Skills vs equipment for good shave

[Captain Howdy]

They're both important and it's senseless pitting one against the other. Both should be explored and made to serve your shave.


You don't need expensive equipment, but you do need the right equipment. This is particularly true for blades. The single greatest leap forward in my shave quality was finding blades that agreed with my skin and beard. While technique is enormously important, indeed, probably the most influential factor, blade choice isn't far behind.

 

[Captain Howdy]

Sort of like anything in life, can’t be champion at anything if you have no skill.

Tiger Woods in prime could play golf great with set of borrowed clubs.

I bet he didn't borrow garbage clubs though.

 

[Psychtec]

At least a third of my 35ish razors were between $1 and $5.

At least half of my razors were under $10.

This is not in any way speaking figuratively… until one accounts for time and gas and such.

Anything massed produced can be found regularly, at least in the Midwest, for far under market value.

I pay about 5-10% of list for Snap-on tools. Plenty of them were found for a quarter.

I found a Case straight razor on Saturday for a quarter.

You are a smart shopper. Sounds like they are all quality razors or you might not have purchased them. Quality razors do not have to be really expensive. Who purposely buys low quality razors, at an high price, unless you know little about them and are still learning basics. That is not you.

I buy razors based on my experience, my skill set, what I think I would enjoy and price, like most.

You had an idea about what you were looking for. That came from lots of experience, knowing your skill set and knowing the razors worth?

You knew, because of your skill set, whether you could immediately get good shaves or whether it would take time to learn to get good shaves from your purchases. After use, there were some you enjoy shaving with more than others regardless of the cost.

Skills and equipment are important parts of learning to get consistently good shaves from any razor.

Of the 35 razors you own which ones do you consider the top three razors you currently shave with on a regular basis?

 

[Psychtec]

I would like to ask opinions about skills vs equipment for good shave. In other words, can I archive good shave without good razor because I learned it and have long experience so it doesn't matter so much which razor or blade is used.. or from other side, does it help significantly for beginner if I buy very good equipment and I can shave because of that perfect razor and not because I have skills needed for shave..?
(sorry for my english, try my best )

Tomas

I am really enjoying your thread and the responses you are receiving.

1. Are you new to wet shaving or are you very experienced?
2. What do you consider good razor/good equipment?
3. What determines good or not good razor/equipment? Is it price alone? Is it other factors?

 

[Psychtec]

They're both important and it's senseless pitting one against the other. Both should be explored and made to serve your shave.


You don't need expensive equipment, but you do need the right equipment. This is particularly true for blades. The single greatest leap forward in my shave quality was finding blades that agreed with my skin and beard. While technique is enormously important, indeed, probably the most influential factor, blade choice isn't far behind.

Captain

You make an excellent point about blades.

The only razors I use are vintage GEM style Ever Ready SE razors. Like most SE users, the only blade I use is the GEM PTFE SS blade.

It is such a good blade I don’t think about using other blades. It is my forever blade. It is not a perfect blade. I have tried other GEM style blades in the past. They are good, but the PTFE is the best for me.

Using only one razor type and one blade gives me time to spend most of my shaving time on technique.

I am not like most, I prefer fewer choices and less options. Nice post.

 

[Edgelord]

You are a smart shopper. Sounds like they are all quality razors or you might not have purchased them. Quality razors do not have to be really expensive. Who purposely buys low quality razors, at an high price, unless you know little about them and are still learning basics. That is not you.

I buy razors based on my experience, my skill set, what I think I would enjoy and price, like most.

You had an idea about what you were looking for. That came from lots of experience, knowing your skill set and knowing the razors worth?

You knew, because of your skill set, whether you could immediately get good shaves or whether it would take time to learn to get good shaves from your purchases. After use, there were some you enjoy shaving with more than others regardless of the cost.

Skills and equipment are important parts of learning to get consistently good shaves from any razor.

Of the 35 razors you own which ones do you consider the top three razors you currently shave with on a regular basis?

Wow… hard question to answer…

I would say my favorites are Techs, SuperSpeeds and the TRC stainless steel.

You can see some of what I have found at garage sales, estate sales, flea markets and at retail in the acquisition threads.

