Thread: If I were starting over . . .

I started with two Wacker 4/8ths, and the full Castle Forbes line.

Today, I would start with a GEM Open Comb Micromatic (commonly referred to as OCMM), the full Baume.be, Esbjerg, or Meißner Tremonia line, and probably stick there.

The vintage single edge ("SE") razors put every DE razor to shame. Including the Pils line. There really is only one type of blades, so you can blissfully skip the fanboy stage of "oh, look, Ma, my new DE blade is somehow different from the previous one".

An SE in the hands of a capable user will also give any cut-throat razor a run for its money. But while you can master an SE in a few weeks's time, a cut-throat will take much longer. And that is not mentioning money wasted on "oh, look, you totally need that $INSERT_HYPED_BRAND_DU_JOUR razor".

So, $200 for preshave, soap, and aftershave. $200 for a Thäter brush. $10 for a GEM. $20 for 100 blades lasting a few years. Done.

Yes, life can be as simple as that.