You’re listening to Wet Shaving Talk powered by Sharpologist.com where we’re dedicated to preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host Joe Borrelli and today is June 23rd, 2026.
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Today On The Show:
Tier One Razor Made in USA
Rex Supply Co. Deco Lucite Shave Brush
Soap Spoon: A cool tool for Lather Shavers
The Great Mid-Atlantic Wet Shavers Meet Up!
Straight Razor Month: Picking a Quality Vintage Straight Razor
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Tier One Razor: Made in USA
Tier One Razor is an American wet shaving brand known for producing durable, combat-themed safety razors engineered with a patent-pending dual-angle head design. Manufactured entirely in the USA, their double-edge (DE) razors feature zero blade tab overhang to completely eliminate accidental nicks. They are also widely recognized for their community impact, running the 17.76 Program which donates 17.76% of all profits to supporting veterans and first responders.
The Echelon Product Lineup
- Echelon Elite: The brand’s flagship model features their signature dual-angle head, an adjustable length handle, anti-roll stability flats, and a unique integrated hanging loop for storage.
- Echelon Ranger: Built for traditionalists, this razor pairs the dual-angle head with a standard-length handle featuring an aggressive, V-bit machined grip texture for maximum wet control.
- Echelon 308: A travel-friendly, scaled-down handle precisely machined to the dimensions of a standard .308 rifle cartridge while retaining full-sized dual-angle shaving action.
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Rex Supply Co Deco Lucite Shave Brush
The Rex Supply Co. Deco Lucite Shaving Brush is a premium wet shaving brush retailing for $120.00. It captures the faceted, 1930s-1940s Art Deco aesthetic of the brand’s flagship stainless steel brush but swaps the heavy metal for a lighter, more agile crystal-clear Lucite acrylic handle. [1, 2, 3]
Key Specifications & Architecture
- Knot Type: High-grade Manchurian Badger hair engineered for strong water retention, soft tips, and a robust backbone.
- Dimensions: Features a 24mm knot diameter, a 52mm-53mm loft height, and a 104mm total height.
- Weight: At 2.7 ounces (76 grams), it offers a highly maneuverable alternative to the original 256-gram stainless steel version.
- Aesthetics: Features a multi-faceted handle for multiple gripping styles, a laser-engraved base, and a signature iridescent blue front logo sticker.
- Durability: The solid Lucite is completely waterproof, crack-resistant, and backed by Rex’s lifetime warranty.
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Soap Spoon: A Cool Tool
Recently I’ve been in contact with Andy the maker of the Soap Spoon. This is a 3-d printed tool to help scoop soap out of the container and into the bowl for lathering. Cool Concept and great tool bowl latherers.
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The Great Mid-Atlantic Wet Shavers Meet Up!
Recently announced: A Wet Shaving Meet-up coming up this October in PA! Looks to be a very interesting event with several vendors committed.
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Straight Razor Month Is Coming! How to Choose a Vintage Razor
Follow these simple steps:
- Check the Maker: Is it a well known brand? Is it made in a country that is known for making good razors? (France, Germany, England, Spain, USA)
- Check the spine & Blade Wear: Is the spine shiny? Is the bevel on the blade shiny? Are their chips in the blade? Is there rust?
- Is it being sold by a reputable dealer? Is it honed?
These are all things you need to consider when purchasing a straight razor. I’ll go into more detail. Trust me I learned the hard way
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Our show is powered by Sharpologist.com, “What Your Father Didn’t Teach You about Shaving”
Special Thanks to:
Mark aka Mantic 59
Most of All……….YOU!!!!
Don’t forget to check out my blog site www.shavestraightandsafe.com for the tips and interesting wet shaving stories!
Please feel free to contact me at joe.wetshavingnews@gmail.com
Subscribe to my You Tube Chanel for videos regarding some interesting wet shaving content.
Don’t forget to check out my book “The Modern Guide to Straight Razor Shaving” available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and at Pasteur’s Pharmacy in NYC.
If you’re a vendor and would like to be featured on the show please contact me!!
