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- #61
Very nicely and elegantly stated, Yuritau.I'll not say you shouldn't use the tools that you enjoy using. Far from it, I think finding the things that you personally enjoy using is the reason to take shaving from a chore to a hobby.
But every time this topic of vintage vs modern comes up, people point at names like Wolfman and say that higher price doesn't mean better shaves. And that's honestly debatable, on a subjective level. On an objective level, sure, a more expensive razor is not inherently a better shaver than a less expensive one. On the subjective level, maybe the person that bought the Wolfman razor enjoys the workmanship and luxury of such a high priced item enough that using it makes them enjoy the shave more than using some other equally performant but less expensive razor. That person will say that the Wolfman shaves better, and for them, that's true.
The other thing that gets said so often is that vintage razors have a soul and character that modern razors just can't have. Well, that is also objectively untrue. A piece of manufactured metal does not have a soul. What they do have is a history. If that history is something you admire, then it is likely something that affects your subjective enjoyment of a razor in just the same way that the workmanship and luxury affects the previous example.
Based solely on the objective comparison of razor designs, irrespective of any other factors, yes, some modern razors will outperform the majority of vintage razors. At the same time, some exceptional vintage razors will continue to outperform the majority of modern razors for the foreseeable future. It's when you start talking about the subjective elements that the waters get so muddy most can't see beyond their own preconceptions, heh.
As for which is more popular, I think that would probably be too hard to accurately judge, unless you're willing to settle for the data pool being only those who frequent shaving forums. And I'm certain that dataset would not be all that useful in talking about the broader shaving market. I would think it would very likely SEEM like there's a lot more talk about modern razors now than there was 8-10 years ago, but that would mostly be due to do with the fact that there are a lot more manufacturers in existence now than there were 8-10 years ago. And a lot more high end manufacturing processes being used than there used to be.
A great example of this is the Tradere razor. When Tradere was launched about 10 years ago, there was VERY LITTLE competition in the space between the Muhle/Merkur/EJ lines and the ultra high end like the Pils, and $165 for a DE razor was seen as quite expensive. Nowadays getting that exact razor made, thanks to Blackland for bringing it back, costs almost twice as much, and isn't even at the top of the high end razor game.
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