advice needed - upgrading from Weishi DE to more aggressive razor

[Pete_d]

I've got a cheap and cheerful Weishi TTO DE razor, which i quite like, but am not getting as smooth a shave as i would like with it. It takes me at least 3 passes to get acceptable smoothness, and 2 of those passes are against the grain. I'm finding that even with little/no pressure, and well-lathered C&E Soap, i'm still getting irritation because of the number of passes.

I was looking at either the Merkur Classic (probably Long Handle) or the Progress, and getting some Feathers (i'm currently using Derbys). I like the fact that the Progress is adjustable, but is the Merkur Classic fairly aggressive? Where would the Classic sit in the Progress' adjustability range?

The other thing i was curious to was whether the handle of the progress is as small as the HD. I'm really more of a fan on longer handles.

ta

PD

 

[moses]

PD,

Hmmm.... Well, first of all, with good technique, a three pass shave should not be too much for your skin. One with, and two against doesn't sound so great though. You might try With, Across, Against. Or enough With, Across, Across the other way, Against. I would avoid more than one against pass. Also, I would suggest that the goal is irritation free. If you can't do it with three passes, back down to two, even if you lose something in smoothness. Eventually, you will be able to go back up to three without irritation.

As for razors. I don't know much about the Wieshi. Normally, I think it is best to stick with one razor, untill you can consistently get close and comfortable shaves. But it might not be a bad idea to switch and make that one razor the Long Hangle Classic or the HD. If you like long handles, the LHC would be great. I have one. It is not super aggressive, but it's got a pretty good gap, probaby more so than the Weishi, and if you can't get smooth and comfortable with it, 98% it is your room for improvement, not the razor.

I imagine the Progress would be a great choice too. I understand it is a little annoying mechanically, with the knob to adjust also being the knob to take it apart. But a good razor for what you need, I think.

It looks like you want a new razor, so I will ignore the Gillette possibilities.

-Mo

 

[Pete_d]

thanks for the advice.

I'm based in Australia, so exepting Ebay, getting old Gilettes would be an exercise in frustration.

the other thing i suppose is that i only really require a third pass in particular areas, which is that area on the sides of the chin below the sides of the mouth. The Weishi just isn't potent enough to get through that area.

 

[crackstar]

Frankly, I see little or no reason to try for absolute BBS shaves every single day with a DE. I get that way easily one or twice a week with my straight.

Jeff

 

[catatonic]

The classic is a pretty good shaver. This was the DE I started with.

Just keep in mind it's a 3-piece design, so loading it can be interesting at times. My trick is to rest the top cap between my fingers, slide the blade onto that, then the bar, and finally screw the handle on...but to stop before it's tight. At that point I hold it by the handle instead and twist the head from the sides to tighten it. This makes for a cut-free blade swap, even when wet.

I also found, at least in my experience that it works pretty well with Derbys.

However, if you wanted to go the slant-bar route (about as aggressive as they get)...I found the Derbys lacking on that razor....I got razor burned pretty bad this morning on my first try with the slant.