Transcript (Generated using Transcript LOL)
You’re listening to Wet Shaving Talk, powered by SharpOlogist.com, where we’re dedicated to preserving the art and skill of classic shaving. I’m your host, Joe Borelli, and today is June 23, 2026. Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast on this beautiful, beautiful, beautiful June day, right? Summer is in full force right now.
Summer is here. The days are longer and the shaves are going to be better. Well, hopefully they will be. I hope you guys had a great Father’s Day weekend that just passed by and I got all your wishlist is filled up.
And if you didn’t get your wishlist filled up. Well, then go ahead and treat yourself because you deserve it. You’re a father. You’re a grandfather.
You’re a friend. Whatever you’re doing, whatever day of the week it is, we all deserve a good shave, right? So treat yourself if you haven’t. And if you’re not going to treat yourself, well, I hope you have a good shave anyway.
A big month for me, I went on a work trip, so in the beginning of the month, and then kind of walked into a triple, we call it a triple R at the store, which is basically, I would say it would be like an abbreviation for a remodel, so refresh, remodel, reset, we call it. So doing that in the store that I work at, it says, in Florida, we do a lot of those kind of projects in June, July, August, because it’s very slow, it’s very hot, nobody really comes, all the snowbirds are, the people from up north that come and live seasonally down here are not here.
So usually it’s the slowest months of the year. So we do a lot of our construction and stuff. So I’m going through that. So I apologize for being a little late on the podcast this month, but it has been a long month.
So I have to say it’s just been a lot of work and a lot of hours. And I think I worked like almost 14 days straight without a day off just recently. So I’m just glad to be bringing this podcast to you in one piece. And talking about it with a couple of people at work, you never realize how the time passes.
Because when you’re in your 20s, you can kind of work those long shifts and get up no problem and go right back at it. But in your 40s, mid 40s, well, it’s getting a little bit harder. It’s not as easy. I’m not going to say I’m not able to do it, and I’m not still able to do a quick turnaround like I used to.
But I do notice that it’s not as, I guess I’m not as enthusiastic about it, and I’m not just popping out of bed like I used to. I’m kind of walking around a little slower than I used to before that. I’m like, OK, I’m going to just take my time getting ready instead of, got to get going. Let’s go.
So I’m probably, I can see some of you out there shaking your heads. So you agree. So I know you’ve been through it. And if you haven’t been through it, you younger guys, you will.
So today on the show, we’re going to talk about some new items. We have the Tier 1 Razor Company producing some really cool Made in the USA razors. They also donate a portion of their proceeds to first responders and veterans, so really cool that they do that. We have the Rec Supply Deco Lucite Shave Brush, which is based on a previous design that they had made a little bit lighter, a little bit more affordable for those out there that want to get it.
The soap spoon, this is a cool tool for you guys that lather shave and like to bowl lather. If you’re a face latherer, it might not be for you, but if you’re a bowl latherer, this is definitely a cool tool and a cool little gadget to have. The Great Mid-Atlantic Wet Shavers Meetup is coming up, guys. A listener sent me an email regarding this, so I wanted to definitely let you guys know about it and give you more than enough time.
It’s in October. And Straight Razor Month is coming up. I’m going to do Straight Razor Month for the month of July. Wanted to start a little bit earlier.
And I wanted to go over how to pick a quality vintage straight razor online or in person. So without further ado, guys, let’s get on with the show. So the tier one razor company is a made in USA razor company. It’s American made, and it’s known for what they do is what their thing, their claim to fame is they use combat themed safety razors engineered with a dual angle head design.
So you have different angles on the heads, give you one’s a more aggressive and one is more of a milder shape. It’s a double-edged razor, completely made here, and it eliminates the blade tab from hanging out. So the way they do their top cap is it kind of folds over a little bit, so you don’t get that tab that hangs out the side of it. So as you get some razors, you keep that for safety.
And there’s also one thing that they do is they donate 17.76% of all profits to supporting veterans and first responders. So that’s also really cool. So their product line right now that they’ve been going through, or they’ve been selling, is the Echelon. It’s a series of razors.