If you buy on the secondary market you are not going to pick winners every time. There are things that you will overlook or not notice until you get home… damage you did not see… you can’t allow yourself to get too spun out about such things… there is going to be a loser pile.

Here are a good amount of the ones not in my bathrooms. A few others are in random places… like my Rolls-Razor… I don’t know why I even bought it. It looked barely used, and it had a box…

Time will tell whether I ever actually shave with the straight razor…

The hardest SuperSpeed to use is the Paperclip Rocket.

The razor that I have the hardest time shaving with is the Aylsworth Apex… which is

the one I spent the most on…

 

[Edgelord]

My dream is to find at least one Fatboy for retail… ($1.95).

There is a lot of fun vintage shaving gear to hunt for beyond razors and brushes.

I knew very little until I started lurking on this and other forums. I learned what to look for by simply reading as much as I could. The guys on B&B with the big vintage collections basically guide you on what to look for. Alum Ladd is a good example, but there are so many.

I am just a newbie at this.

 

[Psychtec]

Wow… hard question to answer…

I would say my favorites are Techs, SuperSpeeds and the TRC stainless steel.

You can see some of what I have found at garage sales, estate sales, flea markets and at retail in the acquisition threads.

If you buy on the secondary market you are not going to pick winners every time. There are things that you will overlook or not notice until you get home… damage you did not see… you can’t allow yourself to get too spun out about such things… there is going to be a loser pile.

Here are a good amount of the ones not in my bathrooms. A few others are in random places… like my Rolls-Razor… I don’t know why I even bought it. It looked barely used, and it had a box…

Time will tell whether I ever actually shave with the straight razor…

The hardest SuperSpeed to use is the Paperclip Rocket.
View attachment 1849419The razor that I have the hardest time shaving with is the Aylsworth Apex… which is View attachment 1849417the one I spent the most on…View attachment 1849416View attachment 1849418

Thank you for taking the time to send these pictures. You have a lot of history there.

What was it like to shave with the Rolls razor? I have watched videos indicate it was a very aggressive shave. If not careful with it, it would bite you.

 

[tomas1870]

Tomas

I am really enjoying your thread and the responses you are receiving.

1. Are you new to wet shaving or are you very experienced?
2. What do you consider good razor/good equipment?
3. What determines good or not good razor/equipment? Is it price alone? Is it other factors?

Thank you @Psychtec , this thread and my initial question is now 6 months old, good to share what I found. Yes, I'm relatively newbie to wet shaving, and that was my question. What would have more impact or should be my target? Learn proper technique or looking to find razors and blades that suits me (my skills, my feelings, my skin… in other words what works best for me).

To be short, I found this in last 6 months, (with big help of some friends here on forum): Equipment is not most important, and I can now shave with every razor I tried and have, from cheapest plastic for couple bucks to most expensive in my collection adjustable Muramasa in Ti. From mildest to most aggressive. But there is big difference how I enjoy some razors more as others. It is not about price, but much more about geometry, gap, blade exposure, and also materials (feeling on face and weight which I prefer).
What I find for myself, easy razors doesn't help me to improve my skills in same way as more demanding razors, where first it is not so easy to use, but with time they can become my favorites. Mild razors also doesn't work so good for my skin, positive blade exposure with immediate feedback helps me to reduce strokes, to adjust angle and pressure, and finally avoid irritations. As example, I find now one of best DE razors for me Blackbird, what would be 6 months ago too much. Also found SE razors (WR4 and La Faulx) to be like other level as DE, because of different blades, sharper and thicker, which seems to be best for my skin. On other side I like to explore more technique demanding DE razors to learn and improve my skills.

 

[Edgelord]

Thank you for taking the time to send these pictures. You have a lot of history there.

What was it like to shave with the Rolls razor? I have watched videos indicate it was a very aggressive shave. If not careful with it, it would bite you.

I haven’t shaved with the Rolls-Razor. The thing looks terrifying. I bought it for $6 because it looks barely used and has a box.

I am a little scared of the straight razor, too. I am going to have it honed, though, so I can try it.

 

[helicopter]

You need to use good equipment, but the correlation between price and quality is very weak. You can get a good Alshabab Gillette Tech clone for $0.80 retail on Ali Express. You will have a much more difficult time getting a good shave with the $550 Rex Konsul XL in Deluxe Gold. Don't ask me how I know.