Slant razors are cheating!

[Ron R]

My RazoRock 37 slant German made 3pc is one of my favorite razors and should give a DFS>BBS almost every time in 2 1/2 passes. I went out and bought a spare head when this one wears out just in case they are hard to find or buy. For <$20.00 US It is worth the trial test by anyone who is thinking of trying a slant. There is a Irish company that has a black coated slant that looks like a Merkur 37c, I think that might be a good one also.(you do not see many coated slants.)

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I've been a DE shaver for 25 years. I'm happily going to try using a rolls razor, and plan on learning to shave with a straight razor that I have honed myself, contrary to all the prevailing advice. I have no yearning for a slant.

They just look wrong. I've worked in engineering all my adult life, and got taught early on that if something looks wrong, it probably is. They look like some bloke went in drunk on the night shift, and set the tooling up wrong. By the time the gaffer turned up the next morning, a bottle or two of vodka had been consumed, and there was a parts bin with 10,000 twisted stampings in it. The alco got the boot, and they just marketed the razors as if they were intentional. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it

It took me a while to figure out that they were pretty much the same as "normal" DE razors, but slightly skewed so one corner sits lower. So people gripe about razors that have blades that are misaligned by 1mm, but don't mind if they're twisted 15 degrees

They're not cheating, they're defective, and just because some of you wierdos have figured out how to use them without needing a mobile blood transfusion unit parked outside, doesn't make them right

Maybe they were marketted to make cartridges seem more appealing

 

[Storch4]

Never tried a slant. The first time I saw one it scared me a bit. Thought it required a DE shaving engineering degree Using a Slim adjustable lately and do not feel like anything can do it better. Perhaps I should re think my perceptions

 

[‘Bout Time]

I love my ATT S1 and S2. Got a bunch of other razors but always come home to the slant when I need a no worries, close, comfortable shave. Three irritation-free passes every time. Sometimes I wonder why I try anything else...... but I do.

 

[Northstonehill]

I have no yearning for a slant. They just look wrong.

Honestly... I agree.

And the visuals actually mean a lot to me. When I first got attracted to DE’s in general, and to vintages in particular, it was because they just look so darn cool and ‘engineered’ (for lack of a better word). And slants, well, they look like they’ve been dropped or something.

I know it is a very poor argument, but it has definitely added to my lack of desire to fall in love with slants. When you tighten up a slant razor and the blade bends out of whack it just puts me off.

Thankfully YMMV rules and I completely acknowledge and appreciate that others may feel differently. And indeed, slants may be great shavers

 

[Trenchdigger]

I have no yearning for a slant.

They just look wrong. I've worked in engineering all my adult life, and got taught early on that if something looks wrong, it probably is. They look like some bloke went in drunk on the night shift, and set the tooling up wrong.

Honestly... I agree.

I know it is a very poor argument, but it has definitely added to my lack of desire to fall in love with slants. When you tighten up a slant razor and the blade bends out of whack it just puts me off.

HAHAHA!!!

I agree completely ... aesthetically, I find them hard to look at.

It would be interesting to see an objective study comparing the performance of DE, slants, and single-edge razors. Would slants have any real advantage over non-slant razors? If so, why have cartridge manufacturers not slanted those blades as well?

 

[Ron R]

They're not cheating, they're defective, and just because some of you wierdos have figured out how to use them without needing a mobile blood transfusion unit parked outside, doesn't make them right

Maybe they were marketted to make cartridges seem more appealing

And the visuals actually mean a lot to me. When I first got attracted to DE’s in general, and to vintages in particular, it was because they just look so darn cool and ‘engineered’ (for lack of a better word). And slants, well, they look like they’ve been dropped or something.

HAHAHA!!!

I agree completely ... aesthetically, I find them hard to look at.

It would be interesting to see an objective study comparing the performance of DE, slants, and single-edge razors. Would slants have any real advantage over non-slant razors? If so, why have cartridge manufacturers not slanted those blades as well?

Is fair to say you guys don't like looking at the pretty girls!

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I'd rather look at a pretty girl than a slant razor

 

[‘Bout Time]

I'd rather look at a pretty girl than a slant razor

Seriously? I’d rather look at a pretty girl than ANY razor ....

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I was going to leave that implied

 

[‘Bout Time]

Whew! Had me worried for a minute.

 

[Trenchdigger]

Seriously? I’d rather look at a pretty girl than ANY razor ....

 

[Thistle]

Folks who say the "guillotine effect" is just marketing are either fools (if they've never tried one) or have soft beards (if they have) IMO.

I've got very coarse hair and very sensitive skin. I need the sharpest thing I can lay my hands on if I want to cut hair without also tearing my face up. A non-trivial part of my wet shaving journey has been the never-ending search for something ever sharper*. Discovering slants was huge for me, because the difference between them and a normal razor was huge. I'd say they cut at least 1/3 more smoothly and effectively for me than non-slants. Even with the sharpest blades I could find, non-slants needed so much buffing to get a clean shave that it just wasn't possible to leave the sink with my skin intact. But put that same blade in a slant, and I can actually get a DFS in normal passes with normal strokes.

I will never bother trying a non-slant again, because for me, non-slants are just an inherently inferior design. Slants take the sharpest blade I find for a DE, and make it behave like it's even sharper by adding that slicing action. Slants are the only razors that get me a smooth shave without ingrown hairs or road rash.

It isn't just the stiffness added by the torque. I have a couple GEM single edges, and while the benefits of the stiffness are themselves good and very desirable, those razors don't shave nearly as smoothly for me because the blades simply aren't nearly sharp enough. They're very efficient and close cutting, but they also give the same kind of ragged, tough, unpleasant shaves I get from a regular DE, only worse because of the lack of blade selection. There are no GEMs that cut as well as a Feather, much less like a Feather in a slant.

