Thread: New member from Alberta Canada

Hello all!

I've been checking this forum out for a while and decided to register and say hello. I'm a total straight razor newb but I'm hoping that I do well with this "new to me" style of shaving. I've read quite a few of the threads here already and have picked up lots of good info. I haven't got my razor yet, I just ordered it this morning. I was going to try an ebay vintage razor, but not knowing what I was doing I decided I would be safest to buy a "shave ready" razor from someone in the business. Maybe as I gain experience (and not too much blood loss hopefully!) I will look into the classics and refinishing them once I learn more (Lol, a lot more!)

Oh, and I just wanted to say thanks for all the info I've gleaned from the site already, hopefully it'll save me from making a few mistakes .

Regards,
Stew

Greetings from a fellow Albertan!

If you've done some lurking you know that you've come to the best place for info in straight razors, so if you have any questions just ask away.

Welcome to the most friendly, courteous and informative site on the web!!

You are so lucky to be in the same area as Ryan! I always look forward to reading his posts! He won't let you down!

You are also fortunate to be living in one of the most beautiful areas in Canada! I've visited both Alberta and British Columbia several times. I found Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump absolutely fascinating! I'd love to visit the site again!

Again, Welcome!

Stew, I second Cuda's thoughts on the site & especially if you're able to connect w/ Ryan. It would be hard to overstate how handy it can be to have some face-time when learning. I'm not a fast learner here, but all have been incredibly kind and patient w/ my learning.

If you're contemplating the str8, the 3 skills needed up front are the shave, making lather/beard prep, and stropping. Of these, stropping was the hardest to learn.

For the shave, the 'your first straight razor shave' thread is linked on the home page. I couldn't improve on it at all & could probably still learn alot from it.

Making lather is well shown by Mantic in this vid:

How To Build And Apply Traditional Shaving Lather - YouTube

Stropping is huge. Repeat: huge. Not hard, really, but really important. The finest threads I've seen on the topic starts w/ the honorable gssixgunner's 3/11 thread for beginners:
Beginners Tips: March 2011

be sure to go through the thread, as the fabulous vids from afdavis are there, showing the detail on the all important 'flip' of the blade at the end of a stroke. This is where most of the leather carnage happens.

After that, the honorable mrsell gave some gold in this one.
Please don't nick your strop

This one little excerpt from Mrsell would have saved me untold heartburn and expense: " You must come to a complete stop before you can change direction. During this momentary "stop", the razor edge should not be touching the strop. The edge only goes back on the strop when the directional change is completed and your hand and razor edge is moving in the correct direction."

You landed in the right place, Stew. 'Hope you enjoy your journey & make use of forums or the PM function to ask questions & get help.

Thank's for the welcome guys! I'm sure I'll be posting some questions once I actually receive my razor . Actually the bonus of having to wait for it is I can do a lot more research here before the time comes to put steel to skin. Thank you kindly for the links as well, I'll be sure to watch em all and learn. The stropping is one thing I am particularly interested in, hopefully I pick up the technique quickly (and without wrecking the strop or dulling the razor).

Cheers,
Stew

welcome to SRP.

Watch AFDavis11's stropping vid's. They're excellent.

Everyone is a bit leery when learning to strop, it's completely natural. Take is slow, keep the pressure light, and practice your flip with a butterknife before you use a razor.

Good Luck.

I just did an MapQuest search for your two locations in Alberta and you two are only about 40 miles away from each other! That's only about 65 kilometers!!

You are so fortunate!! pinklather and I are 3-4 hundred miles apart! I truly wish that we were closer!!

What started as a simple purchase of a razor has led to a wonderful relationship!! I wouldn't trade our friendship for the world!! We've exchanged razors, honing tips and what goes on in our personal lives! I look forward to every word he has to share with me!!

Originally Posted by cudarunner

I just did an MapQuest search for your two locations in Alberta and you two are only about 40 miles away from each other! That's only about 65 kilometers!!

Yeah, not that far in the scheme of things. I was actually in Redwater only a couple weekends ago lol

Originally Posted by Ryan82

Yeah, not that far in the scheme of things. I was actually in Redwater only a couple weekends ago lol

Spittin distance almost . Don't want to blink in Redwater though, lest you miss the town! Lol

My razor came in the mail Monday and I've been trying little sections at a time to get comfortable with the blade. It's going well so far with only a few nicks that the styptic pencil took care of with no problem . I have a mole on my right cheek that I think I will drive around for a while, I go over it with a disposable but that seems a little risky with the straight! Chins also a bugger, that's going to take some work to get the hang of. The razor was skipping/digging a bit as well but seemed better after I stropped it... Lol, it's a learning thing when you have no personal baseline to compare it to. Loving it though, and getting much more comfortable with the razor. I have to admit, I found it a little intimidating looking when I first pulled it out of it's box, but it's feeling much more natural in my hand the more I use it. I'm kind of rambling but I'm just excited to be learning something new