So you have the Elite, which is their flagship model, which has, again, the dual angle head, has a longer adjustable length handle, so you can adjust the length on it, and anti-roll stability flats, which they have on most of the razors. But this one is a little bit more aggressive on that end. And it has the integrated hanging loop for storage. So there’s like a little loop on it you can storage it.
And that’s their flagship model. They have the Ranger, which pairs again with that dual angle head. It has a V-bit machine grip for a maximum grip. So it’s got a better grip on it.
And it’s got a standard length handle. And the 308, which is travel friendly scan, it’s a little bit smaller. It’s just kind of the size of a 308 rifle cartridge. So it’s smaller, you can kind of fit it in your travel bag and has the same dual action head too, dual angle head.
So wishing you guys the best of luck here. The Tier 1 Razor, made in USA. It’s CNC machined and I believe it’s aluminum, anodized aluminum for the colors. Rec Supply came out with the Deco Lucite brush.
It’s kind of a homage to vintage brushes, but also it is a homage to their metal one that they produced about a few years ago that’s been out. And this is priced at $120, so it’s significantly less and also weighs a lot less from only 76 grams from the stainless steel, which is 256 grams. So this is more along the lines of a lighter, kind of like a plastic handle to really, it’s like more of a, I guess you would say it’s more of a homage to the Bakelite handles that we used to have back in the 20s and 30s that were really popular, the Rubbermaid brushes and all that good stuff.
So it also has a 24 millimeter badger knot, so mannequin, so one of the higher grade badgers, so it’s definitely got a good knot on it. I’m a fan of them, you know that. And with the diameter of the knot is also, I’m sorry, 24 millimeters. So that’s also that sweet spot for those vintage brushes.
That was pretty much the only size, maybe that and a little bit smaller that they had for years. Now, of course, you guys know we have 24, 26, 28, 30. I think there’s up to 36 now, some of them. But this is definitely the sweet spot.
So it’s something that you’re looking for. If you’re looking for something that will pair well with your Rex Razor, or if you were looking at the stainless steel model and it was just a little bit out of your price or too heavy, this is the one to get. Really interested to see it. And also the design of the handle is similar to the box that it comes with.
So it pairs really nice. I thought it was really cool. So it’s a 1930s and 1940s Art Deco design. And it’s available now on their website.
Moving along to what I think is probably one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a long time in wet shaving and definitely a cool unique design is a soap spoon. So, recently I’ve been in contact with Andy, the creator and the guy that runs Soap Spoon here. And he makes this in a 3D printer. And basically he was just looking for something to help scoop soap out of a tub and put it into the bowl or to the scuttle.
And he found this design to be, he made this design up and you can really, it gives you a grip. You can put it in between two fingers and kind of like scoop it out and then put it into the bowl. And the way it’s got the little scoop on it, it just gives you just enough just for one shave or two shaves or a really nice lather for your shave. So you don’t have to worry about like measuring or anything like that.
It also stands up on either one or on the left or the right side. So it will stand up right in the shave den and It was really a design, he made this because there was nothing out there that would last. Like you get a little plastic spoon, it would work for a little while, then break. Or you use a metal spoon, then you lose it, or you need the spoon for something else.
And really, it doesn’t look too cool in the shave then. This is designed for that. He’s got colors red, white, and blue right now, as you can see. And I’m pretty sure, if you ask him, he could probably do something else.
But I thought this was a really cool design. I thought it was a cool little tool. And it’s available on his website. They make them to order too.
So check out Soap Spoon. Made to order. Obviously made in the United States. And also they are 3D printed soap spoons for the modern lather or bowl lathering wet shaver.
So the Great Mid-Atlantic Wetshevers Meetup is coming up, guys. This is going to be in Pennsylvania. Already seven artisans have been confirmed to be attending. And the price is about $40 per person, including lunch and drinks provided, too, for them.
