I'm a 5 year DE shaver who is 8 straight razor shaves (AC DX) into a 60 shave commitment, and I have the following to offer: (1) All 8 shaves have been extremely consistent-I've drawn blood every time, and (2) I have a feeling that SR shaving is going to be to DE razors, what DE razors were to disposables. I think it will be hard to go back... In other news, a basic Dovo "real" straight razor and strop are on the way, so I think I'm all in!
Consistency...
- Thread starter catfish1969
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The power of the dark side is strong 
I use my DE's during the work week and save my straights for weekends when I have the time to use them. There will always be a need for a DE so dont ignore them, use them when you can.
Larry
I use my DE's during the work week and save my straights for weekends when I have the time to use them. There will always be a need for a DE so dont ignore them, use them when you can.
Larry
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- #3
Agreed. It is hard to be patient through the learning curve with a straight, but it reminds me that it took a while to get there with a DE also.
You haven't asked for advice, I hope that you don't mind if I give you some. The thing about straight razors is to trust that they are sharp enough to shave good with virtually no pressure and a minimum (or flat) angle against the skin. So to minimize bloodshed you could try to just let the razor glide against your skin with no more pressure than that of a woman's index finger gently stroking the cheek bone of her lover.
Having stated that I still get weepers occasionally after more than ten years of daily straight razor shaving. I do hope that you'll come to find straight razor shaving just as enjoyable as I do.
I've been fortunate in that I've never cut myself shaving. If you are, then your razor isn't sharp enough, and you're not using the right amount of pressure (which is little-to-none). If the razor isn't sharp enough to do the job on its own without extra effort, then it isn't sharp enough at all.
People cut themselves because they don't sharpen their razors enough, and then they overcompensate for this by bearing down on their skin, which leads to strife. Practice sharpening again, and have another go.
People cut themselves because they don't sharpen their razors enough, and then they overcompensate for this by bearing down on their skin, which leads to strife. Practice sharpening again, and have another go.
That's the best description of how much pressure to use I've heard! Well Done!
Thank you Bob
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Congratulations. It's a wonderful adventure and a great shave.
Personally I distinguish between straight razors and barber razors (by which I mean the razors with replaceable blades such as the Feathers holding AC blades). Not everyone makes that distinction but I think it's useful and important.
Why?
For one thing the barber razors are always going to have a very sharp blade assuming a new or newish blade has been placed in the razor. There's no guesswork about whether it is sharp. With real straight razors you're either dependent on the crapshoot of a purchased "shave ready" razor or on your abilities and understanding of how sharp they actually need to be. Of course, over time, and with some effort you acquire the skills to properly hone and assess the sharpness of your own razors and/or you find a skilled honemeister and pay them to hone your kit.
I have a Feather AC razor but it's somewhat different from yours. Still, it's very useful in that it furnishes a baseline for how a sharp straight razor should perform. In my opinion, the Feather AC is a blade which feels somewhat different from a sharp straight but it's close enough to be useful.
Probably the AC blade is sharper than the edges most straight razor shavers shave with in my opinion. I realize there are exceptions, at least possibly, but there's really no easy and reliable and inexpensive way to know for sure the objective level of sharpness of blades.
It's been a while since I've used an AC blade, but I've used them a lot, mostly in the AC safety razors but also in the Feather barber razor. They're very sharp. I'm not sure my own edges, the ones I've honed which are my best edges, are as sharp as the edge of a Feather.
However, I know my best edges are sharp enough to give me an easy, quick enough, more or less one lathered pass, more or less ATG S-N shave. That's with the blade almost flat on my skin (not flat but almost) and with a very tiny amount of pressure (perhaps a bit more than a lover's touch, but very little more if any). That's a pretty high standard in my view, for both touch and for sharpness.
It might be that it's easier to draw blood with the Feather AC barber razor. I say that because I have one straight razor, honed by a professional who knows his business, an edge worth mentioning. I have several razors he's honed. All are sharp, but this one razor just might be too sharp. I tend to cut myself when I use it (just little nicks but still). With other razors, honed by him or honed by me, I don't draw blood. It could be user error of course.
In any case, the first goal with a straight razor in my view is to keep the blood within the skin. The second goal, and the long term benchmark, is a Damn Comfortable Shave. Towards that end the advice above in Polarbear's post is spot on.
Be aware that razors purchased from vendors are not always truly shave ready. Depends on the vendor. I have no razors from Superior Shave but understand that Jarrod's razors are sharpened by him prior to shipping. Some razors from elsewhere may or may not be truly shave ready.
Your new razor should be about as sharp as the AC blade (in that league) or it's not really shave ready.
