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Desert Island or Holy Grail Razor?? Share your Journey!

Understanding that this is a very subjective topic, it's always interesting to me. So, what is your one razor to rule them ALL?!

My Journey as a wet shaver and how I got to my one razor (leaving out a few to condense it thus far) goes like this.

Edwin Jagger DE89 >>> Karve Plate D >>> Razorock Game Changer .84

My one razor at the moment is the Game Changer. Tough choice between the Karve and Game Changer and I'd honestly be happy with both, but the GC just wins by a hair (pun intended).

Well, share if you feel like it, as much of your razor journey as you'd like! And try to pick one in the end!

Happy Shaves!
 
I started with straight razors. There few a few I chased, and o realized that most razors shave within close to 100% of each other. Yeah, there are different grinds, steels, honing methods, stropping, but the end of the day it's a shave.
When I found DE razors, I chased a legendary razor from 80 years ago. When I finally got it, I thought it was the best thing ever. After a few shaves, I realized it can irritate my skin, it didn't make the whiskers magically fall off, it was just a razor.
Now I'm enjoying injector razors. I have an AC razor that I'm waiting on blades for.
To me it's a journey, not a destination.
 
Mine is a late 40s Gillette Super Speed, which I found early in my wetshaving experience. I've used an assortment of DEs, SEs, disposables, and cartridge razors. But I keep coming back to the Super Speed.
 
Tried a bunch of beginner razors from Razorock, vintage Eversharp Krona, Karve, landed a Timeless .68 and was almost there, got a .95 and just a bit outside, got a shorty Maggard’s handle for Father’s Day this year and boom.

Timeless SS .95SB on a 16/77mm SS handle, Super Max Diamond blades.

Perfection. I haven’t really had a bad shave since then except the Bic Chrome incident (I don’t want to talk about it).

I vary brushes and soaps daily but the razor and blade stay the same anymore.
 
The Bics huh? Yeah we make some nasty blades. My razors are the Rockwell 2C, Parker 99R and a PIFd Qshave adjustable. I've found that my Rockwell at plate 3 works perfectly, looking to upgrade to the 6S and I think I am done with razors. This should last me for a lifetime and have plenty of options to spice up my shaves.
 
I started with a Merkur 34C which, with my terrible technique, really chewed up my face. Feather AS-D2 was night and day, but the Colonial General in stainless is the one for me. AC razors are the way! Haven’t tried GEMs though which I’ve heard are as good.
 
Started with Muhle R89, moved to executive shaving braveheart and Muhle Futur for a short stint.

Eventually settled on ATT R1 (have used it for sometime now) and a relatively new Rex Ambassador. Have a Parker Variant for travel.

Desert island would be the R1.
 
Long story short: I started with a hand-me-down Slim in the olden days. To be modern (and in response to Gillette advertising) I moved to carts. Aside from flings with some electrics I pretty much stayed with carts until the mid-1980s. Tried straights for a few years in the mid 1980s, but I was too consumed with life, work etc. to spend the proper time, so I went back to carts.

I returned to DE around 2007 and tried a good number of options. For the last few years I have pretty much come down to one daily driver, my Wolfman which brings a smile to this old guy every AM!!
:a29::a29::a29:
 
Bought a fly rod in 1980. And quite a few more after that. Short ones, long ones, light line rods, heavy line rods, two piece, multi-piece. Searching for the One.

Razor journey has been similar. Started with a hand me down Tech in 1966. Gave no more thought to razors than I did to pocket combs back when. In recent years have dallied with everything from Super Speeds to r41 to Presidents, Slims, Jagger, Fatboys, Fatip OC, and finally Schone OC in nickel over brass.

I like the Schone. Is there something out there better? Maybe. Is there a better twenty dollar razor? Unlikely. Am I through trying new razors? Hmm. No idea, actually.
 
Started with a VDH TTO several years ago and had no issues using brush-less cream. Broke my dominant arm like a toothpick 12/31/16, had surgery, then used a Braun Series 7 for a year and a half to generally positive results (90% of the shaves didn't cause irritation, but the ingrown hairs I did get were devastating). Went back to the VDH for a week or so to horrific results and returned to the Braun. I jumped back into DE shaving for better or worse with Merkur 34C and 37 slant, Omega boar brush, Proraso and Speick -- it did not go well, despite Geofatboy videos. Poor technique yielded frenetic and misguided gear acquisition. I discovered B&B while searching for soap and synthetic brush suggestions. Adopted much advice, including to use the same gear to dial in technique. Chose the 34C for this endeavor and mostly ironed out my technique, although I still had trouble shaving every 24 hours.