So this is recently announced, it will be in October. So I put in the little, I guess you could say the advertisement, the flyer in the show notes here. So if you’re interested, just Google the Great Mid-Atlantic Wetshavers Meetup, or email the person that’s on there. It’s at the bottom of the list.
It is for… It looks really interesting guys to do these wet shaver meetups And this is a good one because they’re giving you a lot of time to prepare for it right so It’s going to be in on October 18th in In Pennsylvania, so very interested. It’s going to be at a brewing company. It looks like it’s at a at a like a kind of like a small brewery So always great to go to a brewery and to have a lot of fun when you go there with a lot of wet shavers what better way to spend a Saturday than talk
about beer and wet shaving, right? I wouldn’t mind it. I like beer and I like wet shaving too, so it’s a great place to meet up. I don’t like drinking beer and wet shaving.
I don’t think that’s a good idea, but you know what? You can talk about it all day long. So check this out, guys. If you’re in that area, you want to travel, RSVP is coming up.
I think you’ve got plenty of time to do that, but I cannot emphasize enough going to wet shaving meetups, how fun they are, what they do to the community, and how they pump you up when you leave to really enjoy what you’re doing. The first wet shaving meetup I’ve mentioned many times I went to, I was a wet shaver for a few years before I went to one, I think four years. And I was just kind of, it was my own thing, I was just kind of solo on it, right? I met one other wet shaver that I met on Badger and Blade locally here, where I live and from that, you know, I never really hung out with a group of people.
It’s kind of like my thing and I just did it, right, myself. But when I met up with a bunch of guys and I got to see all their stuff and all this new stuff, it really pumped me up and got me really motivated to keep going and to keep this going and to keep this hobby going. fresh and fun. And here, look at me now, I guess you could say it’s 2026.
I’ve been watching him since 2010. So it’s been a long time, still going at it, still a hobby, still the main focus of all the fun stuff that we do and just, just having a blast with it. So this is what does it. If you haven’t been to a meetup and you live close by, RSVP, go to this meetup.
You will thank me on October 19th. You’ll have a bunch of new friends to talk to, and you’ll learn a lot more about wet shaving. You never know what you see until you go to one of these shows. So as you guys know, I’m a straight razor enthusiast.
I do like straight razors. I do shave with a straight razor quite often, right? I shave with, um, I just did yesterday. I shaved with my Dovo, my old trusty Dovo with Over 15 years of shaves on it right I’ve used this thing.
It’s a workhorse. I’ve honed it probably Five or six times fully honed I touch it up and stuff this razor has got more shaves on it than probably any straight razor that I’ve ever owned or any other razor that I have owned and over the years and definitely is still got plenty of life to it and So I’m a straight razor fan, as you know. If you’re new to the show and you don’t know that, well, you’ll soon find out.
We’re going to do straight razor month coming for July, but starting off a little bit earlier is how to choose a vintage razor. This is something that… I get a lot of emails on it, right? I get a lot of questions on it.
Whenever I meet somebody in person that knows that I use a straight razor or finds out that I do, they go, well, how do I buy one? I don’t know which one to buy. And they always go, well, I’m going to just go on Amazon, put straight razor in, find a good one that’s got good reviews and get it. I get that, that’s great.
I don’t ever recommend doing that because one, you don’t know the brand, you don’t know if it’s been honed properly, and two, you don’t know anything about the company, right? You see a lot of companies that have razors that are not shave-worthy. I’m sorry, they’re not. They use different kinds of metals and stuff, and yeah, maybe somebody can get them to shave, but I never can, and I find myself to be pretty proficient at honing and straight razor shaving.
So, I always recommend, I love getting an old vintage razor and then restoring it or just bringing it to shave worthiness, right? Just getting it sharp, shave ready. So, I was thinking about how to make this as simple as possible because a lot of people make it, I think we make it a little harder than it is. but I’m going to tell you in three easy steps how to pick a vintage razor and get the right one for that’s going to work out for you and not get a defective one not get one that’s not really good to shave with to get something that will
work and something that will last you some time and be a good workhorse for you I guess you would say instead of being we’re not now again this this segment we’re not looking for the showpiece right we’re looking for something that’s going to shave teach you how to shave and know that you can buy something like this and be safe so first step one check the maker You want to ask yourself these questions. Is it a well-known brand? Is it made in a country that is known for making good razors?