Stropping is of utmost importance. Here's a post into which I gathered some of the best stropping information and advice and illustrations I've run across. I'd add to that that you might want to practice with a dull butterknife just to get the motion down. Go slowly. You don't want to damage your strop especially if you bought an expensive strop to start off.
Straight razor shaving is for me the most comfortable shaving which is why I do it. Besides that, it's traditional, manly, cool, and very satisfying, but there is a learning curve (which I'm still climbing about 450 or so shaves into the straight).
Happy shaves,
Jim
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Jim, I agree to a certain extent, but as a routine "barber razor" shaver I disagree that all the AC blades are really sharp enough to give you a shave with minimal pressure. The day before yesterday I loaded up a fresh Kai "PINK" blade into my SS and it tugged like crazy. I didn't even get through the right cheek before I subbed it out for a fresh Schick Proline, which is sharper and smoother than any real straight razor I've ever used, although the razors I used in "The Method" passaround were close.
For AC-blade barber razors, in my experience, there are no blades that even come close to the Schick Proline in terms of both sharpness and comfort. Accordingly, my recommendation to the OP is that he acquire a Schick Proline blade or two and give those a go, although they may spoil him so that the Dovo may seem unlikely to ever satisfy. Just my opinion.
For AC-blade barber razors, in my experience, there are no blades that even come close to the Schick Proline in terms of both sharpness and comfort. Accordingly, my recommendation to the OP is that he acquire a Schick Proline blade or two and give those a go, although they may spoil him so that the Dovo may seem unlikely to ever satisfy. Just my opinion.
I consider the shavette to be a “real” straight razor; just not a “traditional” straight razor and use them often. I prefer the traditional in many ways and the shavette in others. The shavette should never be diminished. I do, however, despise the DE - evil shaving tool.
Agree about the Schick Proline, but do think the Feather Pro Guard is also a good blade in the DX. People may see this blade as a "beginner" blade, because it is a guarded edge. Really it isn't. It feels a lot like a traditional edge in my book.
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- #12
Thanks, gents. I'll get there. I simply have to endure the learning curve. Generally speaking, I'm more difficult to train than many, because I need a working knowledge of what I am doing. This held true for DE shaving, and is true for SR/AC shaving. Someday I may post the thread "ACs Are Not Straight Razors" just to enjoy the show. For the record, I consider ACs hybrids-not quite a straight razor, but too good to be lumped with all shavettes. I suppose there are plenty of folks who will claim you aren't a SR shaver unless you are a master of all facets, including honing, etc. There's probably a lesson in this concerning many folks' need to separate the masses into classes, but I digress...
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Interesting take.
All I can tell you is my own experience, which started with a Feather non-folding SS for the first 40 or so shaves. I had borrowed the razor. The guy I borrowed it from was happy to sell it to me and told me what it would cost me. I wasn't sold on it enough to buy it at that time, so I sent it back.
I then started in with traditional straight razors, and worked on that for a long time. I ended up putting in about 250+ a few shaves with these razors. At that point, I became disillusioned with the maintenance, which I did not enjoy, so I went back to DE and SE. I found it OK, but not satisfying.
That's when a thought developed in my head that maybe I would enjoy the Feather SS more now that I had over 250 real straight razor shaves under my belt. I also figured that since all the straights I had used were Western style straights, I might enjoy the FOLDING version of the SS better than I had enjoyed the non-folding form all that time ago.
Still not willing to just part with the money to buy one without trying it first, I reached out to people on the forum that I knew owned a folding SS and asked them if they would mail it to me and let me try it. One graciously agreed. After one shave I knew there was no way I wasn't going to buy one. I used the borrowed razor for three shaves and was hooked.
I purchased one, and as soon as it arrived, began using it exclusively, and that has continued. That was six months ago.
I don't have a crystal ball, so I can't see the future. There may come a time when I go back to other methods of shaving, but for now I enjoy this so much more than all other forms of shaving I can't anticipate that it will happen. I still have my straight razors, and have thought about working them back into the equation, but I haven't arrived there just yet.
But in any case, open blade shaving just suits me! Good luck in your journey. I, too, am a slow learner, and almost gave up straight razor shaving after over 40 shaves.
I disagree that they are not true straight razors. One shaves exactly the same with a shavette as with a traditional straight. Although the majority of my shaves are with vintage razors, I use a half blade shavettes often and find them to be remarkably good straight razors. The bottom line is the shave.
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- #15
"Open blade shaving". Well put! This verbage may prevent a war on the forum. I am anxious to form a better opinion once I have 60+ AC and traditional straight razor shaves behind me. In the mean time, I plan to enjoy the ride...