The Gillette slide doesn't replicate a slant either. For one thing, it doesn't provided the added stiffness with a DE, but also it does not provide consistent angle, and is difficult to impossible to do in tight corners that can barely accommodate a razor as is. If there's a trouble spot where you can't shave according to the grain because the skin facets are too small and/or awkward, then you won't be able to slide there, but a slant will still work fine. Slants do the job better, for less.

I wouldn't call them cheating in the sense the OP means, because they are no more forgiving of incorrect blade angle than regular DEs, and are even less forgiving in regards to incorrect pressure. They don't require any less skill, they just work better.

Whenever I see someone claim that the slant makes no difference for them, I feel like I know right there that their beard must be relatively easy to cut with a regular DE. If they can get nice, smooth trouble free shaves from a normal DE, they're not necessarily going to notice if something cuts that much better. Heck, I see plenty of people who deliberately prefer less sharp blades, because they don't need that much sharpness, and think sharpness will increase irritation. Those people will have little to gain from a slant.

Slants looked weird to me too, at first, but nothing cures that like awesome function. Life is full of things that should look weird, but don't, because they function so well that we end up liking their looks by pavlovian association without realizing that's why we like them. Some things look cool because they look weird.

And at the end of the day, I'd much rather have a razor that looked wrong on the sink but felt right on my face than the other way around, every time. Pretty is a bonus, function is what matters.

* Just growing a full beard would dodge this entire thing so handily, but then I'd be seeing my dad in the mirror every day, and that's... not desirable.

 

[Northstonehill]

Life is full of things that should look weird, but don't, because they function so well that we end up liking their looks by pavlovian association without realizing that's why we like them.

This must be the reason that my wife loves me!

On a serious note you may have a good point. I for one don’t have the need/beard growth for needing a slant. Hence: Lack of need -> Lack of appreciation. I buy that.

 

[BBBob]

Guillotine effect is pretty much a joke, and more sales hype than anything.

A guillotine paper cutter, manual or hydraulic, uses a sharp knife to cut a stack of paper in one diagonal slicing pass. (Definitely not recommended for shaving.) But if each edge is examined under a microscope, it can be seen to have actually been “pinched” off. I’ll bet the same is true of whiskers shaved with a blade, though it is not caught between two blades, but one. Large relative mass of the cutting edge and speed of delivery will increase effective momentum, lack of resistance due to sufficient softness of the target, lack of resistance due to lower cutting angle or coating of the blade, and lack of resistance caused by friction from a vibrating (untensioned) blade – those are some of the physical factors you could look at improving. And don’t forget the “chi” effect on momentum either!

 

[Ad Astra]

Slants excel at under-nose trimming, and add great variety to a rotation.

Did a week with a NEW Deluxe. Survived it.

Did the next week with the RR slant. Loved every shave, never got a weeper.

Ordered the Maggard, as it curves even more! It is all about the blade rigidity.


AA

 

[Ron R]

Okay, sorry for the click bait.

I've never used a slant razor, but I hear a lot of great things about them. Maybe I'm stubborn; I'm certainly ignorant.

With a slant razor, my assumption has been that it is cheating: Slants are for those with poor technique and cannot find the correct shaving angle. Again, that's my assumption, based on ignorance. Certainly not a statement of fact, nor anything based on hearsay.

I get the "guillotine" effect, and I appreciate the inherent efficiency of a blade slicing at an angle rather than head-on. Do slant razors also have an optimal angle, or does the "slant" of the razor head forgive poor technique and proper angle?

For the last few years, I have been keeping an eye on the "slant" threads, but I have had this prejudice that it is a form of cheating, and not "pure" wet shaving. More recently, certain research and interests have been dissuading me from holding closed my mind, and doors have been opened.

Please; share your thoughts.

Maybe I should buy a slant and see for myself. But is that a path, to the dark side? I have a 34c HD that is wonderful, and a few artisan DE razors that are fantastic ... are slants something I want to dabble with?

Nothing wrong with razor cheating if the results are good or better than a normal straight razor- final results are were it counts and slants do a very good job with a Gillette Astra,Nacet, GSB......blade for excellent results.
(does not get much better in shaving world.)Merkur makes the 37 and 39c, I wunder why?

 

[Trenchdigger]

Nothing wrong with razor cheating if the results are good or better than a normal straight razor- final results are were it counts/QUOTE]

Yes, agreed.

For me, the benefit of the slant is a really rigid blade. Otherwise, the results are on par with other razors I have tried...I get excellent shaves with many different razors, the key factor being post shave irritation.

For example, using feather blades, the ATT R123 razor shaves awesome, but causes more burn than any other razor in my small collection. Whereas the Merkur 1904 shaves just as well without any burn.

I want to try an ATT OC to see if the burn is reduced; theoretically the OC allows more lather to facilitate glide.

As for slants... There are more I want to try, but for now still dabble with the 37c.

 

[Ad Astra]

... and a plug for the Maggard's slant.

Higher dome, curvier than the RR slant ... efficient like crazy, second and third passes are a waste of lather!

Mine registers perfectly, FWIW.


AA

 

[cathdeacon]

...or j-hooking with a slant especially a PAA OCB. I've still got a scar to prove it.

My neck requires j-hooking with my 37C to get the bbs I enjoy. It is very do-able with due care and caution. I have never gotten a weeper or nick. My 37C is my favorite razor so far. I recently acquired a PAA bakelite Alpha Ecliptic and man is that aggressive, for me. Maybe it's the weightlessness of it, or keeping the flat side of the cap on my face for the correct angle. With lather on, I can't feel it and have wandered to far off angle with some very bloody results.