on any of this equipment. In fact, most vendors use essentially the same suppliers for everything from razors, to strop materials, creams, brushes etc. THere are a few vendors with monopolies on certain blades, but in the end, their fees are based on their honing etc. Ultimately the cost is mostly the same for new razors, one may be higher than the other, but there are no bargains with wet shaving in new razors. If it comes pre-honed, you pay for that, it is never "thrown in". Larry at whippeddog is the only bargain I see as a full scale vendor who carries not only razors, but strops etc. What he has done for the shaving world is better than all the other vendors combined because he makes it affordable to get into.
