Ouch, my face.

[DrColossus11]

I had the absolute WORST shaving experience of my life today. It all started when I got the mail today. In it was my new Sanguine shavette. Excitement got the best of me. Smart guy that I am loaded it with a Feather, whipped up a poor lather with MWF, and went to town. Now my face looks like Edward Scissorhand's. I'm not talking about a nic here or a weeper there. I'm talking lacerations! My styptic pen couldn't even get it to stop bleeding. Lesson learned!

Anyone else have a horrible experience with a shavette or any razor for that matter?

 

[mdunn]

ive found that shavettes are MUCH more agressive than regular straights. Plus theyre so light you have to use a little pressure which isnt good.

plus (at least on the cheapy I was using) the corners of the blade were exposed which wasnt fun.

 

[DrColossus11]

ive found that shavettes are MUCH more agressive than regular straights. Plus theyre so light you have to use a little pressure which isnt good.

plus (at least on the cheapy I was using) the corners of the blade were exposed which wasnt fun.

It was that pesky exposed corner that kept getting me too.I can't wait for my straight and strop to get here.

 

[dpmtherrien]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the Sanguine shavette. Speaking as one who uses only disposable blade straights, I have to say that I have the Sanguine shavette, and to be truthful I find it to be only a minimal shaver. Its O.K., but I don't care for it. It was so inexpensive price wise that I just keep it around. I think I got it for around $14.00 shipped from the U.K.

As for other disposable blade straights, I find that the Parker's are really a very nice straight. They're made in Pakistan, but the quality is pretty good. Of course the Kai's and the Feather AC's are quality straights, and well worth their price.

I've never used a "regular" straight, and I seen other members state that a disposable blade straight doesn't shave the same way. However having learned straight shaving on the Feather AC, I find it very easy to switch over to the Parker straights, and have even used both the Feather or the Kai along with the Parker for the same shave. I've done this because each razor shaves a bit different, and one or the other works better on different parts of my beard. I believe that the principal of using any open blade razor is about the same, and one would be able to use such a razor with minimal adjustment once the technique of open blade razor shaving is perfected.

 

[michiganlover]

whipped up a poor lather with MWF, and went to town.

I think the poor quality lather was your biggest downfall. While you might be able to get away with that with a safety razor, any type of straight demands top quality lather, or you will get cut.

DE blades are sharp. When used in a Shavette if your angle is off, you will get cut.

 

[DunEdinRanger]

Why use anything called Sanguine? It will want blood!

 

[4Elements]

Have any of you guys tried the Dovo shavette? On that one the blade is not exposed, the guard comes up around it so you don't get nicked from the corner. Course that's the only one that AoS has in our stores, so it's the only one I know.

 

[DrColossus11]

As for other disposable blade straights, I find that the Parker's are really a very nice straight. They're made in Pakistan, but the quality is pretty good. Of course the Kai's and the Feather AC's are quality straights, and well worth their price.

Do the Parker's take DE blades or Feather type blades?

I think the poor quality lather was your biggest downfall. While you might be able to get away with that with a safety razor, any type of straight demands top quality lather, or you will get cut.

Yeah, I got too excited. I saw you had a Parker for sale on BST. how did you like it?

Where would one find a Kai Captain?

 

[michiganlover]

Do the Parker's take DE blades or Feather type blades?

Yeah, I got too excited. I saw you had a Parker for sale on BST. how did you like it?

The Parker takes a snapped in half DE blade, just like the Sanguine. I got good shaves with the Parker as long as I used it frequently. If I took a break from using it, I would end up with a pretty bloody shave.

The Parker is considered to be one of the better built Shavettes: it has a overall beefy construction, and thus has some weight to it. The blade holder is solid stainless steel.

The Parker, and any shavette for that matter has a pretty steep learning curve, expect to get cut frequently for about a month, or two; a shavette is a whole lot less forgiving than an actual straight.

Where would one find a Kai Captain?

The Kai Captain is a competitor to the Feather Artist Club. Both use the same blades. While the Feather is widely available in the states, the Kai Captain was only available as part of a group buy when a gentlemen graciously imported them for us.

