Thread: Straight or Safety razor?

Originally Posted by Unclericky

Greetings to you all,

Hi.

Originally Posted by Unclericky

I just discovered this forum while looking for information on water stones, and became intrigued by the notion of using straight razors for shaving.

You're in good company.

Originally Posted by Unclericky

My question is a simple one (I think)

Nope. Not simple at all.

Originally Posted by Unclericky

Is a straight razor shave better than a safety razor shave? If so, how much better?

Yes. So much better that I can't really put it into words. (for most people)

Originally Posted by Unclericky

I currently use a Gillette Fusion with five blades, and I am pretty happy with the results, apart from the cost of replacement blades.

You have my sympathy. I was using a mach 3 a couple months ago, and I 'thought' I was pretty happy too.

Originally Posted by Unclericky

From what I have read so far on this forum, a straight razor is a pretty big commitment in time and effort. So, before taking the plunge and investing the time, effort and money, I need to know if it is worth it.

As others have said, that's a really personal question that nobody can answer for you. Value is a tricky thing to quantify. All I can do, is tell you how I started.

First of all, I was in a very similar situation to you. I was using multi-blade safety razors and thought that I was reasonably happy with them, other than cost. I was never thrilled. I never finished a shave and thought, "Wow, that's a great shave."

I did some reading, and convinced myself that some of the thing that people said about one of the "brands to avoid" was just snobbishness and went ahead and spent about $65 to buy 4 super cheap razors, a strop and a hone.

The whole lot of them turned out to be garbage, and I'm still waiting to hear back from paypal for my claim. There's a reason we have a "brands to avoid" list in the wiki. It's worth checking before buying.

After coming back here, I purchased a very nice shave-ready razor and strop from the classifieds here for $100, and started shaving. The first shave was awful, but with each shave it got better and better.

Now I've been shaving with a straight for almost 2 months. My shave only takes me about twice as long as it did with my mach 3, and is so much more close and comfortable that it's hard to even compare. I enjoy shaving more, my girlfriend enjoys the results more, and I've gone from shaving just as often as I need to, to shaving every single day.

Straights can (and do for many folks) turn into a hobby, and a collection. I've still only got one shave ready razor, but I've got 3 others that I'm working on restoring. I've purchased a barber's hone, tried lot's of new soaps, and plan on buying a full set of hones eventually. However, if money is your main reason to do this, it's easy to get started for $100, and possible (if you're a really great deal shopper) to get started for $50-$75, and you "can" just stop there. $20 a year to have your razor re-honed, and buying new shave soap when you run out, and not spend anything else on shaving for the rest of your life.

Originally Posted by Unclericky

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Cheers,
Rick

You're welcome, and I hope we've helped.

Originally Posted by smokelaw1

Do it. You will either 1) love it immediately, even though there is a learning curve, your first shaves might not be too good, and you mighjt get a little nick or cut or irrititation. 2) Not love it immediately, but stick with it, then love it. or 3) Not like it, not grow to like it, or quit before you grow to like it. If you purchase your starter stuff wisely, you can sell almost all of it it to a new beginner at nearly no loss.
The shaves are AMAZING...and my favortie part (yes, even better than the shaves), is the fact that it took something that was a chore I had to do every day and turned it into a joy, and an enjoyable hobby, fun and luxurious products that I GET TO use EVERY DAY, in time that has become MINE again, time that I can breathe deeply, calm down (safer that way!), and focus on the day ahead.

Short and sweet, I agree with the above Have fun

Originally Posted by HungeJ0e

....If you just want to pinch pennies, you're going to use disposable Bics. But you're also going to get a horrible shave.

Cheers,

- HJ

Flashback to a most unpleasant shave and an experiment in money-saving that didn't: I threw the Bic away, along with the rest of the pack!

Ouch!

Brenton