The Dovo "Best Quality" line is their entry-level straight razor, though entry level with German-made things is a high standard.

I think they're plain-looking razors which shave terrifically.  If you're worried about how much money you'll have to invest to try the 'hobby' of straight razor shaving, they make the most sense for a beginner's first straight razor.  Find it isn't for you and you'll only be out about $25-30 for trying. You can spend more on a Dovo, but the shave will be much the same.

People spend more primarily for esthetic reasons; just as large department stores sell lots and lots of dishes and all hold food on a table effectively, don't forget that for however long you own your razor you'll be required to look at it every day.  These look just fine to me, but I'd never recommend anyone get something that they consider an eyesore.  Life's too short for that.

The "Best Quality" comes in 2 sizes, 2 grinds, and 3 colors.  They are always made from carbon steel and they are always rounded at the toe (the sharp part of the razor furthest from your hand during use).  You don't want it any other way for straight razor #1.

The sizes of the Best Quality razors are 5/8" or 6/8".  "Size" here refers to the 'height' of the razor, or the length between the spine (the rounded thickest part at the top of the blade) and its edge.

• For the majority of users, the 5/8" razor is the best choice; they're well balanced, pretty easy to move around, and have a thick enough tang (the part you hold upon during shaving) for most hands.
• Taller 6/8" height/size razors weigh significantly more, and have their balance skewed towards the metal during the shave.  You may like that, and you may not.  I don't think it is the best choice for most beginners.  There's one important difference, though; the tang on the 6/8" razors is thicker and easier to grab.  So if you have 'meaty' hands, with stubbier/thicker than average fingers, you're probably better off springing for the 6/8" size razor.  I'd imagine the most famous Mario and Luigi on the planet, were they real, would be better served by the 6/8".

The grinds to choose from are "half-hollow" or "full-hollow" ground.  This term refers to the thickness of the razor, or how quickly it goes from its thickest part at its spine to its thin edge.

• A Dovo half-hollow razor blade will weigh more than a Dovo full-hollow blade of the same size, because its process of going from thick to wafer thin is a more gradual one.
• That also means it is less flexible, which to me equates to a less comfortable shave, but decisions are a little more complex than that.
• Here's the rub; I think the half-hollow razors are easier for a beginner to learn upon, because they are not very particular about the angle at which you approach your skin with the blade.  While under a knowing hand the full hollow ground razor should give a closer, more comfy shave for most than the half-hollow will, you're hands need to learn a ton during the beginning of straight razor use.
• Most beginners, in my opinion, will outgrow a half-hollow razor quickly.  But it is, of course, your choice.  It has been a long time since I was a beginner, and I shouldn't just discount half-hollow razors from a snooty experienced perch.  As 1) Dovo dictates minimum prices 2) many more folks were buying the half-hollow model rather than the full hollow, we've made each an identical price...~$5 in initial investment is a silly consideration to dictate the grind of your first straight razor.

The colors are black, white, and 'blonde' (yellow, cream, or whatever else you'd like to call it).

In matters quite practical, the Dovo "Best Quality" razors have a little stabilizer on the scale to prevent you from 'closing' the razor too deep and to provide suitable spacing for the razor over the years.

As the 'entry-level' Dovo, these usually have more evidence of being made by hand than do the more costly Dovos.  Variances in shine on the spine and near the tang are the norm here.  But they know how to forge steel and grind it thin over at Dovo, and the blade can be relied upon as excellent in that regard-worlds apart from the junk coming from any bargain basement razor.

At any experience level, you're doing yourself a disservice if you never endeavor to learn honing.   It certainly is hard with old razors garnered from flea markets, but maintaining new razors for brilliantly-comfy shaves is easily possible for anyone with a burgeoning interest.  Bear in mind that many who would say otherwise aren't honing used razors sent their way for free (unless perhaps you'd bought it from them in the first place), so perpetual belief in its difficulty behooves their interests.  At day's end, there's more complicated things than rubbing blades on rocks until sharper than before, and paying someone to repeatedly hone for you (losing the time value of the razor cycling needlessly through the mail) is silly.  I try, in vain, to get those whom pay me to hone for them to stop employing me this way.  If you learn the straight, you can bet the farm you'll buy a hone, and learning the straight razor's use is significantly more difficult than maintaining a shave-ready razor.