Enter my holy grain razor: Feather AS-D2. I have not touched my 37C and only use the 34C for manscaping--yes, manscaping--since receiving the AS-D2 in late winter/early spring. By committing to this razor I discovered my technique still needed work... and have since achieved shave nirvana. 24 hour shaves are no longer an issue. I no longer prefer shaving in the PM vs. AM; at home vs. at the gym; post-shower vs. mid-shower vs. no shower (PAA's the cube and Grooming Department pre-shave probably deserve more credit here). I maintain relatively limited inventory: Feather or Gillette Silver Blue blades (have not decided a preference yet), one synthetic brush for home and one for the road, MdC/SV at home (preferring MdC... I think), and Speick at the gym.
 
Thank you for all of the replies! This has certainly been an interesting read and I enjoy the journey, so it's interesting to see how others have gone about theirs. With all the new razors popping up in the last 5 years or so, I've been curious to see if any of them show up consistently in the thread. Honestly it's awesome to see so much variation out there (which is what I would expect) and I appreciate the stories everyone has shared so far!

This has been a great hobby for me over the last couple years really, and the wet shaving community is a lot of fun to be a part of.
 
I have tough "old man whiskers." Therefore I like slants. I like adjustable's. And I like heavier razors.

But to narrow it down to one razor is impossible. It would be like picking a favorite child in a large family when all the kids are well behaved, bright, and good looking.
 
Timeless Titanium 0.68 is it for me, with either open or closed comb depending on how much stubble I have, with Treet Platinum blades.
 
When I first started I tried numerous DE’s but didn't find one that would be the one to rule them all, in fact if I had subpar shaves it was always on technique rather than razor, then I ventured into straights but for the life of me I cannot hone and sharpen one if my life depends on it! Still shave with them but I send them to get honed so thats the disadvantage, and thats when I stumbled with the feather ss shavette, which acts a lot more like a real straight than a shavette so it takes the honing out of the equation, and once I got my technique down with it, there is nothing else that I can shave with that will come close to it, so dessert island its definately my feather ss
 
My one razor to rule them all remains my Merkur Progress. With the long handle. Used it today...with a Voskhod I hope someday to run out of. Dreadful blades.

The Progress. Do I wish it was made out of stainless steel? Or spent uranium? Or iron taken from a meteorite that was also used to make Alan Ladd's bowie knife in The Iron Mistress? Of course I do. But it is zamak...damn it all.

But the thing just...performs. It is a superb implement of battle.

Barring that, my stainless Game Changer .84 with Super Knurl handle. After that, my nickel-plated Tech with ball end handle.

Ah, but what does one consider to be the desert island/holy grail blade? Or soap? Or aftershave?



 
My current deserted island kit would include:

Edwin Jagger 3one6 razor
Simpson synthetic Chubby 2
Astra SP blade
D.R. Harris almond shaving soap
EltaMD moisturizer with SPF
Marry Ann, not Ginger
 
Right now it would be my Wolfman WR2 SB .95 in titanium. This is the very best razor I've encountered thus far. The stainless steel version of the same razor would be my second choice.
 
Started with DEs. Tried a million. Found a lot that I liked. If I had to choose one DE? British Hybrid Tech. But there are many worthy contenders.

Moved to GEM-style razors. Tried a bunch. Favor the bullet-tip, the MMOC, and the Streamline. If I had to choose one? I guess it would be the MMOC, but that's a tough choice.

Moved on to AC razors, though I didn't try many. Just the Colonial General. Love it and don't need any others.

Tried straights. Loved my Heljestrand the best. But I don't use straights much any more.

Finally, shavettes. Currently using a Feather SS folding shavette that takes the same blades as my Colonial General. Love this thing. It would be my shavette choice.


So, overall, do I have a winner? I don't think so. Too many great razors. But if asked to choose just two, I would probably take the Hybrid Tech and the Feather SS. Completely different shavers, different blades, different styles of shaving, but both wonderful razors.
 
Mine is a late 40s Gillette Super Speed, which I found early in my wetshaving experience. I've used an assortment of DEs, SEs, disposables, and cartridge razors. But I keep coming back to the Super Speed.
Those late 40s Super Speeds are great shavers. I’ve got one, never got a bad shave from it!
 
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