Cart to DE or Cart to SR?

[rbscebu]

If time is of no concern and an intelligent man wants to get into traditional wet shaving, what would you recommend and why;

• go from cart to "safety" razor, or
• go from cart to SR?

 

[ackvil]

Cart to safety DE razor. You don't have to learn about honing, stropping, etc. All you need to learn is how shave with a DE. Plus, you have an incredible number of razors and blades to choose from.

 

[Ron R]

Go from cart to "safety" razor, is the reason they designed safety razors.
I'm not going to knock straight razors because I bought a folding Feather Artist club clone just recently to change up shaving for my Self.
I look at things to logically sometimes and bought some clone Pro guards or Pro touch blades.
If you like to hone and strop a SR I think that is great addition to the enjoyment when you get it right and receive a great shave.
I'm just going to test the waters a little before jumping into another rabbit hole.

 

[SharpieB]

Definitely safety razor. Much easier to be successful right off the bat.

SRs are a pain in the butt for new users IMO. Much more technique required, takes longer to shave, steeper learning curve re: stropping, honing and general sharpening and maintenance, etc.

When I first received a SR years ago, I used it a few times, got frustrated and threw it in a drawer for years. I bet this is common.

There is nothing better than a perfect SR shave but a double edge razor is so much easier. Maybe not as close a shave, but still better and less expensive than carts.

 

[Tomo]

I would recommend a DE to start. The learning curve is shallower and there are lots of transferable skills. There’s no harm in jumping straight into SR but a DE will make the transition easier. I also find a DE handy for travel so it’s good to have one around.

 

[Invicta]

The DE razor is the way to go as it needs no honing and stropping. The leap from cartridge to a straight razor is massive.

 

[phelix]

Yeah, I went cart to straight and wish I would have just went to DE. Got great shaves with my straights but just never got the hang of maintaining the edges beyond stropping and applying crox. Definitely not worth sending them off for professional honing every 6 months so I went DE.

 

[rbscebu]

Yeah, I went cart to straight and wish I would have just went to DE. Got great shaves with my straights but just never got the hang of maintaining the edges beyond stropping and applying crox. Definitely not worth sending them off for professional honing every 6 months so I went DE.

That's why diamond pasted balsa strops were invented. An SR then NEVER needs re-honing.

 

[OhioBob]

Cartridge to DE. Just don't have the desire for a SR.

 

[Robert Anderson]

I guess it depends on why you want to leave carts. I went from cart to SR just because I wanted to learn to shave with a straight. Didn't personally see much reason to go to a safety razor. Might change my mind in the future.

 

[rbscebu]

Thank you all for your comments. I was asking this question so as to best advise my neighbor who is seriously considering a switch from carts. He has his eye on getting into SR's but I wasn't sure if that was the best step for him.

I started with "safety" razors then spent decades shaving with carts before then stepping straight into SR shaving.

 

[Roedeer]

If time is of no concern and an intelligent man wants to get into traditional wet shaving, what would you recommend and why;

• go from cart to "safety" razor, or
• go from cart to SR?

Do you need to be able to use your SR in your non-dominant hand, in order to get a good result? If so, that wouldn't work for me. A shame, because I enjoy honing knives.

The left side of my face is a big enough challenge to shave (right-handedly) with a DE.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Do you need to be able to use your SR in your non-dominant hand, in order to get a good result? If so, that wouldn't work for me. A shame, because I enjoy honing knives.

The left side of my face is a big enough challenge to shave (right-handedly) with a DE.

I only started using my non dominant hand when I developed a bit of a tremor in my dominant hand. Before that I only used my dominant hand to SR shave and got good results. So I would say you don’t need to develop that skill. In my case it has been a necessity.

 

[Ravenonrock]

Starting with DE was a comfortable progression for me from carts. I’m glad I discovered closeness and comfort with DE laying the groundwork to continue on with SR’s. There is another component to SR’s that DE doesn’t have and can be a little challenging for some just switching from carts.

 

[rbscebu]

Do you need to be able to use your SR in your non-dominant hand, in order to get a good result? If so, that wouldn't work for me. A shame, because I enjoy honing knives.

The left side of my face is a big enough challenge to shave (right-handedly) with a DE.

Like @Ravenonrock use to, I only SR shave with my dominant hand and have never had a problem with getting great results. It may be a little easier if you can use both hands but it is definitely not a necessity.

 

[pdieten]

The thing about shaving with a cartridge razor is that all of them except the Trac II are pivot head and do not force you to mind your blade angle. Those of us who haven’t used a cartridge in a long time might have forgotten that this is a learned skill. You have to learn angles before you shave with a straight or else bad things will happen to your face.

At least with DE you have to learn how to adjust your angle and will be able to do that without slicing your face open. That’s why they call them “safety” razors.

Although to be honest you might learn more about shaving angles with a single edge razor with a guard, like a Gem, than even with a DE.

 

[Tomo]

That's why diamond pasted balsa strops were invented. An SR then NEVER needs re-honing.

Isn’t the idea to re-hone DAILY with the balsa?

 

[Mike M]

I tried cart to shavette first and ended up with a face like chopped liver so tried DE and found the performance I was looking for without the steep learning curve of the shavette.
I can use my shavette now, but still prefer the DE although one day I would like to take up a SR

 

[BigJ]

I vote ‘cart to DE’ because there is less muss and fuss with honing, stropping, etc.

 

[kingfisher]

Do you need to be able to use your SR in your non-dominant hand, in order to get a good result? If so, that wouldn't work for me. A shame, because I enjoy honing knives.

The left side of my face is a big enough challenge to shave (right-handedly) with a DE.

In some ways it is easier to shave the left side of my face using my left hand with an open blade than it is to use the backhand with a cart or a DE. I was worried about that when i made the switch but I think I actually shave better with my non-dominant hand because it never learned any bad shaving habits at all.

In answer to your question, it isn't absolutely necessary but it is actually much easier. Shaving both sides with one hand using a straight can get pretty complicated. The difficulty of actually learning to shave with your non-dominant hand is greatly exaggerated by your mind.