The professionally-honed "shave ready" blade you receive from this shop is sharp enough to give wonderful results with experienced hands as surely it will give poor results with inexperienced hands.  Most beginners will find this shaving endeavor a hard thing to master initially, and I'd really consider anything above initial disappointment out of the box the exception rather than the norm.  Keep at it.

To satisfy your curiousity and help you understand the finer points of sharpness, I suggest you perform the 'hanging hair test' before using your razor (see the video link below); successfully accomplishing this gives you a baseline of comparing for after shaving, stropping before the next shave, and honing later in life.  PLEASE WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST STRAIGHT RAZOR, AND PLEASE TRY TO SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTE THE TEST BEFORE SHAVING!  If you're failing, pinch that hair harder, try some other hair, whatever...nothing extraordinary 'bout the wife's hair so how hard can it be to find some that'll work?

Here's the general order of operations for the majority of beginners, which has little to nothing to do w/ the blade condition;

1. Get poor, frustrating shaves w/ supplied razor, and finish w/ more familiar methods
2. Gets increasingly better shaves w/ same razor, already a bit less sharp than before from use
3. Really start knowing how to shave, and for once have meaningful certainty that razor itself has become limiting factor to comfort, as opposed to beard prep/technique.

Do yourself a big favor; wait until shaving starts creeping towards second nature before springing for a hone.  This isn't an easy art; you've got to really want to have this labor of love in your life before you'll be any good at it, but it is worth all the bother!

I recommend these unassuming-looking sleeves to protect razors from rust.  They've about as much panache as a '89 Camry, but just like that fine tool the damn things just work.

I read a longtime member's comment on some shaving-specific forum that even one of these sleeves costs nearly a lifetime's supply of oil, and thus why would he use it...the answer is, of course, that if you go his route you've got to fuss with oil every damn shave for the rest of your life!

Like malaria pills, all you've got to do is actually use 'em & you'll have nothing to worry about anymore; they get less oily over time, but that does not affect their capacity for wicking away moisture.  This is an effective anti-rust solution for a lifetime; it is not merely a barrier that prohibits moisture from entering within, but instead a tool which continually draws moisture from the inside to the outside.  Always leave it where it can expunge the moisture to a larger environment, and if those larger environs are as crazy humid (~85% at all times) as a sailboat or rainforest's innards, I'd recommend the extreme step of putting the razors/sleeves in an airtight container with some fresh silica gel packets enclosed within (Ewa Marine's 'CD5' are a very thirsty and reusable desiccant option).

Made by hand in the USA for the firearms industry, the sleeve's based on USA cotton treated with oil and silicone.  There's no need to oil carbon steel kept within; I've used it for a high carbon oldie that I never oil, and I live in a near-constant 70-75% relative humidity environment.  Not a drop of rust anywhere in >3 years.  That's very impressive.  In fact, the makers say to not oil 'em, as this can seal moisture under a film of oil.

This is an excellent, practical travel solution, too.

WARNING:  When you get it, the inner surfaces of this little sock sleeve are much more slippery than, say, a dry terry cloth towel.  It is not intended as a protection tomb from impact, and offers no protection from the laws of physics; this is only a tool to eliminate the risk of rust.  If you forget which end of the sleeve is the open end and expose that open end marginally more towards the center of our earth as opposed to away from it, it is very likely that the razor will fall out of it, possibly damaging you, the razor, or both.  Be careful carrying it around.  I myself have already made this stupid mistake once, but still wouldn't trade these things for the world.  One less thing to worry about.

Note:  $6 USA/Canada & $8 Int'l price is only required if making an order for 1 sleeve, all by its onesome.  Combine purchase of a sleeve with anything else and use the $4.50 button.  Thanks!

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