Thread: The leap of faith.

Originally Posted by Pegaso

Also, would it be acceptable to purchase a vintage razor and then send it to someone for honing? I love the idea of vintage razors and someone I know has a Puma in fine condition that he wants to get rid of. I think it would be more practical for the first hone to be perfect and then subsequently learn.

Yes, I think that'd be a good way to go. If you were to start off with a straight razor (new or vintage) that's not been properly honed leaves you not knowing how the razor should feel and how sharp it should be.

You will need to learn how to strop the razor though (perhaps not for the first shave when it's been expertly honed and stropped for you). You will also eventually need to learn how to hone the razor, unless you'll get someone else to do that for you. ClassicShaving.com offers that service in the US - don't know about anywhere else.

Go to the straight. First shave is scary, but very exhilarating. After that, just a matter of practice.

I might get one of the merkur razors for a couple spots that I'm not going to spend hours figuring out how to get with the straight. Or maybe I need a straight with a point. WHo knows...

Hey, I'm also a newbie. I started with DEs too, about six months ago, and straights about a week back!

My sheffield WB spike point has never cut me once on the upper lip -- unlike all my DEs (My favorite DE blade is a feather in a Merkur HD). There is a tough spot where the hairs kind of cluster together on my upper lip. The only blade that gets that is a feather, and even then, it's patchy. With a straight, that area is mowed down almost to BBS.

Plus, the spike point has never missed the hard to reach hairs just below the nose. In trying for these with my DE I have cut myself quite badly in the nostril. That bugger bleeds!

Although Lynn has said somewhere (somewhat dismissively) that DE users are only in search of the BBS shave and keep talking about it, it is my experience that a straight shave is more BBS, more zen like, and I believe I can do both in the same amount of time (although I dislike rushing my straight shaves).

I respectfully submit that until I used a straight I didn't know what BBS was (and I still have a way to go, being no'but a greenhorn yet).

I wish you great shaves ahead. Send that Puma to Lynn and get started with one of the best razors (as declared by the cognoscenti -- see the reviews on B&B) -- you won't look back. Dismiss the thought of the feather, if you'd mentioned the Puma first, no-one would have brought up the shavette! It looks like you have all the prep tools, so perhaps the Lynn DVD and the Tony Miller paddle is all you need (plus strop, if you want).

Hello Nicchel,

I think we had the same sort of problems since the upper lip was a bit of an obstacle for me as well. I started with the dastardly cartridge things and then switched to the DE which was an entirely different experience.

However, the upper lip area was still something to be desired and so here we are!

The vintage Pumas seems to be highly regarded; and I'll be sure to get a strop, perhaps a hanging one since those seem to be more practical for a beginner. I'll get a hone soon as well.

I can't say anything in the way of hanging vs. paddle, sense I have only used a hanging strop. I personaly like the hanging because it is was you would always see in a baber shop, though I am sure they used padles as well. I got all my stuff from Tony Miller at thewellshavedgentleman.com, and I am happy with the strop. I would highly recomend getting one from him, as he is also an active member here. Very nice fellow.

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

Bigspendur, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with you here. Learning to shave with a DE requires you to learn about prep, making lather, the direction of your beard growth, skin stretching, using light pressure and doing mutiple passes.

I struggled with my straights when I started out, and the month it took me to learn to get a good DE shave was a huge help when I came back to the straights.

I think a DE gives a newbie a good head start, but you'll still have a lot to learn about shaving and maintaining your razor.

Just my two cents,
Josh

Well yea I reckon technically your right but to me those things are things you should already have down if you've been wet shaving whether with a DE or even a mach whatever. Compared to using a straight and honing and stropping to me thems small potatoes quickly learned. For me I had used a DE for a while before using a straight and for me it in no way prepared me for the straight experience. Just my humble opinion.

My Mach 3 experience involved a quick splash of water, Edge gel and an against-the-grain shave with a weeks-old blade. :eek

Fresh blades made me bleed, so I used them longer than you're supposed to. I hated shaving.

Nailing down my prep was hard for me because I have a tough beard and wimpy skin. The DE let me focus on that for a while and see what a difference it made.

But you're right: Them's is small potatoes. I got all that stuff in a few weeks; I'm still working on honing and stropping and shaving, and I suspect I will be for years to come.

Josh