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Decision against straight razors

Now after a month of straight razor shaving is still far away from the smoothness I get from DE razors. Maybe the straight razors I have are not sharp enough, maybe because I cannot make the passes as I'm used. My beart grows in every direction and I have a swirl at my neck. With DE razors I never get a clean shave when just making passes from north to south and back...

I coming to the conclusion that I should stay with my DE razors..

That is one of the pitfalls of straight shaving; not only will you have to master shaving with a straight, but you also will have to come to grips with stropping a straight and honing a straight. (I do not consider sending out razors for honing a viable, long-term alternative.)

A single mistake in any one of these three areas can ruin an otherwise perfect shave.


There’s a reason that double-edge safety razors became at one stage the dominant razor system, taking over from straights.




B.
 
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steveclarkus

Goose Poop Connoisseur
Today I honed my razors for the very first time and made a second shave 4 hours after the first. The result was obvious:

View attachment 1540395

My conclusion is that I have to focus more on stropping as so far I did not get the full potential of the razors... Means I made them dull instead of sharp.
Perhaps you should get a Feather AC type razor to learn to shave with while you learn to hone. Learning to do both at the same time can and often is quite difficult.
 
Perhaps you should get a Feather AC type razor to learn to shave with while you learn to hone. Learning to do both at the same time can and often is quite difficult.

I strongly advise against that.

My apologies for contradicting you, but while one doesn’t need to worry about stropping and honing, Feather AC razors are more aggressive, less forgiving, and harder to learn than a well honed straight razor.
Especially the first few shaves after inserting a new blade will be harsh and I am now in the habit of palm-stropping a new blade in my Feather ACs to quicker reach the peak performance level of a blade.

In general, it is my opinion that the myth that shavettes and razors like the Feather AC are straight razors on training wheels is just that: a myth.
Feather ACs are too expensive and shavettes do not really duplicate the feel and heft of a straight razor.

In case of a Feather AC, the disadvantage is that if you should come to the conclusion that this type of razor is not for you you probably have already spent quite a bit of money (that you could have better spent on a more gentle straight razor or premium safety razor).


B.
 
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I love my AC straights. I find them all smoother with Kai blades than with Feathers, and yes, I palm strop a tiny bit before the first shave.

I get 12-16 comfortable shaves from each blade, so they are not particularly expensive to use.
 
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Thank you very much for all your posts. Now after a month of straight razor shaving is still far away from the smoothness I get from DE razors. Maybe the straight razors I have are not sharp enough, maybe because I cannot make the passes as I'm used. My beart grows in every direction and I have a swirl at my neck. With DE razors I never get a clean shave when just making passes from north to south and back...

I coming to the conclusion that I should stay with my DE razors..
It sounds like there’s no real reason to change. Might as well stick with what works.
 
I have tried going the straight razor route and found that it just didn't offer any benefits over a safety razor.
It sounds like there’s no real reason to change. Might as well stick with what works.
I'm still in a testing phase, no DE razors sold yet. So far straight razor shaving seems to be milder with less irritation. More experienced users told me that BBS will come with time. If the shaves stay mild that's a benefit to DE shaving...
 

Ravenonrock

I shaved the pig
I guess BBS shaves will come with a SR if that is your only intent. The entire reason I continue to use a SR is the quality of the shaving experience. I get close comfortable shaves, often with a single pass. I don’t give a gee whiz about BBS, but that’s just me. Choose the tool that provides the desired results. Or perhaps modify expectations and experience something different. Different strokes for different folks.
 
I used to use carts...irritation was so bad I was shaving once a week.

Tried a DE a couple of years back, but it was a cheap crappy one and was awful to use. I didn't know any better, and gave up on DEs

Was digging through a box of stuff and found my late father's old Puma...started looking at what was involved in restoring it and soon decided that I didn't have the skills to attack something so priceless to me.
Bought a couple of beaten up straights to have a go at, which turned into a dozen or so and a lapping film setup.

Several months in, no idea how many shaves I'm doing a 2 pass in 10 minutes with no cuts for DFS.
Skin irritation is almost non existent.
I don't care how much longer it takes, I just can't do cartridge shaves with my skin.

Recently bought another DE for head shaving, have tentatively tried it on my face a couple of times and had more irritation than straights but less than carts.

Time will tell how much I use it. Great on my head though, doing that with a straight is tricky.
 
it's just shaving. Find what you like best and do that. Whatever you don't like, or like less, then don't do those things.
Honestly, it's that simple. Anyone thinking one way or another about how anyone but themselves shaves is pointless drama..
Straights are not for everyone. DEs are not for everyone. Mach 3s are not for everyone. Shaving is not for everyone.
No decisions must be permanent - give up DEs for straights today, and return to them later on - and so on and so forth.
It's just shaving, shave and be happy.
 
it's just shaving. Find what you like best and do that. Whatever you don't like, or like less, then don't do those things.
Honestly, it's that simple. Anyone thinking one way or another about how anyone but themselves shaves is pointless drama..
Straights are not for everyone. DEs are not for everyone. Mach 3s are not for everyone. Shaving is not for everyone.
No decisions must be permanent - give up DEs for straights today, and return to them later on - and so on and so forth.
It's just shaving, shave and be happy.
I absolutely agree with you. Shaving is not a rocket science. I had to use a DE razor today because I had to hurry. It was a feeling of meeting an old friend. I had not to worry about any move I'm making, everything was fine. A great shave with a great Gillette Pocket Edition razor.
 
Hi all,

I'm posting my question here at the Safety Razors Forum and not at the Straight Razors section because the people concerned should be at this side.

I'm trying to master straight razor shaving now for about a month and I wonder how many before just quit trying to climb the learning curve and switched back to safety razors. And second question, why?

I find the learning curve hard to climb and nick myself very badly so that I ask myself if it is really worth it. I know that I have to complete my 100 shaves before giving a answer for me.

So what do you think?

Thanks,

Sami
Well I think your success will depend largely on effort - or so it was for me. It took me four shaves to feel comfortable with a fully exposed blade on my face, and then I nailed it around shave sixteen. Mind you, I have been doing full three pass straight razor shaves right from the start, including the dreaded devil's pass.

Two months into my journey I was able to drunk shave with a straight without any problem. I believe it is hard for you because you think it is hard. After all you are just wiping your face with a blade - not really much different to using a safety razor.
 
Well I think your success will depend largely on effort - or so it was for me. It took me four shaves to feel comfortable with a fully exposed blade on my face, and then I nailed it around shave sixteen. Mind you, I have been doing full three pass straight razor shaves right from the start, including the dreaded devil's pass.

Two months into my journey I was able to drunk shave with a straight without any problem. I believe it is hard for you because you think it is hard. After all you are just wiping your face with a blade - not really much different to using a safety razor.
I'm still in the game, still shaving with a straight razor. Not my closest shaves but milder for my skin. I have ordered a set of Naniwa stones so that I can learn honing my razors. It's a great journey to learn something new.

Thank you very much. I fully agree to your words.
 
I'm still in the game, still shaving with a straight razor. Not my closest shaves but milder for my skin. I have ordered a set of Naniwa stones so that I can learn honing my razors. It's a great journey to learn something new.

Thank you very much. I fully agree to your words.
A traditional straight is EASILY my favourite razor with which to shave. Being less sharp they are much kinder to my skin.
 
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