RazorRock has really good pricing on the Feather Artist Club Razor, and blades if you are interested:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=170471

The Feather Artist Club/ Kai Captain are vastly superior to any shavette using a 1/2 DE blade, as the blade is thicker, longer, and not flexible. These razors also have about the same heft as a regular straight.

 

[michiganlover]

Have any of you guys tried the Dovo shavette? On that one the blade is not exposed, the guard comes up around it so you don't get nicked from the corner. Course that's the only one that AoS has in our stores, so it's the only one I know.

I have owned two Dovo Shavettes: the one with the plastic handle, and the one with the stainless steel handle. I hated both of them.

The Dovo is super lightweight, forcing you to use pressure to make it shave (a horrible thing), it's overall build quality just feels really chintzy as well. The plastic blade holder will wear out over time.

It's only possible benefit is the ability to use the longer, thicker, Personna Hair Shaper blades (that fit in the green holder).

The Parker Shavette is much better built, and has much more weight behind it.

 

[DE Shaver]

Personally, I found shavettes to be problematic to use when shaving. I can shave with them, it just doesn't turn out quite as good with a straight razor or DE razor. They do have the advantage of being easier to maintain than regular straight razors but that is their only real advantage to the typical user. Some maintain the shavette being light and maneuverable are advantages as well. Feedback is the main issue for me as well as their relative lightness. If you are using DE razor blades, I would just use a DE razor.

 

[michiganlover]

Personally, I found shavettes to be problematic to use when shaving. I can shave with them, it just doesn't turn out quite as good with a straight razor or DE razor. They do have the advantage of being easier to maintain than regular straight razors but that is their only real advantage to the typical user. Some maintain the shavette being light and maneuverable are advantages as well. Feedback is the main issue for me as well as their relative lightness. If you are using DE razor blades, I would just use a DE razor.

For purposes of this discussion, Feather Artist Club/ Kai Captain does not equal Shavette. They are two different beasts entirely.

The term Shavette usually means a straight like device using a snapped in half double edge blade.

 

[DrColossus11]

The Parker takes a snapped in half DE blade, just like the Sanguine. I got good shaves with the Parker as long as I used it frequently. If I took a break from using it, I would end up with a pretty bloody shave...

Thanks for the info. I have a friend in Japan. I might have to have him pick me up a Kai.

 

[instpasr]

Thanks for the info. I have a friend in Japan. I might have to have him pick me up a Kai.

Very highly recommended. I have a Feather AC and wish I had a Kai just because they look nicer IMHO.

 

[michiganlover]

Thanks for the info. I have a friend in Japan. I might have to have him pick me up a Kai.

Here is some pictures of the Kai Captain Excelia razors for you, so you can compare them to the Feather Artist Club. I have the folding version, made of solid stainless steel, and it is a well designed item that should last a lifetime:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=146702&highlight=group

 

[closer]

The Dovo is super lightweight, forcing you to use pressure to make it shave (a horrible thing), it's overall build quality just feels really chintzy as well. The plastic blade holder will wear out over time.

I've found the opposite to be true. I use the stainless steel shavette, and I don't find that it "forces" me to use more pressure. If anything, it actually requires a super light touch, and I get excellent shaves with it. I actually find myself using more pressure on my regular straights as compared to the shavette.

Agree re: build quality, although the stainless is better than the plastic handle. Still no comparison to the weight and heft of a regular straight blade.

Its interesting to see the same set of people provide the same opinion on these threads! Does not seem like too many people use disposable-blade straights.

 

[michiganlover]

Its interesting to see the same set of people provide the same opinion on these threads! Does not seem like too many people use disposable-blade straights.

Not surprising, as any newbie asking about a Shavette is usually told they are junk, and that they will cut themselves up.

A "real" straight is argued to be way superior to a Shavette.

They are then promptly pointed to places where they can pick up budget minded straight gear, such as the B/S/T, or Larry Andro/ Whipped Dog.

I have went down the actual straight razor road; I found it's an expensive adventure that I can't, and won't dump that amount of money into.

Besides I get a consistently better quality shave from my Kai Captain, and I don't have to worry about my blade being sharp enough: feeling dull? Change it for a new one, and POOF great quality shaves again.