2023 most used razor

[Aidah]

Now that 2023 is wrapping towards a close, I'd love to ask everyone what your most used straight was this year? As someone with quite a few straights I find that each year I tend to main a different razor, even though I never use the same one twice. This year I found myself using my 6/8 square tip Ralf Aust.

 

[silverlifter]

For me, it was my Koraat Half Hollow. Although it started life as a near wedge...

 

[sexy beast]

My wedge got the most use this year. My Iwasaki's were a very close second.

 

[Christian1212]

Main razor shifted sometime in the middle of the year from my heljestrand mk 4 to a thiers issard I don't feel bad honing with every day. Other razors still getting used but this year has been filled with honing fun.

 

[J B Addis]

7/8 Greaves, I cleaned it up and rescaled midway through the year and it's accounted for most of my shaves since. For whatever reason we happen to work well together.

 

[Gamma]

For shaves that are purely just daily shaves, and not part of any trials, tests, or comparisons, possibly the W&B Celebrated that is on my desk right now.

 

[aussie]

I have so many razors of which I am so fond and that is why I try to give them all equal use. My shavettes are for when I feel more pressed for time or tired - so they have had more use, but that is slowly changing.

 

[Legion]

The daily driver this year (when not restoring, testing, honing other things) is a 6/8 Bengall with ivory.

 

[Seelector]

I pulled out the ol spreadsheet and found that my Perfectworks Suzuki 66 was my most used razor in 2023 with 42 shaves total. It seems like a lot of shaves with one razor, but it's only 3-4 times a month.

 

[Stygo]

My first straight razor - somehow it has (mostly) survived my early attempts at honing. Overall most used in '23 and still often in rotation.

 

[TSENG]

BENGALL CAST STEEL Razor 6/8"
Wedge.

 

[Kyle89]

T.I. Le Grelot (modern). I've been able to enjoy other razors but keep going to that one.

 

[Frank Shaves]

Based on some searches, I jumped around a lot during 2023 with no clear winner. Your lucky day, you get three!

User-grade Filarmonica 13 Medallon Taurino.

All original* Wade & Butcher 7/8 near wedge square point. *Except for the pins and washers.

User-grade Dorko 43 with black horn replacement shoes.

 

[Ganko]

Can't say which one is the most used for sure.
But those are the two I'm reaching for every second shave.
Klas Törnblom

Jernbolaget N11

 

[totorlekiller]

I don't think I have used twice the same razor in 2023

 

[J B Addis]

7/8 Greaves, I cleaned it up and rescaled midway through the year and it's accounted for most of my shaves since. For whatever reason we happen to work well together.

View attachment 1770446

As a postscript which partly explains why I've gotten such good results with this razor: The other day I happened to drop this one, and the toe hit a glass bottle on the way down (no, I wasn't drinking at the time). Of course, I feared the worst. Inspecting it afterward, I noted that the edge was only slightly flattened where I had expected to see a major roll or even a chip. I was able to hone out the problem on a 6k stone without trouble. Of course, this was partially a result of the grind putting more meat behind the edge, but under magnification I noted how neat and even the damaged area looked, which matched my experience in honing.

Those of you who have honed a number of Sheffield razors have probably seen some which while often shaving alright, seem to lack edge stability, as in it's difficult to hone them to a very refined edge without little artifacts appearing in the apex. This one, like many of my best shaving razors, is the opposite. The edge seems to want to stay perfectly straight and clean no matter what.

This matches my experience with steels which are both hard and very fine-grained. I think whoever made this one got the heat-treat dead-on perfect, whether by accident or design. It's a good blade and I'm very glad to use it once again in the new year.

 

[Frank Shaves]

I bought and restored a similar Greaves Sheaf Works in July and finally honed the razor at the end of December. Greaves sure made nice razors. Takes a great edge. The spine on my Greaves is thicker than my similar Wade & Butcher razors with a bevel angle of 17.7. Perhaps this is part of the reason.

 

[Lord NSIC]

2023 was a challenging year (plumbing flood forced the master bath to be rebuilt 3+ months) so I used a DE/SE during that time. Even with the break in service, I looked at 2023 and it was a 3-way tie between my first SR, a 5/8 FH Friedrich Baurmann & Sohne "Comfort 40", a 6/8 Wester Brothers square point and the 5/8 TI Le Grolet round point I purchased new in Paris France (it was featured in Dr. Matt's Dec 2022 video about TI geometry correction)

 

[Tomo]

I’ve settled into the Bengalls this year. I’ll mix it up sometimes but I always come back to these Sheffield beauties.