My barber straight razor shaves my neck which feels unreal. I would like to begin using a straight razor. What is a good combo kit online to buy to get started? Appreciate the feedback. I need a good honed razor with all the goodies.
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How much are you willing to spend?
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When I started, I bought a starter kit including a lot of items. Thinking that it would be my only purchase, I bought a good looking and expensive one. In retrospect, it was a mistake. IMO, it'd be better to buy items separately, and upgrade in the future if you stick to it.
What you need :
- A well honed razor that you could find second hand in a number of places, namely on forums such as Straight Razor Place or Badger and Blade. The site Whipped Dog appears to be backorder on straights.
- A strop: Star Shaving Supplies has good cheap ones: http://shop.starshaving.com/
- A brush, soap, aftershave and alum block (some will say the alum is optional, but I wouldn't go without it). Most of these items can be found at the drugstore or with many online vendors, such as www.bullgooseshaving.net.
- Technique: check the aforementioned forums.
Hope this helps.
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Whipped Dog

Larry will take real good care of you.

You can try out good quality, used products...and if it works for you, you can upgrade to a more expensive razor later.
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I have no idea. I know you can dump boat loads on any hobby but I want to try a good quality razor (don't need exotic mammoth tusk handle or anything like that..for now) and the essentials to get me started.
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I second this. I have one. It worked well, but the time it takes and the learning curve to be able to to it are tough. I shave others better than I shave myself with it.
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My oldest boy and I mainly do the back of the neck of the other on a bi-weekly basis. Not much else do I do with it. I love my DEs.
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This is what I started out with. The new razor will not be shave ready, and will require honing to make it shave ready. I have since moved on to this, because it requires no honing, no stropping, and will not rust. Yes it is not a "true" straight, but it shaves just a good, but is much less forgiving. The blades are wicked sharp.
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Went to my barber for a haircut and asked them about straight razor shaving. All the guys there said "don't do it!" because it is hard to get honed correctly and is a pain to do. I insisted I still wanted to try so they gave me a razor (removable blade type), a brush, and some shave soap. I am gonna try it out and see what happens.
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There are many variables. Do you want a traditional straight, or one that has replaceable blades? Do you want traditional folding or Japanese style that are more like knives; non-folding. What your barber gave you should at least tell you if it's something you want to do. If you do, here are two places to get anything you need:

www.westcoastshaving.com
www.straightrazordesigns.com

And, badger and blade usually has inexpensive shave ready straights in the for sale area- well worth joining if you are serious about this way of life.
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