Decision against straight razors

[VBH37118]

The Swedish straight are excellent. I never had one, but heard only good things about them.

Let me know if you get addicted I have some straights not listed at the bay and I would hone them for free.

Nice offer

 

[Doc Dan]

I got interested in using a straight razor for shaving, but I had heard and read all of the horror stories. I bought a good razor (don't waste money on junk) that was priced right. The guy was a professional razor honer, too, and it came ready to go (not all "shave ready" razors are really shave ready). I went through the steps and with a lot of fear, I made my first stroke. It was so smooth and easy I thought, "That's it?" I was no longer afraid. I watched my angles and tips carefully. I made two dozen shaves before I even nicked myself once. I now have well over 100 shaves and have nicked myself 3 times, only two with a drop or less of blood, and I have cut myself doing something stupid once. That cut wasn't bad. That's it. I don't get weepers and rarely get irritation. I always get a good shave.

Now, I'm addicted. I shave with a straight razor daily, except for today, when, because of time, I shaved with a Gillette Tech. I have 3 user straight razors and two junkers for honing practice. I'm already in dialogue about another good razor.

 

[DEnoob1963]

I’ve been thinking about trying a straight razor. I think I’ll wait a while and maybe get a nice Feather shavette to actually try. From there I’ll make my decision.

 

[Doc Dan]

I’ve been thinking about trying a straight razor. I think I’ll wait a while and maybe get a nice Feather shavette to actually try. From there I’ll make my decision.

You will spend more for the shavette than for a quality straight razor from Ralf Aust, S.K. Colling, or Thiers Issard. Also, the shavette/artist club will be unforgiving and you might cut yourself. A good straight will be easier. I went through this same issue months ago. I'm glad I got the good straight razor.

The downside is you absolutely must have it professionally sharpened and you will need a good leather strop (Dukes on EBay is not expensive for strops). Some places (Colling, Maggards, The Invisible Edge) will sharpen the razor for you before sending it to you. The Invisible Edge has free shipping.

A Feather will cost $200 or even close to $300. A basic Colling will cost about $100. A basic Aust will be about $120. You can get Dovo cheaper, but unless you buy from The Invisible Edge or someplace that inspects and sharpens, you could get one with a bad grind or warped blade. You can get these for around $85. I'd stick with the other three.

One more thing. Don't listen to the trolls. You are not going to cut your face off. Just take normal, but not abnormal precautions, like you would with an aggressive DE razor. Unlike a DE aggressive, you will probably not have any weepers or irritation, though.

One more one more thing: Lay the blade flat on your face and raise it up one spine thickness. Shave at about that angle, a tad more or less might be needed, but this will be close to right. Don't have the razor raised three or four spine thicknesses off of your face. You'd be inviting a cut and a lot of irritation. Let the blade do the work. Don't force it. You don't need a lot of pressure with a well sharpened blade.

 

[kingfisher]

You will spend more for the shavette than for a quality straight razor from Ralf Aust, S.K. Colling, or Thiers Issard. Also, the shavette/artist club will be unforgiving and you might cut yourself. A good straight will be easier. I went through this same issue months ago. I'm glad I got the good straight razor.

The downside is you absolutely must have it professionally sharpened and you will need a good leather strop (Dukes on EBay is not expensive for strops). Some places (Colling, Maggards, The Invisible Edge) will sharpen the razor for you before sending it to you. The Invisible Edge has free shipping.

A Feather will cost $200 or even close to $300. A basic Colling will cost about $100. A basic Aust will be about $120. You can get Dovo cheaper, but unless you buy from The Invisible Edge or someplace that inspects and sharpens, you could get one with a bad grind or warped blade. You can get these for around $85. I'd stick with the other three.

One more thing. Don't listen to the trolls. You are not going to cut your face off. Just take normal, but not abnormal precautions, like you would with an aggressive DE razor. Unlike a DE aggressive, you will probably not have any weepers or irritation, though.

One more one more thing: Lay the blade flat on your face and raise it up one spine thickness. Shave at about that angle, a tad more or less might be needed, but this will be close to right. Don't have the razor raised three or four spine thicknesses off of your face. You'd be inviting a cut and a lot of irritation. Let the blade do the work. Don't force it. You don't need a lot of pressure with a well sharpened blade.

A Feather SS, for example, is not a face shredder. Not really any harsher than a real straight. And he could get one for a lot less than you said by buying one from the BST or when it is on sale.

I used real straights for about a year (about 275 shaves). I have now used AC shavettes since September of 2019 (well more than 600 shaves). For me, the AC system wins pretty easily.

If he wants to do straights rather than shavettes, that's fine, but he should not be discouraged from using an AC shavette because of myths like the ones you are perpetuating in your post.

 

[rbscebu]

I’ve been thinking about trying a straight razor. I think I’ll wait a while and maybe get a nice Feather shavette to actually try. From there I’ll make my decision.

By all means, get a shavette to start with if that is your desire. I started with a SR and a week later also had a shavette. I found the shavette much more difficult (less forgiving) to learn with than the SR.

Over 3 years later I still have that shavette and shave with it about once every month or two, just to keep my hand in.