Thread: SR vs DE

I had a DE in the fifties and felt that it was clumsy and I could not feel the blade. Very difficult in tight places.
It was replaced by an injector razor which corrected all those short comings.
This is why I'm mystified by DE followers and their praise of that type razor.

Good morning,
I'm new to SR and I've never tried DE, so I'm curious about the comparison...

For those who say you have done both and find the SR to be closer and smoother, is this based on equal number of passes? Or do you need 2-3 passes with the SR to achieve what the DE will do in a single pass?

Originally Posted by shallard

Good morning,
I'm new to SR and I've never tried DE, so I'm curious about the comparison...

For those who say you have done both and find the SR to be closer and smoother, is this based on equal number of passes? Or do you need 2-3 passes with the SR to achieve what the DE will do in a single pass?

Personally, there are too many variables to really say which will give a smoother closer shave. If you SR blade is freshly honed by a pro, your stropping is spot on as well as you lather and shaving technique then the edge would go to the SR. OTH An aggressive DE with a very sharp blade like a Feather with the same good lather and shave technique would give the SR a run for it's money. I usually do 4 passes with either a straight or DE. If you try to remove most of your whiskers on the first pass you are asking for trouble with razor burn because that would require a fair amount of pressure not normally used. The goal is gradual whisker reduction through multiple passes with either.

Bob

Originally Posted by taz575

I tried my first DE shave tonight....
Very nice first shave, didn't really even feel the blade cutting at all! I was shocked at how smooth it was, none of my SR's feel this smooth ever! I tend to 'feel' the SR working and cutting more, but the DE just slide through everything; I could hear it cutting, but didn't feel the blade against the skin.

Interesting, more shavers tend to progress from DE to SR, but you went the opposite way.
But your experience does prove one of my beliefs, which is that compared to a straight you can get an almost effortless BBS shave with a good DE razor combined with a good DE blade. I consider this the main reason that after WWI the DE rapidly replaced the straight razor as predominant shaving instrument.


For straight razors there are many variables, honing is only one of them, technique a major other.

Before switching to straights I used Mühle open comb designs with Feather or Derby blades and these 3-pass shaves were near effortless, smooth - and quick.

By comparison, the straight took longer and did not last quite as long - at least not in the beginning.

But you will probably find that over time straight shaves will equal, possibly even exceed the smoothness of a DE shave.

Rather than sending all your razors off to have them honed, I would stick to your original plan and send only two straights off for expert honing.
This would give you two straight razors that you could use for "control shaves" to compare the results between you other straights and the expertly honed ones.
Remember, honing is only one aspect, technique the other.
If there is hardly any differences between the "control razors" and others, then it is not the honing that makes the difference.

As far as DE razors go, they may be quick and smooth, but these shaves don't give quite the same satisfaction as straights, do they?
If it were just for the convenience, I might not have moved to straights, but I do like the morning routine that a straight shave gives me to prepare for the day - even if it is at 4:45 am.