Countries that make good razors are France, Germany, England, Spain, the United States, and you can add Japan in there too if you’re going to do a commissary or a folding razor as well. Why are these countries the main ones? They are all proven to have made very good straight razors. I can tell you right now that I have never received a straight razor that was made in France, in these countries, that have been inferior, ever.
Right? I think they’re very good, especially vintage. Razors to stay away from are from countries such as India, Pakistan, and China, right? You do not want anything from those countries, from those, and I’ll tell you why.
They’re just not the quality. They don’t temper the steel properly, and they don’t have good edges on them that can do, they don’t use the same quality steel. I would also say stay away from, and this is just an extra point, you won’t see this very much with vintage razors, but you’ll see it with more modern, don’t get stainless steel either. Stay away from that, just too hard to hone.
Once they’re honed, they’re really good, but they take forever too, and it’s just not good for a beginner. So is it a country that makes good razors? So look at it. Where is it made?
If it’s made in Germany, if it’s made in England, that’s where the majority of straight razors were made. And for vintage razors was Germany and England. So if you see those, you know you’re safe. Next, you want to check the spine and blade wear on it.
Spine is the top part of the blade. You want to make sure that that’s not shiny, right? Ask yourself these questions. Is the spine shiny?
Is the bevel of the blade shiny? Are there chips in the blade? Is there rust? Now, here’s another one to look at.
When you look at the bevel or the cutting edge of the blade, you want to make sure you can’t barely see it. If you can see like a shiny line, right, that’s bigger than, basically the width of a piece of paper. Then the razor’s been over honed, it’s probably been used for a barber or something like that, and it’s been aggressively used, had an aggressive life. Good chance that if the bevel’s like that, the top of it, the spine is going to be shiny as well.
If it’s really shiny and flat, done, the razor’s done. It’s been used a million times for years, probably a barber’s razor. It might shave well for a little while, but it’s not gonna last you very long, and I would avoid that if possible. If there’s any rust on the blade, just stay away from it.
I know you can get rid of rust on metal. It’s very easy to do it. But with rust on a picture or in person, you never know until you get into it. And rust is something that if you work on cars, if you work on things on boats and stuff, you know that rust can look not so bad on the outside and then be really bad on the inside.
So I avoid rust at all, all times. Never get anything with rust on it. And if there’s chips in the blade, if you see a little chip in the blade or chips or a pitting in the blade, just stay away from it. And I’ll tell you why, because it’s just gonna be hard to clean up and you’re gonna have to hone that out or have somebody do it and it’s gonna lose a lot of metal.
It’s something that if you can avoid it, avoid it. And now if it’s a heirloom piece or like a waiting butcher chopper or something like that and you really wanna restore it, hey, that’s something that’s a different story. But if we’re talking about just getting a razor to shave with, stay away from that. Now a lot of people ask me, what about the scales and stuff?
Scales are preference. Scales are really optional. You don’t really need the scale. I guess it’s for protections.
I like using it as a handle too, but I don’t really use it. So if the scale is a little bit messed up, it really doesn’t matter. You can replace those. Those are really cheap and easy to do.
But I would hold off on if it’s broken, probably stay away from it too if you want just something just to shave with right away. But if you do get one that’s a little scratched or got like a little chip in that or anything like that, as long as it’s structure, it’s good. You don’t need to worry about the scales. It doesn’t do anything to the shave.
And finally, is it being sold by a reputable dealer? Is it honed? Now I, how did I learn all this? I learned the hard way with this when I brought my first few straight razors.
I bought them on eBay and I took them to a knife sharpener locally to sharpen. Not a good idea. I ruined those razors and never got them to really shave well. So what I recommend is when you buy a razor on eBay, look at the dealer.
