Thread: Do you get what you pay for?

Yes. Simply stated.

I just told him if he is going to mess with them, mess with the Gold Dollar, not the Dovo. The GD is more expendable, I am thinking. He said he wouldn't mess with either one of them, but I know my Dad. He is always messing with stuff. He's the kind of guy who will build a radio out of an old TV set instead of just buying a radio. Or try to build a hovercraft powered by an old sailboat engine. (that one didn't work very well. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it was a water cooled engine?) Or build his own neighborhood surveillance drone. (That one worked, but after the 4th or 5th crash the wreckage was unrecoverable due to the mean dog in the yard of the house it hit) or build a crossbow out of an old truck leaf spring. (After a couple years of tinkering he got that working REALLY good and it will drive a 1/2" x 20" steel crossbow bolt through an 8" timber! But it takes like 10 minutes to crank it into the cocked position and it weighs like 80 lbs) and I know he is gonna try to shave with one of them, so I told him if he just can't help himself, use the Gold Dollar and don't try to sharpen it. I think I ought to state something for the record... my Dad is the kid in our family, not me LOL! Hopefully at least my Dovo will be intact when I get home. I was hoping to compare the two but at least I should have something to learn to straight shave with. If he wants to get all Curious George with the Gold Dollar, no big loss.

I been messing around with one of my Uncle's old Gillette razors. It's adjustable and has a black handle. I cut myself waaaaaay deep on like the 4th stroke but that made a believer out of me and now that I respect what it can do, me and it are getting along pretty good. I am able to use a lot of my new lathering knowledge to good use, as well as "face mapping" and controlling the angle and pressure, and stretching the skin. I am thinking that this will help me with the straight razor, too. I had the third shave with it this morning, and I have to say, the results are not bad. My Fusion and Mach III were faster but not better. I was told that a DE razor would irritate my face less than what I was using, and maybe it is just placebo effect but I really think I am liking the way my face feels much better than when I use the cartridge razors. Is this just a foretaste of what I will enjoy with a straight? Besides, it is really cool using a razor that my Grandpa handed down to my Uncle. But getting blades is the hassle. With a straight I won't have to worry about that.

Wow I guess I have rambled on and on a little. I will check back in in a couple of days.

Get an entry level Dovo or Boker honed by a pro. The entry level razors shave just as good as the costlier ones..providing that they are properly honed.

Originally Posted by Wayne1963

Get an entry level Dovo or Boker honed by a pro. The entry level razors shave just as good as the costlier ones..providing that they are properly honed.

What sets these two brands apart from all the rest? I don't doubt that they are better than all the rest, but what makes them better?

I did order a Dovo shave ready and also a Gold Dollar that had been overhauled and is shave ready. They are waiting on me at home but I am out of town traveling with my Uncle and I won't be home for another week at least.

Well I shaved with my replaceable blade straight razor. Got it from Sally's Beauty Supply LOL! Isn't Google Maps great? Anyway, the results.

First of all, it was really scary. I think a regular straight would give me a lot more confidence. This thing was like all shaky and not solid and I just knew that I would be stroking the razor down my face when the blade goes all schizo and decides to dig down to my vertebray LOL! So I was kind of hesitant and I diddled around with it so long I had to re lather my face a bunch of times. But because I was so paranoid about skinning my face, I guess it took like 5 times as long as it should have, but I didn't cut myself up too bad. Just one nasty little slice from my chin and some damage to my neck, underneath the adams apple area. I was really freaked about the adams apple itself but I just sort of pulled that skin over to a flatter area where I could shave it without risking my vocal cords. Oh, a cut to the bottom of my earlobe too. But all in all, not bad. I just did the one WTG pass and called it a day.

One thing I figured out is if you don't know what you are doing with a straight, then you got to keep the back of the blade nearly touching the face so the blade is like sliding down the face. I read that there should be one spine thickness between the razor spine and the face, but when I did that Is when I cut a chunk out of my chin so now I keep it touching or nearly touching. Stretching the skin is something else I read and that really helps. It makes the skin a flatter surface with less for the razor blade to grab ahold of, if that makes any sense. My Uncle is amazed. He says I got a pair of big brass ones LOL! Said he would never risk his life like that, just for a shave! I tell you, I am really puffed and chuffed over this. Is it okay to swagger a little? I can't wait to try my real straight razors, now! BARTENDER! WHISKEY! Lol! I am channeling my inner cowboy I guess.

And now for my next trick, I will shave with a bowie knife LOL! (not!)



My Mom is gonna totally freak!

Sounds like you had fun.
In my limited experience the angle changes depending where on my face I am shaving.
I keep the angle very flat on my chin, I think because of all the natural curves there a flat angle is actually not that flat at the edge of the blade. I push my lower jaw forwards, and pull my lower lip over my bottom teeth, and stretch either side backwards (towards my ears) with my thumb and index finger.
But stretches really depend on the direction of growth too. Pulling with the grain lays the hair flatter than pulling against the grain.

Today I had my first totally cut free shave with my replaceable blade straight! I feel like that was a major milestone on my shaving journey. I will be going home in just a few days and I will get a chance to see what shaving with a regular straight razor is like. I have been getting some irritation on my neck and I am using Nivea on it. Not sure if that is helping or not. I am really looking forward to trying my Dovo. I was told in another post that Dovo and Boker were the two best straight razors. I am curious to know what makes them better than the rest. I like to know something about what I am doing and getting into. I like to know why I am spending money on THIS instead of THAT, and to be able to justify it if it costs more. I guess it sort of gets back to the subject of my first post, which is do you get what you pay for, but now I am trying to dig a little deeper, and find out exactly what I am getting, and why it is worth it. I don't have to pinch pennies but my family places a high value on spending money sensibly and not just throwing it out there. So can anybody tell me what makes a Dovo or Boker a better razor? I don't mean better than my "shavette" because its faults are obvious even to me. I mean better than other regular straight razors. I understand about the Pakistan razors and I don't mean them LOL! Anybody? I am really trying to learn here. Thanks!

Any properly made straight razor with no manufacturing defects will shave as well as any other with equally sharp edges. I think what is best for one person may not be another s best. There is a lot of personal preference involved. I really could not tell you what makes a Dovo or Boker better than other razors. I have 2 Bokers and they shave as well as another razor brand I own if the edges are equally sharp.

Bob

What bob says is right on,back in the day I was a major duck hunter.Would not be caught dead without one of my high grade Brownings, Parkers or Win.21 shotguns.
Today I hunt ducks with an old beater win. mod. 50 auto,last season it dawned on me that the ducks I shot with the beater,were just as dead as they were with my high grades,same go's with razors.IMO

I am new to straight razor shaving. Previously I shaved with Mach 3... then I bought a Parker Shavette... after that the Edwin Jagger DE89. Last week I bought an unknown (new) Taiwanese straight razor, that was shave ready. (at least I could shave with it as well as my shavette with a new Derby blade) so I guess it was a good, affordable, buy. Out of my limited experience so far... lots of people look down upon products made in the Far East... and for good reasons. (in MOST cases) But to think most, if not all, Asian made razors are crap... is just shortsighted.

Same goes for pocket knives... ever heard of Elan or Sanrenmu? No? Excellent Chinese knives.. super affordable yet excellent. I always carry one, cost me only 10 bucks. I also have a expensive Buck knife, super knife... better than the Chinese knives... yes. But that much better to pay 10 times more... no way. I guess the same goes for razors. So, I would say you would be able to get much better stuff you pay for, if lucky. But that's the challenge and part of the fun to find one, no?