If the dealer is just selling razors, right? there’s a good chance one, you’re gonna pay a little bit more, but that person knows what they’re talking about. If it’s advertised as shave ready, and they have good feedback or whatever, okay, it’s worth a shot. If you’re gonna buy one on eBay, and they’re not a reputable dealer, and you don’t know the dealer, and they’re not gonna hone the razor for you, just check for those first two steps, right?
Check the maker, check the blade, make sure the blade’s in good shape. When you get it, then you can send it out. If you’re buying a blade from somebody that says advertised they’re making razors, Now, this is really important, so I really think that there’s a lot of great people out there that hone razors and restore straight razors. A lot of good businesses.
The problem is there are a lot of guys out there that want to do it and want to help the community. There’s nothing wrong with that. That’s great. I try to do it myself.
I would say, oh, you know, I’m going to set up, I’ll do a honing service. The best thing, the problem is with that is sometimes you’re going to get somebody that’s self, I guess a self-proclaimed honemeister we used to call them. And they think that they know what they’re doing and they’re really, they’re not really that good at it yet. They’re just, they bought a few stones, they practiced.
So if somebody offers to hone the razor for you for free, I would be Take them up on the offer if you know them, but I would be a little bit weary on that and probably hesitant To do it because you don’t know their quality level. Nobody does anything for free really if they’re good at it So not saying that everybody’s out there not so I don’t want to I don’t be quoted on that I just want to say that hey if you want a good razor, that’s gonna shave, right? right off the bat and you’re learning or you just need a good restraint razor, get it from a reputable dealer that hones razors for a living. Places like Whip Dog, Glenn on the Shave Den does it.
He has a business too. He’s really good. He’s been around for a long time. And there’s a couple other companies out there that do it.
Max Spector, he does it too. These guys are reputable. They’ve been doing it for a while. They hone razors for a living.
So if you send it out to them and they hone it, you know you’re going to get something that you’re going to be able to shave with. Or do it yourself if you’re learning. But if you’re just looking for something to shave right, that’s kind of what I say. So I go to those three steps when I purchase straight razors that are vintage.
Now, again, some of these factors, you’re gonna spend a little bit more on it, right? You might spend more than you were expecting to spend, but I’m telling you right now, guys, if you spend a little bit more upfront, it’ll cost less in the long run, because you won’t have to send the razor out, you won’t have to get another one, you won’t have to throw it away if it’s broken or get rid of it, and one, you won’t have any aggravation. So trust me on these, I’ve learned from the hard way with straight razors.
If anybody’s done anything wrong with straight razors, it is me. Alright guys well that concludes the show for this week I am so happy to be bringing this to you and for everything to kind of going back to normal and Really looking forward to doing straight razor month because I’ve got some really cool fun facts about straight razors and stuff and I am Definitely it’s got a special place. I love straight safety razors myself too right.
I do love safety razors I love collecting them. I love I love shaving with them. I have a great Respect for them. But straight razors are right here.
They’re in the heart for me So good looking forward to sharing some more stuff with you guys on that I’ll be I’ll be sharing some pictures of some different razor designs coming up how they how they evolved over the years so for like the 1600 1700s to today and Just again just really look forward to it I have a lot of fun straight razors if you ever have any questions about straight razors always feel free to contact me too because I’m always willing to To have a conversation about that So remember our show is powered by Sharpologist.com, what your father didn’t teach you about shaving. A special thanks to Mark Mantic59 for everything that he does for the wet shaving community and the support for the show.
And most of all, you guys are listeners. Don’t forget to check out my blog, ShaveStraightAndSafe.com for tips and wet shaving stories. And always feel free to contact me at joe.wetshavingnews at gmail.com. Don’t forget to check out my book, The Modern Guide to Straight Razor Shaving, available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at Pasteur’s Pharmacy in New York.
And if you’re a vendor or if you’re an artisan and you want to be featured on a show or you have something new you want to talk about, send me an email. Let’s put it on. So guys, until next time, shave straight and shave safe. Bye-bye now.
